HONG KONG (Reuters) – Chinese private equity firm Boyu Capital, an investor in Chinese technology titans joins billionaire Jack Ma’s Ant Group, is building a new fund, with a focus on an upward-looking China to $ 6 billion, said three people with experience in the case. .
The fifth and largest denominated currency in the U.S. dollar is likely to close soon, said one of the people, who declined to be identified as the confidential information.
Boyu did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The fundraising by a company that is broadly tied to startup technology is coming to a high-profile test of investor desire at a time when a higher overview of China’s tech giants is scoring a near-term view of the UK. those companies.
It follows the authorities’ ban in November on Ant’s Shanghai and Hong Kong double listing, which delayed a major return that early investors such as Boyu may have had from the UK’s largest initial public offering. -world (IPO).
The financial technology giant was poised to raise $ 37 billion at a value of $ 315 billion. Since his dismissal, China has kept a close eye on the domestic heroes who have also carried out more public scrutiny of their investors.
A central bank official said Ant’s IPO was postponed to protect customers and investors. Since then Ant has agreed 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 consumer and sales, financial services, healthcare and media and technology sectors, its website showed.
He is best known for his 2012 investment in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd which helped Ma buy half of Yahoo! Inc has a 40% interest in the e-commerce company, Reuters reported.
At $ 6 billion, Boyu’s new fund would be one of China’s most targeted regions. It last raised $ 3.6 billion in 2019.
Previous investors include Hong Kong’s richest Li Li-shing and Singapore state investors Temasek Holdings Ltd and GIC Pte Ltd, Reuters reported. The New York General Retirement Fund has also been an investor, the state’s comptroller website showed.
Private equity managers in Asia raised $ 108 billion for 481 new funds last year, down 45% on dollar value from 2019, Preqin data show, as COVID-19 pandemics declined.
Activity has risen in 2021 with $ 21 billion raised through 56 funds to date, the data showed.
TECH TEACHING
Boyu invested in a $ 4.5 billion fundraiser at Ant in 2016 and a $ 14 billion fundraiser about two years later. Meanwhile, Ant ‘s valuation jumped from $ 60 billion to $ 150 billion.
The private equity firm has invested in technology startups and other Chinese healthcare in recent years that would generate beneficial results ， two people said.
Portfolio companies include rider Didi Chuxing, MegVii artificial intelligence (AI) company and live streaming app operator Kuaishou Technology, according to media reports and public information.
In January, it participated in a $ 700 million fundraiser with AI firm 4Paradigm, Dealogic data showed.
Reciting with Kane Wu; Edited by Sumeet Chatterjee and Christopher Cushing