Orion hits $205m first close on third Asia debt fund
Orion Capital Asia, a private credit manager that spun out from Olympus Capital Asia three years ago, has reached a first close of USD 205m on its third fund.
The target size of the vehicle – which has already started deploying capital – was not disclosed. Orion invested more than USD 400m across each of its first two funds. Aggregate investment to date, including commitments from co-lenders, amounts to more than USD 1.5bn.
The firm works with both private equity sponsors and local entrepreneurs, providing medium-term secured loans to middle-market businesses that have been underserved by traditional banking channels. It operates across multiple sectors with an emphasis on growth capital, acquisition finance, and other corporate initiatives – often delivered as bespoke solutions spanning multiple jurisdictions.
Olympus entered the credit space in 2013, allocating a portion of its third pan-regional private equity fund to the nascent business. From the outset, the private equity and credit divisions operated independently of each other, with dedicated teams.
When the team spun out from Olympus, the business lacked scale – it had raised one fund and several separately managed accounts (SMA) and issued more than USD 1bn in loans. A new sponsor was needed, but the team was keen to secure a high degree of autonomy. Consequently, advances from large credit businesses in Europe and the US that didn’t have a presence in Asia were rejected.
“I have seen firsthand, coming from global banks, how important it is to have local decision-making. We didn’t want to become a small offshoot of a large US or European firm, so we only worked with parties where we were not going to become employees of that institution,” Nitish Agarwal, Orion’s CIO, told AVCJ in 2021.
Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) provided a solution. It was willing to put in capital while scrutinizing from afar – taking a stake in the GP in return for an SMA mandate and a commitment to its next fund.
Regarding the first close on Fund III, Agarwal said in a statement: “The success of this fundraising is a strong validation of our investment strategy and investment track record, and positions Orion well to capture the opportunity set in middle market direct lending in Asia Pacific that has become even more attractive in current market conditions.”
More on Fundraising
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.