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By Kane Wu
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Chinese private equity firm Primavera Capital Group, one of billionaire Jack Ma’s Ant Group’s early investors, is raising new US dollar-denominated fund of up to $ 5 billion, two told Reuters persons with direct knowledge of the matter.
The company, a keen investor in Chinese tech startups, is targeting $ 4 billion for its fourth dollar fund, with a fixed cap of $ 5 billion, said the people, who declined to be identified because of the related information. fundraising is confidential.
It aims to achieve a first close within the next two months, one of the people said.
Primavera, which has offices in Beijing and Hong Kong, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The fundraising comes amid heightened regulatory oversight of Chinese tech giants, which has clouded their near-term prospects.
A tighter grip on the sector came after authorities suspended in November Ant’s dual listing in Shanghai and Hong Kong, which delayed the high returns early investors might have expected from the larger bid. initial public to the world.
The fintech giant was set to raise $ 37 billion for a valuation of $ 315 billion. He has since agreed to a restructuring plan with regulators, Reuters reported in February.
Primavera invested in Ant fundraising in 2016 and 2018, during which the company’s valuation rose from $ 60 billion to $ 150 billion. The founder and chairman of the private equity firm, Fred Hu, is an independent non-executive director on Ant’s board of directors.
Another Ant investor, Boyu Capital, is also targeting $ 6 billion for its new dollar fund, Reuters reported last month.
In February, Taiwanese company CTBC Financial Holding Co Ltd said it would invest no more than $ 20 million in Primavera’s fourth dollar fund through the Taiwan Life unit, not to mention the total amount sought by the fund. .
Primavera has led investments in more than 50 companies in the tech, consumer, financial services, healthcare and education sectors, its website showed. He partnered with Ant in the $ 460 million spin-off of Yum China Holdings Inc in 2016 and also invested in video streaming giant Bytedance and online wealth platform Lufax Holding Ltd.
The company most recently invested in community grocery shopping app Xingsheng Youxuan and job search site Zhaopin.com, and raised $ 414 million for a special purpose acquisition company.
It closed its third dollar fund in November 2019 at $ 3.4 billion. The investors included CTBC and the Pennsylvania State Employee Retirement System, according to public disclosure.
(Reporting by Kane Wu in Hong Kong; Additional reporting by Yan Zhang in Beijing; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee and Christopher Cushing)
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