General Atlantic branches into Singapore
General Atlantic (GA) has opened an office in Singapore, adding to an Asian presence that already includes bases in Beijing, Mumbai and Hong Kong. Managing Director Abhay Havaldar will lead a team tasked with expanding the private equity firm’s reach into Southeast Asia. He will be joined by Nick Nash, a vice president who is relocating from New York.
GA, which manages $17 billion globally, opened its first Asian office in 1999 and has since invested nearly $2 billion in two dozen companies in the region.
"As one of the first growth equity firms to expand globally and build regional investment teams, we are excited about extending our presence into Southeast Asia," Bill Ford, CEO of GA, said in a statement. "Abhay Havaldar established our Mumbai office nearly eight years ago and built it into one of our largest offices worldwide. It is a strong sign of our commitment to growth companies in Southeast Asia that we have asked Abhay and Nick to relocate to Singapore to launch our investment activities in the region."
Havaldar added that GA's presence in Singapore would support what has so far been a China and India-focused strategy. Recent China investments include tea products retailer Tenfu, hypermarket chain Sun Art Retail Group, which raised $1.1 billion last year through a Hong Kong IPO, and online real estate portal Soufun.
Indian firms have received around $1 billion from GA in the past nine years. The private equity firm has made 2.5x its capital on the four deals it has exited. Investments include Induslnd Bank, hydroelectric power producer Asian Genco and, in the last fortnight, analytics outsourcing firm Mu Sigma and logistics specialist Fourcee Infrastructure Equipment.
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