Firm of the Year – Mid Cap
(AUM – below $7.5 billion)

Advantage Partners

Advantage Partners took seven months to raise JPY 130bn (USD 971m) for its sixth Japan buyout fund – and even though the corpus was 50% larger than Fund VI, there was barely space for new relationships. It is testament to a strong deal pipeline – NFC Holdings, Net Japan, Daiho Industrial, and Ecolocity have been added in the past 12 months – and an equally consistent stream of exits. Advantage’s realisations include United Precision Technologies, Wavedash, and Yaruki Switch Group, with the latter delivering a 9x return. In addition, the firm’s US-listed SPAC agreed a USD 300m merger with Japanese recycling business Jeplan.

Allegro Funds

The appetite for complexity at Australia’s Allegro Funds is undiminished. Slater & Gordon, following a notable rise and fall as the world’s first listed law firm, was privatised in May 2023. PwC’s scandal hit Australian public consulting business was carved out a few months later. Both investments come from Fund IV, which closed last year on AUD 750m (USD 479m). Meanwhile, Allegro’s turnarounds are still turning into exits, as evidenced by sales of Best & Less and Pizza Hut Australia. The net IRR across all 27 of the firm’s investments since 2008 – of which 20 have been exited – is 34%.

ChrysCapital Partners

ChrysCapital Partners’ buyout strategy is big and bold for a mid-market Indian manager. The first two deals from Fund IX, Bandhan Mutual Funds and Xoriant, came in at USD 593m and USD 350m. LP co-investors were mobilised for both. The third, which has yet to close, is a USD 1.26bn joint deal with BPEA EQT. This activity is supported by a larger war chest. Fund IX closed at the end of 2022 on USD 1.4bn, up 61% on Fund VIII. The firm has also helped revitalise India’s IPO market following a successful offering by Mankind Pharma in May 2023.

Dymon Asia Private Equity

Dymon Asia Private Equity (DAPE) spent several years carefully cultivating LP relationships ahead of a third fundraise that saw increased participation from North American investors counterbalance a previous bias towards Asia and Europe. This was achieved and yet the process took less than six months and the USD 650m corpus was 40% larger than Fund II. DAPE claims superior DPI and a lower loss ratio than most Southeast Asian peers, which it partly attributes to a focus on bilaterally negotiated deals. Privatisations and carve-outs feature strongly. Examples from the past 12 months include Challenger Technologies and Penguin International.

Pacific Equity Partners

In the past 12 months, Australia-based Pacific Equity Partners (PEP) has made five acquisitions with a collective enterprise value of AUD 6.4bn (USD 4.1bn), completed seven exits with an average 3.8x gross money multiple, and closed its second secure assets fund on AUD 1.4bn. Three of the five investments were from the firm’s flagship private equity fund, including Altus Traffic and iNova Pharmaceuticals. PEP exited its position in iNova at a valuation of AUD 2.2bn and then re-invested alongside the new owner. The firm also raised a single-asset continuation fund for Up Education, facilitating an exit for its fifth fund.