Altor Equity Partners, a Nordic mid-market buy-out firm, is in the final stages of fundraising after racing to a €1.15bn ($1.4bn) total in just over three months. It is the second time Altor has tapped the market since its founder Harald Mix broke away from Industri Kapital in 2001 to form the group.

Investors have flocked to Altor, despite receiving few returns from its 2003 fund, according to one fund of funds manager. He said Mix was turning away new investors and scaling back allocations. The investor said Altor had raised a €900m fund and a €250m side fund to invest in acquisitions for its portfolio companies.