EQT invests in Chinese facilities management business

The size of the transaction has not been disclosed, although the fund in question, which closed at $800 million earlier this year, targets deployments in the EUR40-100 million ($47-119 million) range. EQT bought the position from existing management shareholders.

Founded in 2016 in Shanghai, Shine provides general cleaning, support, building maintenance, security and integrated facility management services. It claims to employ 7,500 people across more than 100 projects in 70 cities. The company is on track to achieve sales of RMB200 million ($30 million) for 2018, EQT said in a statement.

Working with the existing management team – led by Jack Zhou, the CEO and chairman, Sally Wu, the COO, and Alan Pang, the general manager – the private equity firm plans to drive expansion in China’s underpenetrated and fragmented facility management industry. This will come through a combination of organic growth and add-on acquisitions that enlarge Shine’s service scope and its geographic footprint.

Other activity in the facilities management space includes CITIC Capital’s purchase of a majority stake in Jiangsu Sky Facility Management in April. More diversified services and national expansion underpinned the investment thesis in this case as well.

Another deal came last year as Advantage Partners sold ESG Holdings to Primavera Capital Group. During its five-year holding period, the GP brought in a Japanese strategic player as a co-investor to provide training and introduce new systems and processes. This supported a broadening of the company’s offering, which initially focused on cleaning-related services.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Greater China
• Expansion
• Support services
• China
• EQT Partners
• Growth capital