Legend Capital applies to list on China’s New Third Board
Chinese venture capital firm Legend Capital has applied to list on the National Equities Exchange and Quotation (NEEQ), also known as the New Third Board.
Beijing-based Legend Capital was formed when Chuanzhi Liu, president of Legend Holdings, decided to build an investment team led by Linan Zhu in 2001. The firm soon launched its debut fund with $35 million commitment from Legend Holdings. It now operates as an independent VC investment subsidiary under Legend, targeting early-stage venture and expansion-stage growth capital deals.
The firm said in a filing that it started out to focus mainly on the technology, media and telecom (TMT) sector, and then built sector-focused teams in consumer and retail, services, advanced manufacturing, cleantech, healthcare, culture and sports.
Legend divides its operations into onshore and offshore divisions, having started to raise renminbi-denominated funds in 2009 alongside US dollar funds. The offering comprises only the onshore renminbi business.
As of the end of September, Legend Capital managed 11 renminbi funds and was in the process raising three more, with total commitments of RMB11.1 billion ($1.73 billion). These funds have invested RMB6.27 billion in 78 companies. There have been 11 full exits, generating an IRR of 32.98%.
Legend Holdings, which sponsors Hony Capital in addition to Legend Capital, raised $1.96 billion through a Hong Kong IPO in the middle of this year.
The New Third Board has become a popular listing venue for China-focused private equity and venture capital firms.
Last year, JD became the first Chinese PE firm to list on the New Third Board. It now wants to list on Shanghai's main board through a reverse merger with publicly-traded property developer Jiangxi Zhong Jiang Real Estate. The other PE firms on the New Third Board are CSC Group, Shenzhen Cowin Capital and ChinaEquity Group.
A few weeks ago, Chinese early-stage VC firm Innovation Works and CITIC Capital also announced they had applied to list on the board.
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