VIDEO: Saratoga Capital's Sandiaga Uno

"We have been active in natural resources but with commodity prices now feeling the pinch we have been looking more at infrastructure," he says. "The question is whether private equity can deliver above market returns for these kinds of long-gestation projects. But we were able to do this in the past with Towers Bersama and now we are crystallizing similar returns in our power portfolio."

Following the general and presidential elections last year, many investors hoped to see a more active transaction market. Uno claims to see momentum in the smaller investment space but this has yet to filter through to all parts of the market. However, tighter liquidity has made entrepreneurs more willing to consider selling their businesses to private equity.

"The key is to convince them that ceding control does not really mean they lose their business," Uno explains. "We would work in partnership with them and improve governance, execution and management. We have a fixed for staying in the company so we would say that, once the investment is ready to be harvested, they can regain control if they can provide the capital."

As for the groups competing with private equity for deals, the hedge funds and banks that were once so active have to a certain extent been replaced by family conglomerates.

"They look at these businesses not only to increase their footprint but also cross-breed synergies in their portfolio of investments," Uno says. "But I am optimistic. Private equity offers a capital solution, particularly for medium-sized companies that want to graduate to world class, regional companies."

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