Exacta seeks $350m for SE Asia fund, wins ADB support
Singapore’s Exacta Capital Partners, a PE firm affiliated with Mizuho Asia Partners, has received USD 25m from Asian Development Bank (ADB) for its latest fund. The target is USD 350m.
The fund launched mid-last year and received a USD 25m commitment last November from the International Finance Corporation (IFC). ADB and IFC respectively identified Exacta and Mizuho Asia as the manager.
Exacta has raised USD 670m across three funds since its establishment in 2012. Fund II closed on USD 238m, short of a USD 250m target, in late 2018. It received a cornerstone investment from Mizuho, plus contributions from ADB, Germany’s DEG, France’s Proparco, and Japan’s Dai-ichi Life Insurance.
The first fund was launched as Mizuho ASEAN PE Fund in 2013 with a mandate that included connecting Southeast Asian and Japanese companies. Joint ventures in this vein remain on the agenda for Exacta Asia Investment III. Japan’s Mizuho Bank, the parent of Singapore-based Mizuho Asia, owned about 40% of Exacta as of 2017.
Similar to its predecessors, Fund III will make sector-agnostic investments, taking significant minority positions – and control stakes opportunistically – in lower middle market companies across Southeast Asia. Healthcare, financial services, education, manufacturing, business services, and consumer have been identified as sectors of interest.
ADB will assist Exacta in adopting gender impact tools in its investment processes for all future investees, alongside other gender and climate-friendly measures. IFC said it could provide co-investment and debt support for portfolio companies.
“The fund will invest in companies that look to provide quality products and services in the region’s underpenetrated markets, which will help drive business growth,” Suzanne Gaboury, director general for private sector operations at ADB, said in a statement.
“ADB’s investments in the private equity sphere not only mobilize private capital but also contribute to the adoption of environmental, social, and governance best practices.”
Recent investments include Singapore-based Xcelerate, a compliance management automation provider that is also backed by Japan’s Altair Capital. Exacta acquired 100% of Philippines-headquartered gym operator Anytime Fitness Asia in 2020, a time when all the company’s Singapore locations were shuttered due to COVID-19.
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