ArcLight Closes Fund VIII at $3.9B; SBCERA Weighs $200M Allocation
ArcLight Capital Partners closed ArcLight Infrastructure Partners Fund VIII with $3.9B in commitments, exceeding its $3B target and securing backing from CPP Investments, according to Dakota data. The fund follows its 2020 predecessor and brings the firm’s capital raised over the past two years to $6B, adding another sizable close in the value-added infrastructure segment.
Fundraising activity across GPs remained active alongside that close. Jeito Capital raised $1.2B for Jeito II above target, increasing its scale in European biopharma investing, while Dawson Partners reached the $750M hard cap for Dawson GP Finance 2, or $840M including related vehicles, with commitments from SMIB, Howard University Employees Retirement Plan, and Houston Police Officers’ Pension System. The firm also recently completed a $1B GP-led CFO, continuing its run of structured GP finance transactions.
On the allocator side, Luxembourg’s FDC finalized its global unlisted real estate search, awarding €500M mandates to CBRE and LaSalle, with BlackRock retained on standby. SBCERA is considering a $200M initial allocation tied to a proposed master custody account with Drive Capital, pending a board decision, while NEPC outlined a private debt environment characterized by liquidity-driven selling and opportunities in special situations, credit secondaries, and opportunistic lending. Public pension commitments tracked by Dakota also increased sharply in March, totaling roughly $42.56B across 254 private markets commitments.
Fundraising Isn’t Getting Easier
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The Conditions for a Strong 2026 Are Falling Into Place
Private markets are entering the year with momentum.
Deal activity is stabilizing, fundraising remains resilient, and capital is concentrating in sectors with long-term tailwinds — from healthcare and diagnostics to infrastructure and energy transition.
At the same time, large-scale transactions and take-privates are returning, signaling renewed conviction from both sponsors and strategic buyers.
Dakota’s latest monthly Private Markets Review outlines the key trends shaping the market — and what they suggest for the quarters ahead.
For market participants, the signal is getting clearer.