KKR Scoops three prizes at AVCJ Awards

KKR's clutch of prizes came on the back of a remarkable 12 months during which the firm has closed its second pan-Asia fund at $6 billion - the largest regional PE pool ever accumulated - made two significant exits from China Modern Dairy and Japan's Intelligence Holdings, and announced investments of more than $1.8 billion.

Those deals include a $1.67 billion investment in Japan's Panasonic Healthcare, which was singled out for the PE Deal of the Year prize.

Accepting the Firm of the Year Award, Joe Bae, head of KKR Asia, acknowledged the contribution of a regional team that has grown to 120 people over the last eight years, accounting for a sizeable portion of the firm's global business.

"I think many of our LPs are surprised when they see our business in Asia is the same size people-wise as our business in the US," he said. "That is an incredible testament in terms of the passion we feel about the opportunity set here in Asia, the future we think this industry has, and our commitment to this part of the world."

The Operational Value Add Award, presented for the first time this year, is one of only two categories not open to a public vote - the level of supporting documentation required makes wide circulation impractical so the decision is made by a select panel of industry judges in collaboration with the AVCJ Editorial Board. The winner was Headland Capital Partners for its work with Chinese grocery chain Yonghui Superstores, a portfolio company since 2008.

"We have been very fortunate as a firm to have backed an incredible management team," said Marcus Thompson, Headland's CEO, who also paid tribute to the role played by Senior Partner William Shen. "When we made the investment back in 2007 the company was operating in just two provinces in China and six years on we are now in more than 12 provinces and we have quintupled the number of stores."

CVC won Exit of the Year for Indonesia's Matahari Department Store, while Kim won PE Professional of the Year in recognition of MBK closing its third fund at $2.7 billion and sealing three of the region's largest private equity buyouts of the past year.

The parallel venture capital award went to Richard Liu of Morningside Technologies, who said he saw the prize as reward for consistency, having spent his entire 14 years in early-stage investing with the same firm.

The prize for Venture Capital Deal of the Year went to Chinese online vacation homes rental service Tujia, which received a Series B round of funding earlier this year from Lightspeed China, CDH Investments, Qiming Venture Partners, GGV Capital and two strategic investors. James Mi of Lightspeed China - the firm that led Tujia's Series A round - picked up the award.

The final prize of the evening, given at the discretion of the AVCJ Editorial Board, was the AVCJ Special Achievement Award. It went to Wu Shangzhi, who led the team that spun out from China International Capital Corp. in 2001 to form CDH Investments.

"Dr. Wu has created a firm where we truly are trying to be an institution. It's not about one individual," said Stuart Schonberger, managing director of CDH, accepting the award on Wu's behalf. "We set up a small firm with $100 million and four LPs backing us. Today we have relationships with more than 100 LPs and $8 billion under management. But the six original partners are still together."

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• AVCJ Awards