Quant trading specialist DE Shaw & Co has closed its first dedicated private equity fund with more than $450 million in capital commitments, falling just sort of the fund's $500 million target, which was set a year ago, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Quant trading specialist DE Shaw & Co has closed its first dedicated private equity fund with more than $450 million in capital commitments, falling just sort of the fund's $500 million target, which was set a year ago, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The Voltaic fund will back businesses in a variety of industries, but those that DE Shaw sees as particularly compelling are “largely in the enterprise space, software security, AI and consumer internet,” portfolio manager Edwin Jager said in an interview. 

Voltaic will reportedly look to deploy the fund's capital over the next two years and may consider structured equity deals, whereby companies offer perks in their fundraising terms, such as discounted shares in a public offering. 

Although Voltaic is DE Shaw's first dedicated PE fund, the firm has been making making private equity investments through its main hedge funds since the 1990s, and has also raised $3.5 billion for private credit investments, including its latest Dipoter fund which will focus on bank securitisation products and has attracted $650 million in commitments.