IK Investment Partners, a European-focused private equity firm, is nearing a €1 billion first close on its latest vehicle just months after hitting the fundraising trail, as conditions have improved since it raised its last buyout fund in 2013.

The firm, which owns the Scandinavian sightseeing business Touristy among other businesses in its portfolio, started marketing its eighth fund earlier this year with a €1.6 billion target. It will hold the closing in summer, according to one person familiar with the fundraising.