Goldman leads $900m stapled secondary for Baring Asia
Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA) has completed a stapled secondary of nearly USD 900m, which saw an investor consortium commit capital to its eighth fund and take out positions in two earlier vehicles.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management led the investor group, with AlpInvest Partners, LGT Capital Partners, and Partners Group among the other participants, according to sources close to the situation. Goldman is investing through its vintage funds strategy, which is currently deploying a USD 10bn global secondaries fund.
BPEA and Goldman Sachs both declined to comment.
The secondary positions acquired are in BPEA's fifth and sixth funds, which closed on USD 2.46bn and USD 3.98bn in 2011 and 2015, respectively. The staple comprises a commitment of around USD 270m to Fund VIII. As of autumn 2021, that vehicle had completed two closes, reaching USD 8.5bn – equivalent to the overall target. A final close in the region of USD 10bn is expected.
BPEA has scaled up significantly in recent vintages and it will soon become part of an even larger platform, having agreed to a EUR 6.8bn (USD 7.5bn) merger with EQT. The cash-and-stock deal will see EQT acquire 100% of BPEA's management company and have rights to 25% of the carried interest from Fund VI, 35% from Fund VII, and 35% from all future funds, including Fund VIII.
The gross multiple and net IRR for Fund V were 1.8x and 8% as of June 2021, according to Employees' Retirement System of Rhode Island, with USD 1.7bn in unrealised value out of USD 5.7bn in total. The comparable figures for Fund VI were 2.3x, 20%, and USD 4.8bn out of USD 9.4bn.
Current Fund V investments include Kyobo Life Insurance and Cath Kidston. BPEA and other investors exercised their put options against the founder of Kyobo Life in 2019 and last year an arbitration ruling endorsed their right to enforce. UK-headquartered lifestyle retailer Cath Kidston completed a restructuring in 2020, which saw BPEA re-acquire a slimmed-down business out of administration.
The Fund VI portfolio features corporate services provider Vistra Group, which was the private equity firm's largest-ever buyout when acquired in 2015, and school operator Nord Anglia Education. The Nord Anglia transaction in 2017 saw BPEA take out positions held by its third and fourth funds, while Canada Pension Plan Investment Board came in as a significant investor.
BPEA pursues mid and large-cap buyouts across Asia as well as backing global companies that can benefit from Asian exposure. Favoured sectors include healthcare, education, consumer, financial services, business and technology services, and industrials. Fund VIII writes checks of USD 150-500m for companies with enterprise valuations of USD 500m to USD 2bn.
However, around 10% of the corpus is expected to be deployed in high-growth companies and special situations, with additional capital earmarked for corporate partnering.
More on Secondaries
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.