AXA PE opens Beijing office, reaches halfway point on third Asia fund

"About half of our investments in Asia have been in China and North Asia accounts for 70% of our business in the region as a whole," Jenhao Han, head of AXA Private Equity Asia, told AVCJ. "North Asia is also important in terms of fundraising and business development. We have established relationships with LPs that are interested in our European expertise."

A physical presence in China is expected to facilitate deeper relationships with Asian counterparties, allowing the AXA PE team to identify synergies between European and Asian portfolios and gain access to more co-investment opportunities. The firm has invested $1.3 billion in Asia over the last seven years, including 12 co-investments with portfolio GPs.

AXA Private Equity, which has $30 billion under management or advisory in Europe, North America and Asia across a variety of strategies, opened its first regional office in Singapore in 2005. It has a team of 10 investment professionals and four support staff in the city. Three professionals will relocate to Beijing with Han dividing his time between the two offices.

In addition to taking responsibility for AXA's Asia funds, the Beijing and Singapore teams will help manage Asia-based assets held by the firm's global secondary and co-investment vehicles.

"Despite the ongoing uncertainty, we continue to look to the future with our new Beijing office," added Dominique Senequier, CEO of AXA Private Equity. "Our increasing global visibility and ability to attract new investors from Asia, America, Europe and the Middle East, ideally positions us to further capitalize on the significant opportunities for our investors and portfolio companies in China."

AXA raised $500 million for its first Asia fund in 2005 and followed up with a second fund of $625 million three years later. Consumer growth is a consistent theme across the firm's vehicles and it is looking at a number of opportunities involving Chinese firms that want to acquire brands and technology overseas.

Han stresses that the objective isn't to replicate deals completed by portfolio GPs but to invest alongside them. "For example, one of our GPs invested in a ladies fashion brand and needed to expand the product line. We have been helping them link up with interested partners," he said.

AXA PE's recent investments in China include cemetery and funeral services company Sage International. Han says this falls under the broad consumer space, noting that the firm has also backed Monash IVF, an in vitro fertilization business in Australia.

"You could say we cover the beginning and end of the consumer cycle and then all the different needs in between, from consumer products to insurance," Han adds.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Fund-of-funds
• Asia
• China
• AXA Private Equity Asia
• Co-investment
• Fund-of-funds