Hong Kong PE stalwart John Levack dies aged 64

Levack returned to his native England in 2021, having spent nearly half his life in Asia. He died peacefully at the end of January, surrounded by his family, the HKVCA said in a statement. The association plans to hold a memorial ceremony on April 13.

Recruited by 3i Group in 1982, Levack started out in the UK before establishing and running an office in the Channel Islands. In 1990, he relocated to India and was placed in charge of a joint venture between 3i and Grindlays Bank. This was one of the first private equity operations in the country.

Levack joined Electra in 1994 to pursue a pan-regional growth capital strategy. The firm’s ultimate shareholder was London-listed investment trust Electra Private Equity. The nature of the capital pool allowed for holds of long duration. Electra waited 18 years before exiting India’s Zensar Technologies.

"Every six months or so we would sit down, do a review, and conclude that this was a business valued at a discount to its peers and planning to grow at or above the maximum rate of return Electra is looking for," Levack told AVCJ in 2015 after Zensar was finally sold to Apax Partners.

"We were able to take the view that this is a business we know well and we understand the risks well, so why sell when it is beating the return promised to shareholders?"

That exit came amid a realisation drive by the investment trust, which was eventually wound up. The Asia portfolio generated an approximately 5x return. Levack turned to various other projects and continued to be involved with HKVCA, where he was a board member from 2006 to 2021.

He spent much time spearheading the association’s efforts on professional development and education within the private equity industry. Levack chaired the education committee for over 10 years, overseeing the construction of the curriculum, content, and teaching faculty for the PE fundamentals course.

He was also the founding member of the technical committee and served as chairman for eight years. Under his leadership, the committee became a significant communication channel between the industry and government. Levack lobbied tirelessly on issues such as fund-level tax exemptions, reforms to limited partnership legislation, and the tax treatment of carried interest.

“His invaluable contributions to the HKVCA will be dearly remembered and the role he played in the advancement of the private equity and venture capital industry in Hong Kong is a legacy that will not be forgotten,” HKVCA noted.

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• Topics
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