Exit of the Year – Mid Cap 
(Equity commitment on entry – USD 50m-USD 199m)

CJ Olive Young (Glenwood Private Equity)

Glenwood Private Equity exited its minority stake in CJ Olive Young, a South Korea-based health and beauty store chain, in May 2024 for KRW 780bn (USD 580m). The company, which is controlled by domestic conglomerate CJ Corporation, and Shinhan Bank each acquired 11.3%. Glenwood invested as recently as March 2021, paying approximately KRW 436bn for its interest, which was positioned as a pre-IPO round. The listing plan was put on hold in 2022. CJ Olive is Korea’s leading health and beauty retailer, with approximately 1,200 offline stores as well as an online platform that serves domestic and global markets.

Computer Age Management Services (Warburg Pincus)

Warburg Pincus completed its exit from Computer Age Management Services (CAMS), a leading India-based registrar and transfer agent that primarily serves large domestic asset managers, in December 2023. With proceeds amounting to INR 27bn (USD 324m), this was the largest of three realisations. The other two came in 2021 – a few months after CAMS completed a domestic IPO – and in 2022. Warburg Pincus acquired a 43.5% stake in the company in 2018 at an enterprise value of approximately INR 33bn. It helped assess expansion opportunities, build out second-tier management, implement a management incentive plan, and improve the technology offering.

Eu Yan Sang International (Tower Capital Asia)

Tower Capital Asia exited Singapore-based Chinese traditional medicine business Eu Yan Sang International in June 2024 via a trade sale to Japan’s Rohto Pharmaceutical and Mitsui & Co. The enterprise valuation was SGD 687m (USD 510m). Tower Capital held a 42% stake, while co-investor Temasek Holdings had 30%. The rest was owned by the founding family, which re-invested alongside Rohto and Mitsui, taking a 10% position. Following the initial acquisition in 2016 at a USD 150m valuation, Tower Capital sought to build a brand that could travel beyond its home market, installing a globally minded CEO to lead this effort.

Japan Wind Development (Bain Capital)

Bain Capital sold renewable energy business Japan Wind Development to Infroneer Holdings in January 2024 at an enterprise value of JPY 205bn (USD 1.4bn), ending a nine-year association spanning two of its pan-Asian funds. The GP acquired Japan Wind through a take-private at a JPY 40bn valuation via Fund II and restructured it as an asset-light developer, selling off most of the wind farms. Fund IV bought the business from Fund II in 2021 in part to support further growth. Japan Wind developed projects with total annual capacity of 3 gigawatts – equal to 0.6% of Japan’s total electricity consumption.

SJ EcoPrime (Hahn & Company)

Hahn & Company sold South Korean biofuel producer SK EcoPrime to Hillhouse Investment in January 2024, securing a 3x return. The transaction was reportedly worth around KRW 500bn (USD 379m). The GP bought EcoPrimein 2020 through a KRW 382.5bn carve-out from SK Chemicals. Its four-year targets were hit in year one, thanks to the swift integration of cooking oil-to-biodiesel specialist DH Bio, a push into European exports, and a general uplift in commodities. EcoPrime, which relies on palm waste as its main feedstock, claims a 35% share of Korea’s biofuels market and is pushing into areas like sustainable aviation fuel.