Weekly digest - May 25 2022
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25 May 2022
COVER STORY
Abundant dry powder and friendly financing conditions are enabling global GPs to pursue ever-larger listed companies in Australia.
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PORTFOLIO
INVESTCORP AND VIZ BRANZ
 War, climate change, and COVID-19 are twisting the outlook for Investcorp-owned instant food supplier Viz Branz. But an implacable China growth story has underpinned an aggressive expansion agenda.FUND FOCUS
XVC STRESSES ITS IDIOSYNCRASIES
 The China VC firm cuts against the grain, eschewing investment committee meetings and embracing consumer deals while others shun them. It works from a fundraising perspective.DEAL FOCUS
INDIA'S FASHINZA IN VOGUE WITH VC
 The appeal of the boutique brand ensures that fashion will always be a fragmented space. As e-commerce splinters the industry even further, India’s Fashinza aims to tie it all together.FUND FOCUS
BLUERUN DEFIES CHINA FUNDRAISING WOES
 Having secured USD 819m, across US dollar and renminbi vehicles, the early-stage investor wants to prove that China can deliver globally competitive technology.DEAL FOCUS
ICG FINDS ALIGNMENT WITH DOCTOR-SHAREHOLDERS
 Intermediate Capital Group believes its flexible approach to deal structuring – and a willingness to share upside – helped win over doctors who are employees and part-owners of Canopy Healthcare. |
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By the Numbers
AVCJ RESEARCH
RETAIL ROLLOUT
The Astrea series, initiated by Temasek Holdings and now run by Azalea Investment Management, is a story of incremental progress. What started out as unorthodox secondary transactions backed by orthodox secondary investors has evolved into an exercise in widening access to private equity – unique in its consistency and its commercial-educational remit.
A significant breakthrough came with Astrea IV in 2018 . A three-tranche bond structure was introduced, with retail investors permitted to subscribe to the least risky class A-1 tranche. The others went to institutional and accredited investor. Individuals could subscribe to tiny portions of the bond offering and get exposure to a mature portfolio of funds. Azalea served as curator and majority shareholder in each LP position. Now in its seventh iteration, the Astrea series has taken another step forwards, opening the class A-1 and class B tranches to retail investors. Class B sits lower in the capital structure. Azalea said it was a response to investor demand. This begs the question of what comes next and how quickly – direct exposure to equity rather than through bonds supported by private equity cashflows? Azalea, which is building out a product suite much like any other asset manager, already offers this through its fund-of-funds series. However, at present, only institutional and accredited investors can apply. 
All of the trends featured here were sourced from AVCJ's proprietary database, AVCJ Research, featuring comprehensive information on private equity deals, fundraises and exits.
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For your calendar
UPCOMING EVENTS
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