Southeast Asia's Dymon seeks $550m for Fund III

The fundraising process is scheduled to begin on April 8 with existing investors expected to account for the bulk of commitments, according to a source close to the situation. DAPE declined to comment. The firm closed its debut fund on SGD 300m (USD 225m) in 2014 and followed up with USD 450m for a second vehicle in 2018, beating a target of USD 350m.

The GP commitment to the fund will, once again, be relatively large by Asian standards, the source added. For Fund II, it was a double-digit percentage, with the management team members participating as well as individuals from DAPE’s sister hedge fund. The firm was established in 2012 as a private equity unit under hedge fund manager Dymon Asia Capital.

The new vehicle will follow the same strategy as its predecessor, which writes equity cheques of USD 15m to USD 50m for profitable companies with revenues of USD 20m to USD 500m. Most of DAPE’s investments to date have been in Singapore and Malaysia, though the GP is also present in Thailand.

There are three key investment themes: shifting consumer behaviour, which encompasses proxies to rising middle incomes such as education as well as consumer product and services; manufacturing and engineering, specifically companies that are advantaged being in Southeast Asia; and technology adoption, where previous deals have involved turning traditional vending machine business Advend Systems cashless.

Recent investment activity includes a take-private offer for Singapore-listed healthcare services provider Singapore O&G at a valuation of SGD 141m. It is one of several privatisations pursued or executed by DAPE, typically involving businesses majority-owned by families or management teams and with low public market liquidity.

Fund I made 12 investments, of which half have been exited. Fund II has completed 11 deals to date and seen two partial exits. Dairy producer Farm Fresh completed a MYR 1bn (USD 238m) IPO in Malaysia last month, enabling DAPE to exit almost its entire holding. The other exit was from Frontken Corporation, a Malaysia-listed semiconductor industry services provider.

The Fund III launch follows several promotions intended to augment the senior team. Gabriel Ho has become DAPE’s fourth partner, alongside the three managing partners, Keith Tan, Gerald Chiu, and Chow Yin Tan. Meanwhile, Shao Ming Thein was elevated to managing director. Both Ho and Thein have been with the firm since its inception.

There have been three other significant final closes by Southeast Asia-based private equity managers in the past 12 months. Navis Capital Partners raised USD 900m for its eighth vehicle, while also securing USD 450m for a continuation vehicle that features five companies from its sixth fund, and then Northstar Group secured USD 590m for its fifth fund. Both came in under target.

More recently, Creador, which invests in India as well as in Southeast Asia, closed its fifth fund at the hard cap of USD 680m.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Fundraising
• Growth
• GPs
• Singapore
• Malaysia
• Thailand
• Dymon Asia
• Fundraising