Have your say in the 2013 AVCJ Awards

The global buyout firm raised $6 billion for its second pan-Asian fund, nearly twice as much as the next largest vehicle to complete fundraising during the last 12 months. Second place - by size - went to RRJ Capital II, which accumulated an impressive $3.5 billion yet still fell short of the $5 billion it was seeking. Many other GPs have also been forced to rein in their ambitions in a challenging fundraising environment.

All this makes for an interesting Fundraising of the Year category. At one end of the scale sits a big beast, which reached its target faster than immediate rivals - LPs were clearly convinced by KKR's investment thesis and track record, but at the same time the firm has sufficient resources to reach out to potential backers wherever they might be.

Success stories at the mid to small end of the scale stand out by virtue of their specialization. FountainVest Partners drew $1.35 billion for its second China-focused fund - 40% larger than its predecessor - but the GP retains a reasonably concentrated sector focus and a "pure play" approach to private equity with no other strategies.

L Capital Asia's second regional fund is currently at a first close, but with the $950 million hard cap already reached a final close is likely to come soon. As Sanjay Gujral, regional managing director at L Capital Asia, told AVCJ this week, is was not only the firm's themes - lifestyle and consumer plays in emerging Asia - that appealed to LPs, but also its discipline.
Carry on down the list of funds that reached a final close in the last year and it is more of the same.

Tata Opportunities Fund has a particular angle - leveraging the Tata Group brand - SSG Capital and Shoreline Capital are dedicated special situations players, and Vision Knight Capital is tech-focused. Even Southern Capital Group, which raised $400 million for its third buyout fund, has honed its thesis. Previous vehicles invested throughout Asia but the most recent fund is primarily seeking deals in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

These are only suggestions. We are looking to the Asian private equity and venture capital community to nominate candidates worthy of consideration - which they can do until September 30. For more details of the process and qualification criteria, please go to www.avcjforum.com/awards.

The categories are listed below. There is one addition for 2013, the Operational Value Add Award, which recognizes private equity-driven value creation. Internal discussions over whether to include an award of this kind stretch back a couple of years. Reservations as to how to judge entrants objectively and whether we should increase the number of awards at all (they are deliberately few in number) have been overcome.

Apart from that, it is largely business as usual. The AVCJ Editorial Board evaluates entries, submits long lists to a panel of industry judges who provide feedback, and then final short lists are posted online for the entire PE and VC community to vote on. The winners will be announced at an invitation-only gala dinner in Hong Kong on November 11.
We look forward to receiving your nominations.

2013 AWARDS CATEGORIES

• Firm of the Year
• Private Equity Professional of the Year
• Venture Capital Professional of the Year
• Private Equity Deal of the Year
• Venture Capital Deal of the Year
• Private Equity Exit of the Year
• Fundraising of the Year
• Operational Value Add Award
• AVCJ Special Achievement Award

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

• Topics
• GPs
• AVCJ Events
• AVCJ Awards