Navis races to $860m first close on seventh Asia fund

The Malaysia-headquartered GP expects a final close by the end of January. The target size is $1.3 billion with a hard cap of $1.5 billion. Navis raised $1.2 billion for its sixth fund in 2010 and $1 billion for Fund V three years before that.

While the new vehicle remains focused on mid-market buyouts, the geographical remit is narrower - still predominately Southeast Asia but, unlike the previous fund, not India.

Since 2000, Navis has made more than 60 investments, of which nearly 20 have been follow-on acquisitions. As of year-end 2012, the private equity firm's Asia funds had generated a gross IRR of 33% and a money multiple of 2.9x on realized investments.

Speaking to AVCJ earlier this year, Nick Bloy, Navis' managing partner, noted that the firm's more complex deals have generated the best returns by a fairly significant margin. "What we mean by that are companies that go cross-border and scale up internationally; those which might require different teams in different countries where you might make follow-on acquisitions," he explained."When you have the resources to handle that complexity, as we do, you get the best returns."

Navis' rapid fundraise is further evidence of investor interest in Southeast Asia and, arguably, the shortage of funds in the $1 billion bracket that are dedicated to the region.

Northstar Group is returning to market next year to raise around $1 billion for a Southeast Asia fund, but there are few others. Earlier this year, Southern Capital Group raised approximately $400 million for its third buyout fund, having increased the hard cap due to strong investor demand. The GP's previous vehicles were pan-regional, but Fund III focuses on Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

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• Topics
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• Southeast Asia
• Buyout
• Navis Management
• Southeast Asia
• buyout
• Fundraising