Navegar closes second Philippines fund at $197m
Manila-based private equity firm Navegar has closed its second Philippines fund with $197 million in commitments. The initial target was $150 million.
Fund II was launched last year with a view to extending its predecessor’s mandate to invest middle-market companies in the local consumer and business services sectors. Fund I - a 50-50 joint venture between Sweden’s Brummer & Partners and two local partners - closed at PHP5 billion ($100 million) in 2014.
All LPs in Fund I re-upped for the successor vehicle, according to a statement from Proparco, a French development finance institution (DFI) that provided $15 million. They include Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, as well as fellow DFIs DEG of Germany, FMO of the Netherlands, and the International Finance Corporation. The latter two each provided $20 million.
The LP base also features sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, endowments, family offices, and high net worth individuals representing Asia, Europe, and the US. “We are very pleased with the results of this fundraise,” Honorio Poblador, a managing partner at Navegar, said in a statement. “The success of this effort is all the more notable given that our final close was held in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Navegar is considered a pioneer of private equity in the Philippines, having been established by Poblador and Javier Infante in 2012. It is the only PE manager in the country to have raised a follow-up fund and claims $300 million in assets under management. Investments are in the $10-20 million range, although there have been individual commitments as large as $40 million with co-investment. Core categories include education, healthcare, outsourcing, tourism, transport, and logistics.
Fund II is expected to back six to eight small to medium-sized enterprises facing challenges related to management succession, governance professionalization, and scaling across the Philippines’ 2,000 islands. It has made two investments to date, although they have not been disclosed. Recent activity includes funding rounds for Cloudstaff, an Australian outsourcing player with operations in the Philippines, and online retail services provider Great Deals E-commerce.
“With Navegar’s seasoned team, track record and unique investment focus on the Philippine market, we saw interest in Fund II from high-quality investors globally,” Niklas Amundsson, a partner at Monument Group, which advised on the fundraising, added. “The close of Fund II strategically positions Navegar to continue partnering with proven management teams to maximize value in growing businesses.”
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