General Atlantic seeks to leverage local presence in Indonesia

The expansion will be led by Ashish Saboo, a former executive at PwC and local conglomerate CT Corp, who has been named General Atlantic's managing director and chief representative in the country. 

"Whether you look at the population or GDP, Indonesia is more than 40% of the Southeast Asia economy," Saboo told AVCJ. "That's something that demands focused attention. You need to cultivate relationships deeper. You need to be present and have a better understanding of businesses to be able to realize opportunities in a more meaningful way."

Saboo has 22 years of experience in Indonesia, including 10 years as an executive director at PwC and 12 years leading business development for CT Corp, which operates across a range of retail, media, technology, and financial services segments. He expects to build up a team of 3-4 professionals in the near term, including dedicated staff and part-time advisors.

"The demand for capital in Indonesia is huge because everybody knows that size is becoming important in today's world," Saboo added. "Companies are looking at growing faster, and they want to diversify their sources of capital. For a lot of entrepreneurs, both the established and emerging ones, they also need expertise in some of these sectors."

General Atlantic has invested $200 million in Southeast Asia since 1999 across five companies, including Indonesia-based MAP Boga Adiperkasa, a franchisor for brands such as Starbucks, Pizza Express, Krispy Kreme, and Godiva. The private equity firm increased its focus on the country in 2017 with the appointment of John A. Prasetio, a former ambassador and current president commissioner of the Indonesia Stock Exchange, as a special advisor.

To date, Indonesian activity has been managed via General Atlantic's regional headquarters in Singapore, which was established in 2011 and currently headed by Wai Hoong Fock. Both Fock and Saboo report directly to Sandeep Naik, the firm's Mumbai-based managing director and head of India and Asia Pacific.

"[W]e firmly believe that the most effective way to build partnerships with the most promising growth companies is through having a presence on the ground," Naik said in a statement.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• GPs
• People
• Indonesia
• Appointments
• General Atlantic