CITIC Capital rolls out new VC fund
CITIC Capital, partly-owned by Chinese Investment Corp. (CIC) and CITIC Group, has reached a first close of $60 million for its new venture capital fund. The vehicle represents the private equity firm's first foray into VC.
CITIC Capital Venture Partners, has an overall target of $150 million, counts Vertex Asia Growth, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings and Enspire Capital among its anchor investors. Enspire is a Singapore-based company focused on the technology, media and telecommunications sector.
The fund will invest in fast-growing, small- to medium-sized Chinese enterprises in clean technology, consumer, IT and other emerging industries. It will specifically target companies with "break-through technologies" and the potential to grow into sector leaders.
Jeffrey Zheng, a venture capitalist who accomplished exits in Talkweb, Dangdang and AutoNavi, leads the new fund as a managing partner. Commenting on CITIC's expansion into VC, Zheng said: "I am excited to start the new venture business that is underpinned by the strong growth potential of the SMEs, and where the future growth of the Chinese economy lies."
CITIC Capital has operations in China, Japan and the US and manages $2.6 billion of committed capital. In China, the private equity firm is currently investing through two dedicated buyout funds.
The first, CITIC Capital China Partners, closed in 2007 at $425 million, with Temasek again among the investors. Its successor, CITIC Capital China Partners II, closed at $925 million in 2010.
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