Investcorp, Fung Capital launch $500m GBA fund
Bahrain-headquartered Investcorp and Fung Capital, the PE investment arm of Hong Kong’s Fung Investments, have established a USD 500m Greater Bay Area (GBA) fund.
The Investcorp Fung GBA Fund was announced in Riyadh as part of Saudi Arabia’s Future Investment Initiative and represents the fourth joint venture between Investcorp and Fung. The idea is to combine Investcorp’s global alternatives investment platform and Fung’s 115 years of commercial history connecting Asia with the rest of the world.
The fund, expected to be operated out of Hong Kong, will make equity or equity-linked investments in growing and profitable companies based in or with nexus Guangdong province, Hong Kong and Macau. It will target control buyouts of middle-market companies across sectors, especially where they meet unique needs and aspirations of millennials and generations-Z demographics.
Investcorp has identified upside in the GBA’s per capita GDP of USD $22,501, which is still a fraction of comparable megalopolises such as Tokyo (USD 45,084), New York (USD 78,586), or San Francisco (USD $128,573). The region’s population is 87m, and its economy is touted as larger than that of Canada.
Mohammed Alardhi, Investcorp’s executive chairman, said the GBA’s role as one of China’s main economic engines has never been more important as the country looks to rebalance its economy towards a consumption and innovation-driven model. He identified particular potential in helping mid-cap GBA companies targeting Asian and global customers develop into significantly larger players.
“The GBA’s business ecosystem includes one of the globally leading capital markets, Hong Kong, China’s leading technology and innovation hub, Shenzhen, a plethora of world-class manufacturing and R&D city clusters all efficiently linked together by high-speed train and to the world through leading airports and container ports,” said Investcorp’s co-CEO Hazem Ben-Gacem, said in a statement.
“This is underpinned by the continuous influx of a highly educated and skilled workforce and in combination has created big success stories such as Tencent, ByteDance, BYD and Mindray.”
Investcorp’s previous cooperations with Fung include the Asia Food Growth Fund, which was launched alongside China Resources in 2019 and reached a first close of USD 275m against a target of USD 500m in 2020. That fund has made at least four investments to date, including Viz Branz, a Singapore-based instant food supplier pursuing an aggressive China expansion.
More on Greater China
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.