Carlyle commits $85m to China’s Ubox

The investment was made via Carlyle Beijing Partners Fund, the firm's renminbi-denominated fund set up with the support of the Beijing municipal government.

Established in 2010, Ubox manufactures and distributes vending machines. Through its self-operated and franchise business mobiles, the company operated more than 30,000 vending machines across 58 cities as of the end of June.

Ubox also provides customers with an integrated online-to-offline shopping experience whereby they can shop online and then collect their purchases from Ubox vending machines. In addition, the company has a digital marketing platform through which advertisers can promote products.

"China's vending machine market is still at an early stage of development, with great potential for growth. The industry has seen an accelerated pace of growth in recent years, driven by increasing disposable income, rising urban population density and consumers' preference for convenient lifestyles," said Eric Zhang, a managing director with Carlyle's Asia buyout team, in a statement.

The company plans to use the proceeds to further expand its vending machine network in China, improve digital marketing and advertising efforts, and look into providing other value-add services to customers.

Last month, Carlyle committed $115 million from its growth fund to JIC Leasing, the equipment leasing subsidiary of China Jianyin Investment. This came shortly after the GP announced it committed $120 million from its buyout fund to Shanghai ANE Logistics.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Renminbi fund
• Expansion
• Consumer
• The Carlyle Group
• Renminbi
• Consumer
• Growth capital