Deal of the Year – Mid Cap
(Equity commitment – $50-199 million)

Anhui SV Foods Technology (DCP Capital)

DCP Capital completed the 100% acquisition of Anhui SV Foods Technology – the China poultry business of food and agriculture giant Cargill – in July 2023 for an undisclosed sum. Cargill launched the company in 2012 to supply chicken products to multinational fast food chains. It invested nearly USD 600m, creating an operation with annual breeding and slaughtering capacity of 65m birds and chicken processing capacity of 70,000 tons. Cargill decided to sell SV following a strategic review. Leveraging its experience in Chinese agriculture, DCP secured a proprietary and negotiated transaction, with an entry valuation at a discount to replacement cost.

Musinsa (KKR, Wellington Management)

KKR led a USD 190m Series C round for Korean online fashion marketplace Musinsa in July 2023 with support from Wellington Management. The deal reportedly valued the business at USD 2.7bn. Musinsa has evolved – through a combination of organic expansion and M&A – from a sneaker trading platform into a broader e-commerce business that hosts more than 8,000 local and foreign fashion brands. It had more than 13m members and gross merchandise value of USD 2.35bn in 2022. The company is profitable. KKR saw an opportunity to pursue expansion into global markets where the K-wave cultural vanguard is increasingly marketable.

Sakura Pharmacy Group (NSSK)

NSSK acquired Sakura Pharmacy Group, a Japanese drugstore chain with 900 outlets and over USD 1bn in annual revenue, in March 2023. The equity contribution was JPY 27.5bn (USD 184.2m). The opportunity arose when Sakura filing for an alternative dispute resolution process, having embarked on a debt-driven M&A and failed to integrate the assets and make them economically accretive. NSSK agreed an acquisition with the founder – despite strategic buyers offering more – secured new debt financing and put together business development plan that envisages expanding the store footprint to 1,200 within five years. The investment is already marked at 2x.

Straits Orthopaedics (Quadria Capital)

Quadria Capital acquired a majority stake in Malaysia’s Straits Orthopaedics for an enterprise value of USD 240m in May 2023. The vendors – including the company founder and Apex Healthcare – took a 40% interest in Quadria’s acquisition vehicle. The deal was supported by a USD 50m term loan. Straits Orthopaedics is one of Southeast Asia’s largest pure-play contract manufacturers of high-quality orthopaedic implants, surgical tools, and instruments for global medical device players such as Smith & Nephew, Stryker, and Zimmer Biomet. The company is expected to benefit from increased outsourcing and from efforts to diversify supply chains away from China.

Viewpoint (BPEA EQT)

BPEA EQT acquired an 80% interest in Viewpoint – a Southeast Asia-based provider of entity management software used by trust, corporate, and fund administration service (TCFS) providers – in January 2023. The size of the deal was not disclosed. This was the first investment from BPEA EQT’s debut Asia mid-cap fund, but the origination can be traced to the firm’s large-cap buyout activity. Vistra, an existing portfolio company, is one of Viewpoint’s largest customers. The company is expected to benefit from digitalisation-driven growth in the TCFS space, as well as some industry consolidation. In May 2023, Viewpoint merged with industry peer TrustQuay.