(Bloomberg) -- Warburg Pincus is seeking to raise $2.5 billion for its second fund dedicated to financial sector deals, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

The private equity firm has begun preliminary discussions with investors about the WP Financial Sector II fund, which will invest alongside its flagship vehicle in areas such as payments and financial technology, said the person, who asked not to be named because the information isn’t public. It plans to formally launch capital-raising efforts in November, with a first close targeted for mid-2021, the person said.

Former Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Warburg Pincus’s president, will oversee the fund, the person said. The firm gathered $2.3 billion for its first financial sector fund, which closed in December 2017.

A spokeswoman for New York-based Warburg Pincus declined to comment.

Warburg Pincus, which has more than $53 billion in assets under management, made a $400 million investment in financial technology service provider Wex Inc. in June, and last year acquired an 80% equity stake in Indian education finance company Avanse Financial Services Ltd.

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