Boyu stands out in weak quarter for private equity fundraising

The China-based GP raised $5 billion for its flagship fund and $1 billion for an accompanying growth vehicle, achieving a final close in the second quarter, according to a source close to the situation. Boyu didn't respond to a request for comment.

LPs that have disclosed their participation include Alaska Permanent Fund and New York State Common Retirement Fund. Both investors also backed Fund IV. The growth vehicle is a new addition for this vintage. Boyu raised $1 billion for its debut fund, $1.5 billion for its second, $2 billion for its third, and $3.5 billion for its fourth. All comprised single pools of capital.

A separate source shared performance data for these vehicles as of the third quarter of 2020. Fund I (2011 vintage) had delivered a multiple of 4.2x, Fund II (2013) was on 4x, and Funds III (2016) and IV (2018) were on 1.8x and 1.7x, respectively.

The firm was established in 2011 by Sean Tong, formerly of Providence Equity Partners, Alvin Jiang, grandson of former Chinese president Jiang Zemin, Mary Ma, a long-serving executive of Lenevo Group who moved into private equity with TPG Capital, and Louis Cheng, previously an executive director at Ping An Insurance. Ma died in 2019, aged 66.

Boyu is a prolific investor in technology and healthcare. In the past 18 months, it has backed the likes of short video platform Kuaishou, online cosmetics brand Perfect Diary, travel app Klook, online tuition platform Yuanfudao, and artificial intelligence specialist 4Paradigm. Within healthcare, recent additions to the portfolio include drug developers Ocumension Therapeutics, Antengene, and D3 Bio.

Perfect Diary, Kuaishou, Ocumension, and Antengene have all since gone public.

Asia-focused private equity managers raised $22.3 billion in the second quarter of 2021, AVCJ Research's provisional data show. While the total is likely to be revised upwards as previously undisclosed fundraising activity emerges, the gap to first quarter – when $27.2 billion was raised – is sizeable.

Fundraising rebounded from $16.6 billion in the first quarter of 2020 to $42.2 billion in the subsequent three months, but the total has fallen in each subsequent quarter. The number of partial or final closes has been volatile quarter-to-quarter, but generally below pre-COVID-19 levels. There were fewer than 90 in the April-June period, the lowest quarterly total in eight years.

Boyu was one of only eight closes of $500 million or more. Among the top 10 closes in the quarter, The Blackstone Group is the sole large-cap pan-regional representative, hitting a first close of $3.1 billion – against an overall target of $5 billion – on its second Asia fund. Eight of the 10 are China-focused, with the country collecting 71% of all the capital committed by LPs across the region.

There were first closes for CPE – formerly known as CITIC Private Equity – and Orchid Asia. The former raised $1.1 billion for its fourth fund, for which it is seeking $3 billion; the latter accumulated $1.1 billion against a $1.6 billion target. Four of the others are VC-focused. 5Y Capital raised $1.7 billion for its latest early and growth-stage vehicles and Unicorn Capital Partners collected $450 million for its latest fund-of-funds.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Fundraising
• Growth
• China
• Asia
• Fundraising
• Boyu Capital
• Citic Private Equity
• Orchid Asia Group Management
• 5Y capital
• Unicorn Capital Partners