Private equity firm Cinven Ltd. expects to make up to four acquisitions in 2013 after raising €5 billion ($6.5 billion) for its fifth buyout fund.

So far, the fifth fund is 14 percent committed, following four investments in 2012. Those deals include two security companies, Pronet and Prezioso Technilor SAS, for an undisclosed price, as well as Mercury Pharma Group Ltd. for $732 million and Amdipharm plc for $589.7 million.

At the end of 2012, Mercury Pharma and Amdipharm were merged. In addition to Cinven's buyout plans, the firm intends for the combined company to remain on the lookout for add-on acquisition opportunities and target mostly legacy brands and noncore assets that are being put up for sale by larger pharmaceutical companies.

Cinven, considered the largest Europe-focused private equity firm, buys into various sectors, namely healthcare, technology and business services. The Guernsey-based financial sponsor reached its intended target for the new fund - referred to as the Fifth European Buyout Fund - but noted that it is less than the €6.5 billion ($8.3 billion) it generated for its fourth fund in 2006. The share of investors, or limited partners, from the Americas amounts to about 50 percent, exceeding the 42 percent in its fourth fund.

Cinven is also slated to exit one of its portfolio companies in 2013 - the pension company Partnership Assurance - with a $1.3 billion initial public offering (IPO).

Partnership's clients include Lloyds Banking Group and Standard Life. It was bought in 2008 for $260 million. The IPO follows Cinven's 2012 exit of Ziggo, a Dutch cable business, which was listed on the NYSE Euronext Amsterdam with an initial market capitalization of $4.8 billion.

-ANTHONY NOTO