University of Michigan commits to Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia IV
The University of Michigan has committed $25 million to Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia’s (MSPEA) fourth pan-regional fund. The vehicle, which reached a first close of $750 million towards the end of last year after less than six months in the market, has a final target of around $1.5 billion.
The university, which has financial assets of $9.4 billion, including $8 billion in its endowment fund, invested a total of $40 million in two previous MSPEA vehicles. Other LPs that have disclosed commitments to the new fund include Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System (PSERS), which put in $100 million.
Fund IV follows a similar strategy to that of its predecessor - which closed at $1.49 billion in October 2007 - pursuing a combination of minority and control investments in public and private mid-sized growth businesses. It primarily focuses on the consumer, financial services, industrial products sectors, as well as service-related businesses in general. The key geographies are China and South Korea.
MSPEA is currently involved in take-private deals for two US-listed Chinese companies - Feihe International and Yongye International - and completed a carve-out of Beijing convenience store chain Hi-24 last November. Its most recent Korea deal was the acquisition of a majority stake in bathroom tissue producer Monalisa for KRW91.4 billion ($84.2 million).
Several pan-Asia funds are currently in the market, seeking more than $20 billion between them, although $6 billion of this is KKR's second regional vehicle, which has already accumulated its capital but has yet to make an official closing announcement.
As of January 2013, the University of Michigan had a long-term portfolio of $8.2 billion, of which $4.1 billion - or 49.4% - was in alternative assets. The private equity allocation was 14.8%, with 14.6% in real estate, 11% in venture capital and 9% in natural resources.
Other recent Asia commitments include $4 million for Sequoia Capital China Venture Fund IV, which filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission last August. The VC firm's previous China-focused vehicle, Sequoia Capital China Venture 2010 Fund, had received $301 million in commitments by May 2011. The parallel growth capital vehicle drew just over $600 million from LPs.
More on Fundraising
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.