FountainVest closes debut renminbi fund at $246.5m

The private equity firm was set up in 2007 by former members of Temasek Holdings' China investment team, led by Frank Tang (pictured). It has $4.5 billion in capital under management.

The new fund will follow the same investment themes that underpin the GP's US dollar funds: the rise of the middle class and domestic consumption, urbanization and industrialization, and sustainable development. It will focus on areas including high-end manufacturing, healthcare, and consumer financial services, writing checks of RMB80-200 million. In addition to backing growth-stage companies, the fund will selectively look at opportunities at earlier stages and involving large-scale M&A.

FountainVest didn't identify any of the LPs for the renminbi fund. The GP simply noted that it would work with a number of “strategic investment firms” in the LP base on co-investments. LPs on the US dollar side may participate as well.

FountainVest closed its third US dollar fund in 2016 at the hard cap of $2.1 billion. The largest anchor investors in the previous two funds - Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP) and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) - both re-upped. Pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies and other institutional investors from North America, Europe, Australia, Middle East, and Asia make up most of the LP base.

The GP's latest high-profile deal is the privatization of Finland-listed Amer Sports, which owns brands such as Salomon, Atomic, and Louisville Slugger. The firm, together with a consortium including Chinese sportswear retailer Anta Sports, Chip Wilson, the founder of Lululemon Athletica, and Tencent Holdings recently won board support for a EUR4.6 billion ($5.23 billion) offer.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Consumer
• Renminbi fund
• Growth
• China
• Renminbi
• Fountainvest Partners
• Fundraising