By Kane Wu
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 China-focused fund that targets up to $ 6 billion, three people said. with knowledge of the subject.
His fifth and largest dollar-denominated fund is expected to close soon, said one of the people, who declined to be identified because the information is confidential.
Boyu did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fundraising by a company widely associated with technology startups amounts to a high-profile test of investor appetite at a time when the intensified oversight of China’s tech giants obscures the short-term prospects of these companies.
In November, authorities suspended Ant’s double listing in Shanghai and Hong Kong, which delayed the large returns that early investors like Boyu could expect from the world’s largest initial public offering (IPO).
The financial technology giant was set to raise $ 37 billion in a $ 315 billion valuation. Since the suspension, China has stepped up supervision of its local champions, which has also exposed its investors to further public scrutiny.
A central bank official said that Ant’s IPO was suspended to protect consumers and investors. Ant has already agreed to 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 company has offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore, and invests in the consumer and retail, financial services, health and media and technology sectors, its website showed.
She is known for her 2012 investment in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, which helped Ma buy back half of Yahoo! Inc’s 40% stake in the e-commerce company, Reuters reported.
At $ 6 billion, Boyu’s new fund would be one of the largest in the region with a focus on China. The last collection of $ 3.6 billion was in 2019.
Previous investors include Hong Kong’s richest man, Li Ka-shing, and Singapore-based investors Temasek Holdings Ltd and GIC Pte Ltd, Reuters reported. The New York Common Retirement Fund has also been an investor, showed the State Comptroller website.
Private equity managers in Asia raised $ 108 billion to 481 new funds last year, down 45% in dollar value from 2019, data from Preqin showed, as the pandemic COVID-19 dampened fundraising.
Activity increased in 2021, with $ 21 billion raised through 56 funds so far, the data showed.
TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENTS
Boyu invested in Ant’s $ 4.5 billion in 2016 and $ 14 billion in the financing round two years later. In the meantime, Ant’s valuation jumped from $ 60 billion to $ 150 billion.
The private equity firm has invested in other Chinese companies in expanding technology and healthcare in recent years that have generated profitable returns, two people said.
Portfolio firms include ride-on Didi Chuxing, artificial intelligence (IA) company MegVii and operator of live streaming applications Kuaishou Technology, according to media reports and public information.
In January, she participated in a $ 700 million fundraiser by AI firm 4Paradigm, data from Dealogic showed.
(Reporting by Kane Wu; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee and Christopher Cushing)