Carlyle Group LP, led by co-founder David Rubenstein, has gathered 3.75 billion euros ($4.1 billion) for its fourth European buyout fund after almost three years of fundraising amid turbulent economic conditions.

The completion “confirms renewed appetite for investing in Europe despite several years of macro-economic uncertainty,” Marco De Benedetti, managing director and co-head of Carlyle Europe Partners, said in a statement Wednesday. “We continue to believe Europe offers significant, compelling investment opportunities.”

Increasingly middle-market dealmakers have turned to Europe for targets. For more, see “Deal Opportunities Abound in Europe." The Association for Corporate Growth has been expanding in Europe over the last few years and will host EuroGrowth 2015 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Nov. 16 – 17.

Private equity firms collected 124 billion euros from 2012 to 2014 for European deals, a 50 percent jump from the previous three years, according to the European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association. Carlyle’s co-founder David Rubenstein said this month the region offers cheaper prices than North America.

Carlyle’s previous European buyout fund finished fundraising in 2007 after securing 5.4 billion euros. The pool produced an annualized return of 15 percent after fees and was valued at 2.1 times cost as of March 31, according to the firm’s first-quarter earnings statement.

Carlyle, based in Washington, reports second-quarter results Wednesday. The firm oversaw $193 billion as of March 31.