(Bloomberg) -- Private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners is nearing a final close for two funds for which it has amassed $18.3 billion, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. 

The Los Angeles-based buyout specialist raised $14.7 billion for its ninth flagship fund, Green Equity Investors IX LP, and $3.6 billion for Jade Equity Investors II LP, which is earmarked for smaller transactions, said the person, asking not to be identified discussing the effort. Investors in the funds include the New York State Common Retirement Fund and the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Erika Spitzer, a Leonard Green partner, declined to comment.

Including the two new vehicles, Leonard Green’s assets under management now exceed $75 billion. Founded in 1989, the firm, led by managing partners Jon Sokoloff and John Danhakl, has made a name for itself betting on consumer, health-care and business-services companies. Its portfolio companies include Velvet Taco, Lakeshore Learning, Convergint, Mister Car Wash Inc. and Life Time Group Holdings Inc.

Leonard Green’s seventh flagship fund, raised in 2017, delivered a net internal rate of return of 17.5% as of September 2021, according to pension-fund disclosures.

The firm, which in 2017 sold a minority stake to Blackstone Inc., has joined peers including Apollo Global Management Inc., KKR & Co. and TPG Inc. in an initiative known as Ownership Works that aims to facilitate wealth creation through employee ownership. 

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