Advent raises $25bn for global PE fund, targets China

“Our investment in [Greater China] has accelerated over the past three years, surpassing the aggregate investment amount in the prior seven years. At the same time, the size of our local team has more than doubled over this period,” Andrew Li, a managing director and head of Greater China at Advent, said in a statement.

“We look forward to continuing our long-term commitment to China, which plays a critical role in contributing to global economic growth, with plans to accelerate our focus of investment activity in Greater China and increase the size of our local team here over the next several years.”

The fund, GPE X, was raised in less than six months. It is the 10th vintage in its series, with Fund IX having closed on USD 17.5bn in 2019, also in the space of six months. As recently as December, Advent reached the hard cap of USD 4bn for its second global technology fund, beating a target of USD 3bn. That fund was likewise said to be raised within six months.

LPs in GPE X include public and private pensions, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and foundations, institutional fund managers, family offices, and high net worth individuals. Most of the commitments came from investors in prior Advent funds.

The fund will continue a strategy of operationally intensive investing across sectors, deal types, and sizes, including complex carve-outs from large corporations and public-to-private transactions. It will retain a geographic focus on Europe and North America, which have historically accounted for at least 80% of capital deployed.

The Asia allocation has traditionally focused strongly on China and India, with recent activity including a string of pharmaceuticals investments such as China’s GS Capsule and India’s ZCL. The sale – alongside other investors – of a majority stake in Indian wealth manager Ask Investment Managers to The Blackstone Group features in recent exit activity in the region.

Healthcare and financial services will remain focus areas, as well as industrials, retail, consumer and leisure, and technology. Technology investments will receive support from an in-house data science resource called Advent Labs and a San Francisco-based tech team. GPE X may also co-invest with the global tech fund.

Advent has been active in Asia since 1994 and established an office in Shanghai in 2012. The firm has invested about USD 5.9bn in the region, including RMB 10bn (USD 1.5bn) in Greater China in the past 10 years alone. The Greater China team also works with Advent’s global sector team, including 265 plus investment professionals, to analyse potential expansion opportunities.

Since its inception in 1984, Advent has made more than 390 private equity investments globally. This includes USD 15b invested in about 90 corporate carve-outs and more than 25 public-to-private transactions. With the latest fundraise, assets under management amount to more than USD 100bn.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• North America
• Fundraising
• Consumer
• Financials
• Healthcare
• Industrials
• Technology
• Buyout
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• China
• Advent International