HONG KONG (Reuters) – Chinese private equity firm Boyu Capital, an investor in Chinese technology titans, including billionaire Jack Ma’s Ant Group, is raising a new fund focused on China with up to $ 6 billion, they said three people with knowledge of the matter.
One of the people who refused to identify himself because the information is confidential will likely close in the short term his fifth and largest fund denominated in US dollars.
Boyu did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fundraising from a company widely associated with technology startups equates to a test of investor appetite at a time when the oversight of China’s technology giants is obscuring the short-term prospects of these companies.
Following the suspension of the two Ant and Shanghai quotes from Hong Kong by the authorities, which delayed the strong returns that early investors, such as Boyu, could have expected from the world’s largest initial public offering .
The financial technology giant was to raise $ 37 billion at a valuation of $ 315 billion. Since the suspension, China has sharpened the oversight of its own production champions, which has also exposed its investors to more public control.
A central bank official said Ant’s IPO was suspended to protect consumers and investors. Since then, Ant has agreed on a restructuring plan with regulators, Reuters reported this month.
ALIBABA AID
Boyu was founded in 2010 by, among others, Alvin Jiang, grandson of former President Jiang Zemin. The firm has offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore and invests in consumer and retail sectors, financial services, health and media and technology, its website said.
She is known for the investment made in 2012 in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, which helped Ma to recover half of Yahoo! 40% stake in e-commerce company, Reuters reported.
With $ 6 billion, Boyu’s new fund would be one of the largest in the region in China. In 2019, it last raised $ 3.6 billion.
Previous investors include Hong Kong’s richest man, Li Ka-shing, and Singapore’s state-owned investors, Temasek Holdings Ltd and GIC Pte Ltd, Reuters reported. The New York Common Retirement Fund has also been an investor, the state controller’s website showed.
Private equity managers in Asia raised $ 108 billion for 481 new funds last year, 45% more in dollar value than in 2019, Preqin data showed as the COVID-19 pandemic eased fundraising.
Activity has intensified in 2021 with $ 21 billion raised through 56 funds so far, according to the data.
TECHNICAL INVESTMENTS
Boyu invested in fundraising of $ 4.5 billion old in 2016 and $ 14 billion round two years later. Meanwhile, Ant’s valuation went from $ 60 billion to $ 150 billion.
The privately held firm has invested in other booming Chinese technology and healthcare companies in recent years that generated lucrative returns, two of the people said.
Portfolio companies include Didi Chuxing, Artificial Intelligence (AI) company MegVii and live streaming application operator Kuaishou Technology, according to media reports and public information.
In January, it participated in a $ 700 million fundraiser by AI 4Paradigm, according to Dealogic data.
Kane Wu Reports; Edited by Sumeet Chatterjee and Christopher Cushing