EQT opens Australia office

The Sydney team will be led by Ken Wong, a managing director at the firm who previously headed Australasian activities from Singapore. “Australia and New Zealand has an abundance of investment opportunities in EQT’s core sectors, and we have already started to see that EQT’s differentiated approach to active, responsible and growth-focused ownership resonate with management teams, founders and corporates,” Wong said in a statement.

EQT’s first invested in Australia in 2014 when it led a consortium including Canadian pension giant Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec and Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC Private in the acquisition of I-Med Network Radiology at an estimated valuation of A$600 million ($400 million). Following an expansion of I-Med’s clinic portfolio and a number of bolt-on acquisitions, it exited the business business to Permira in a 2018 transaction said to be worth A$1.3 billion.

“We believe that Australia and New Zealand are some of the most interesting markets in the Asia Pacific region and one where EQT can make a positive impact on portfolio companies as well as local communities,” added Thomas von Koch, a deputy managing partner and chairman for Asia Pacific at EQT. “Putting EQT’s flag on the ground in Sydney is part of our global expansion strategy and ambition to establish a local presence across the regions EQT invests in.”

EQT made several forays into Australia during 2019, including the acquisition of cloud services provider Nexon Asia Pacific via the $800 million Mid-Market Asia III fund, which deploys in a range of EUR40-100 million ($44-109 million). Meanwhile, EQT Infrastructure has agreed to purchase 100% of retirement village operator Metlifecare for an undisclosed sum.

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• Topics
• Australasia
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• Buyouts
• Australia
• EQT Partners