Vietnam's Mekong Capital appoints new partner

Ovel joins from local interior furnishings company AA Corporation where he spent seven years, the last five as CEO. AA was a Mekong portfolio company between 2003 and 2011, when it was exited to an undisclosed investment fund, generating a gross multiple of 2x and a gross IRR of approximately 10%.

During Ovel's tenure as CEO, AA's revenue from international sales rose from 10% to more than 50%, while revenue and EBITDA saw compound annual growth of 51% and 60%, respectively.

Prior to joining AA, he worked at furniture exporter ScanCom Vietnam and as development director for the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Indochina.

"We've worked closely with Chad while he was at AA Corporation, and we were so impressed by his leadership and his tremendous impact on the success of the company," Freund said. "With his strong operating expertise and deep roots in Vietnam, we're confident that Chad will play a major role in leading Mekong Capital to being one of the most consistently successful private equity firms in Asia."

Mekong is currently raising its third fund, which has a target of $150 million, three times the size of its 2006 vintage predecessor. Earlier this year, the firm made a partial exit from mobile phone retailer Mobile World to a pan-regional fund, securing an 11x return. The plan is to take the company public next year.

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