(Bloomberg) -- Blackstone Inc. is preparing to raise what could be the industry's largest buyout fund on record.
The firm may seek as much as $30 billion for its next flagship private equity fund, according to people familiar with the matter. No target has been set but fundraising could begin next year, said the people, asking not to be identified discussing internal plans.
It's a frenzied time for private equity. Blackstone and peers are ramping up fund sizes and coming back to market with successor pools at a rapid clip. Almost 6,000 funds are currently seeking to rake in a record $1 trillion, according to data from Preqin.
Blackstone, which managed $684 billion at the end of June, is also preparing to raise money for its next life sciences, energy and growth strategies, said the people, noting that along with the flagship all four funds may raise more than $40 billion.
A spokesman for New York-based Blackstone declined to comment.
With low interest rates hobbling investor returns, the industry is benefiting from robust demand for higher-yielding assets. Yet there's a risk that there won't be enough appetite to meet the vast supply of investment opportunities. Another challenge: Some private equity investors are over-allocated to the asset class.
Blackstone beat the previous industry record when it wrapped up its flagship buyout fund in 2019 at $26 billion. Last week, Bloomberg reported that Blackstone may seek as much as $10 billion for a growth fund after wrapping up the previous one earlier this year.
Its rivals haven't been far behind. As of July, Carlyle Group Inc. was seeking as much as $27 billion for its latest flagship fund. That same month, Hellman & Friedman collected $24.4 billion for its biggest pool on record.
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