Quotes from the AVCJ Investment Summit

John Connaughton, managing director of Bain Capital:

"It is amazing how the markets go up and down but the reality is no matter how confident you are about the future, every day we wake up with the inevitability of having to de-lever. That is a drag we haven't seen for generations and it does not go away through wishing it away. There is going to be a slow and sluggish recovery that will be difficult for consumers and governments to deal with."

"We are not trying to predict how fast developing markets will grow; they will grow in the long term. We are not trying to forecast how sluggish Europe and the US will be; we know they will be sluggish. What we are calculating is the impact this will have on pricing. How discounted with Europe become? What premium is being awarded to emerging markets based on a high growth rate? The most important thing is to be sensitive to the valuation cycle and be comfortable with the three-year-and-out horizon we are investing over."

Andrew Liu, managing partner and CEO of Unitas Capital, on operational involvement:

"You have to dig deep, deep, deep - and this allows you to do two things. First is operational improvement. You need to convince management that you know what you are doing and get them to buy into your plan. Second is the timing of investment. You need to buy at the trough of the cycle and exit at the peak of the cycle."

Paul McCullagh, managing director of Pacific Equity Partners, on exits:

"We think about the exit before we buy the company. Unless we have a clear view of what we are going to do, we won't invest. In most circumstances, if the buyer we originally had in mind does not buy the asset, they have certainly been involved in the process."

Gulpreet Kohli, managing director, ChrysCapital Investment Advisors, on PIPE deals in India:

"It gives you flexibility. The financial services sector in India is growing at 20% a year and 90% of the companies are listed, but I'm still going to invest in the sector."

Anubha Shrivastava, managing director for Asia at CDC Group, on PIPE deals in India:

"I think LPs recognize that every market is slightly different and in the India context, where many LPs were asking why they would pay to invest in listed companies, they see the challenges that come with doing pure PE deals. We have seen a change in the mindset on the part of LPs and they accept a more flexible approach to PIPEs. However, the question of what should be the economics of these deals is still on the table."

Nelson Griggs, senior vice president and head of Asia Pacific markets at NASDAQ QMX, on exits:

"Five years ago we had a few Indian listings, led by Infosys, and then a dry period. But the Makemytrip offering showed that you can get better valuations in the US than on the local markets. There is now a group of companies in the tech space preparing to list in the US. We expect one more this year and 4-8 next year."

The Investment Summit formed part of the 24th annual AVCJ Forum, which took place from November 7-10 in Hong Kong. For more information, go to www.avcjforum.com.

 

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• GPs
• LPs
• Bain Capital Asia
• CDC Group
• ChrysCapital Management
• Pacific Equity Partners
• Unitas Capital
• AVCJ Private Equity & Venture Forum