AVCJ

Weekly digest - July 26 2023

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26 July 2023
ASIA DEAL FINANCING: A SELECTIVE MARKET
COVER STORY
Buyout activity is weak but leverage is available for the right kind of target – in Japan, Korea, Australia, and beyond – with a suitably customised structure.
Q&A
LINC LIU OF SPARKEDGE CAPITAL
LINC LIU OF SPARKEDGE CAPITALLinc Liu, founding partner and chairman of SparkEdge Capital, a sector specialist formerly known as Ori-mind Capital, discusses new energy investment opportunities in China.
DEAL FOCUS
GLOW CHOOSES B2B SUPPLIER FOR DEBUT DEAL
GLOW CHOOSES B2B SUPPLIER FOR DEBUT DEALAustralia’s Glow Capital Partners took its time finding a maiden investment that ticked all the boxes of its consumer and brands strategy. This involved edging slightly down the supply chain.
FUND FOCUS
EURAZEO'S CLIMATE THESIS RESONATES WITH LPs
EURAZEO'S CLIMATE THESIS RESONATES WITH LPsEurazeo shattered the target for its second smart city fund thanks to an agenda that dovetails with LP interest in decarbonisation. Nine Asian LPs backed the fund and 40% of the corpus will be deployed in the region.
DEAL FOCUS
EXFINITY SEIZES RARE INDIA ROBOTICS OPPORTUNITY
EXFINITY SEIZES RARE INDIA ROBOTICS OPPORTUNITYIndia’s Exfinity Ventures stepped out of its comfort zone with Ati Motors. Now it’s helping the industrial robotics supplier go global with autonomous forklift-style machines that can roll in and out of buildings.
By the Numbers
AVCJ RESEARCH
FASHION STATMENTS
Three years ago, The Carlyle Group exited Golden Goose with a 3x return. The sneaker brand was European, but Asia accounted for about one-third of revenue. Five of Golden Goose’s 100 stores were special labs where craftsmen customised footwear to order. Three of those five labs were in Asia: Tokyo, Seoul, and Hong Kong.
High-end streetwear has gained traction as a discrete investment theme in North Asia. Two years ago, CVC Capital Partners bought cult Japanese t-shirt brand A Bathing Ape. Most recently, KKR led a USD 190m Series C for Musinsa, a Korean online fashion platform that rose to prominence as a marketplace for sneakers.
It is Musinsa’s fourth funding round, following commitments from the likes of Sequoia Capital and IMM Investment, according to AVCJ Research. Rival platform Kream has also closed four rounds, winning support from Altos Ventures, Mirae Asset Capital, SoftBank Ventures Asia, Naver Corp, Axiom Asia, and Samsung Securities.
Over in Japan, SoftBank Vision Fund 2 led a Series D for Soda, operator of sneaker reselling platform Snkr Dunk. SoftBank Ventures Asia was among the start-up’s earlier investors, alongside Basepartners, Jafco Group, Altos, and Kream.
These investments tap into the cultural zeitgeist of local markets. The phenomenon arguably most visible in Korea where K-wave has evolved to encompass food, fashion, and various other cultural exports, as well as the ubiquitous TV dramas and popstars.
Both Kream and Musinsa grasp that their scope extends well beyond sneakers. Musinsa stocks local and foreign designer brands – plus its in-house offering – and has launched online communities, a brand incubator, a direct-to-consumer brand operator, and an offline multicultural lounge that facilitates face-to-face engagement with customers and allows space for pop-up stores.
KKR described the company as an anchor of Korea’s creator economy for fashion.
CHART
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.
The rest of the week
FUNDS
DEALS
OTHER
For your calendar
UPCOMING EVENTS

 

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