Baring Asia targets $3b for Fund VI

Sources familiar with the matter told AVCJ that the fund is expected to launch within the next two months.

The predecessor vehicle beat its original target of $1.75 billion when it reached a final close of $2.46 billion in January 2011 after just six months in the market. The fund most recently backed the $2.9 billion take-private of Chinese game developer Giant Interactive alongside Hony Capital.

Speaking to AVCJ last year, Jean Eric Salata, Baring's CEO, said that deployment of the fund had initially been intentionally slow due to high valuations. He also noted that Baring's team across the region had grown to around 100 as the firm places greater emphasis on operational capabilities.

"If you look at the size of our funds versus the resources we have, we have increased the size of the team more than the size of the fund," Salata said. "The number of investment professionals per dollar of capital is much higher than before."

In January, Fund V exited Chinese cosmetic facial masks specialist Magic Holdings International after L'Oreal got approval to acquire the company in a deal worth $843 million. Baring acquired a 15% interest in Magic Holdings in January 2012 for HK$451 million and six months later invested another HK$146 million.

Baring also recently exited its stake in Indonesian air freight and passenger services provider Cardig Aero Services - a Fund IV investment - to Singapore Airport Terminal Services for IDR1.1 billion ($93.5 million).

Last week, Nord Anglia Education, a portfolio company of Fund III and Fund IV, raised $304 million through a US IPO. Baring did not sell any shares in the offering but it has already taken money out of the company through a dividend recap.

 

 

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• Topics
• Fundraising
• Buyout
• Baring Private Equity Asia
• Fundraising
• Asia