Quvat's Tom Lembong made Indonesia trade minister

Lembong co-founded Indonesia-focused Quvat in 2006. The GP closed two funds in 2006 and 2008 that raised $150 million and $350 million, respectively.

According to AVCJ Research data, a third fund was launched in 2010 with a $350 million target but a close was never announced. The GP was last reported to have $500 million in committed capital with 11 portfolio companies across the logistics, consumers, and finance sectors.

Prior to Quvat, Lembong worked at Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, and Farindo Investments - an Indonesia-focused joint venture of Farallon Capital. He also served for two years as a division head and senior vice-president at the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency, which was set up in 1998 following the Asian financial crisis.

Widodo - who was elected in October last year - has been looking to refresh his cabinet with overseas-educated industry leaders in the face of the country's sagging economic growth. Former central bank governor Darmin Nasution was made chief economic minister.

"We face a heavy economic challenge," Lembong said in a speech following his appointment. "The president, vice president and ministers strongly believe that Indonesians have the strength to overcome this. It's a question of utilizing the resources."

Lembong is not the first example of strong links between Indonesia's politics and its private equity community, nor is he the first PE professional to become trade minister. Gita Wirjawan, one of the founders of Ancora Capital, held the post between 2011 and 2014 after initially entering politics in 2009 as chairman of the country's Investment Coordinating board (BKPM). Wirjawan is since understood to have reactivated his involvement with Ancora.

More recently - in June - Sandiaga Uno, one of the founding partners at Saratoga Capital, revealed he was scaling back his formal corporate roles with a view to launching a career in politics. Uno was recently appointment to the advisory board of the Great Indonesia Movement Party, also known as Gerindra. The party is led by headed by Prabowo Subianto, who was defeated by Joko Widodo in last year's presidential election. Uno served as Subianto's spokesman during the campaign.

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• Topics
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• Southeast Asia
• Appointments
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• Quvat Management