Silver Lake seeks $7.5 billion for next buyout fund

(Reuters) - Silver Lake, the $14 billion private equity asset manager with a focus on technology investments, is seeking $7.5 billion from investors for its next flagship buyout fund, according to a U.S. regulatory filing published on Monday.

Silver Lake, which sold internet phone service Skype to Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) for $8.5 billion last year after buying it 18 months earlier for $2.5 billion, does not intend the offering to last more than one year, it said in the filing.

Glenn Hutchins, Jim Davidson and David Roux, now in their fifties, co-founded Silver Lake in 1999 and went on to invest in some of the technology sector's hottest properties, including social networks and online gaming firm Zynga Inc (ZNGA.O).

The latest fund, Silver Lake Partners IV, started fundraising earlier this year. Its predecessor, the $9.3 billion Silver Lake Partners III, which launched in 2007, was valued at 1.44 times its investment cost as of the end of May 2012, according to the New Jersey Division of Investment, making it the public pension fund's third best-performing large buyout fund in a portfolio of 11.

Silver Lake's fundraising comes at a challenging time. The number of private equity funds seeking money from investors reached an all-time high in the second quarter, while those which completed fundraising hit a record low, according to data released by market research firm Preqin last week.

Menlo Park, California-based Silver Lake agreed in May to buy Swiss-based, tax-free shopping business Global Blue together with Partners Group (PGHN.S) for 1 billion euros ($1.25 billion) from rival Equistone. (Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)