SAIF seeks $800m for China fund

The fund - the first raised by SAIF since its India team spun-out in 2011 - has a hard cap of $1 billion, according to sources in the LP community. The firm's fourth vehicle, which covered Greater China and India, closed at $1.3 billion in September 2010.

Investors in SAIF Partners IV include California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), New York State Common Retirement Fund, Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board, and State of Wisconsin Investment Board. Performance data disclosed by CalPERS indicate that the fund had delivered a net IRR of 9.6% and a multiple of 1.3x as of June 2015.

SAIF closed its third fund at $1.1 billion in 2007, by which point it was fully independent of former parent SoftBank Corp. The business was established in 2001 with the launch of the SoftBank Asia Infrastructure Fund, a collaborative effort between SoftBank and Cisco. SAIF has also raised several renminbi-denominated vehicles.

SAIF India has closed two funds, each of $350 million, since spinning out. The first of these, raised in 2011, included a commitment from SAIF Partners IV, which wanted to retain approximately 20% exposure to India. The India team also continued to manage India assets in existing SAIF vehicles.

The SAIF Partners team is led by Managing Partner Andrew Yan and has offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Changzhou, Xiamen and Hefei. The strategy is to partner with local entrepreneurs who have built companies that have exposure to fast-growing industries, emerging industries and cross-border investment opportunities.

Companies should be established and cash-flow positive. SAIF invests between $10 million and $100 million across one or multiple rounds of funding, typically takes a stake of 15-40%, and has board representation. The firm currently manages more than $4 billion in capital and has invested in over 200 companies since its inception.

The SAIF Partners IV portfolio includes e-commerce businesses COFCO Womai, Meici and yMatou.com, clean energy specialists Meize Wind Blade, NVC Lighting and Guodian Technology & Environment, and a range of healthcare products and services providers such as Biosensors International, Dnurse, Huaxi and Sinovac. Earlier this month SAIF backed a management buyout bid for US-listed Sinovac.

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