Firm of the Year – Large Cap
(AUM – USD 10bn and above)

Bain Capital

Bain Capital closed its fifth pan-Asian fund on USD 7.1bn in January 2024 after about 14 months in the market, exceeding the USD 5bn target and the USD 4.65bn raised for Fund IV. The 10.5% commitment from the GP and related entities is consistent with Bain’s policy to be the largest investor in its funds. Meanwhile, the run of exits out of Japan continued Nichii Gakkan and Japan Wind Development. Across private equity and special situations, the firm closed 20 major investments, including take-privates of Chinadata Group in China and Outsourcing Japan, valued at USD 4.5bn and USD 2.5bn, respectively.

Blackstone

Blackstone has continued to broaden its reach in Asia over the past 12 months: it opened an office in Singapore to better access Southeast Asia; it announced the USD 16.3bn acquisition of AirTrunk, marking a sizeable entry into the region’s data centre space; and it built out coverage of private wealth investors. Private equity activity included acquisitions of Japan’s Infocom and India’s CARE Hospitals, while there were full exits from Geo-Young in Korea and Alinamin Pharmaceuticals in Japan. Blackstone also took advantage of India’s booming public markets, listing Aadhar Housing Finance and making a sizeable partial exit from Mphasis.

CVC Capital Partners

CVC Capital Partners closed its sixth pan-Asian fund on USD 6.8bn in February 2024, exceeding the USD 6bn target and the USD 4.5bn raised for Fund V. From an investment perspective, the GP has been especially active in healthcare over the past 12 months, acquiring Philippines-based hospital operator The Medical City and Japanese pharmacy and healthcare services provider Sogo Medical Group. It also assumed majority control of Indonesia’s Siloam International Hospital – a portfolio company since 2016 – via a tender offer and backed South Korea-based PharmaResearch. Other deals include the purchase of a minority stake in Indian mortgage provider Aavas Financiers.

EQT

EQT has closed one fund and launched another, securing USD 1.6bn for its Asia mid-market offering in May 2024 – against a target of USD 750m – and going to market three months later with its ninth flagship pan-Asian vehicle, which is seeking USD 12.5bn. Across the two strategies, 15 new investments have been signed or closed over the past 12 months with a combined enterprise value of USD 16bn. In addition, USD 4.2bn of co-investment has been syndicated to LPs. Notable closed deals include Benesse Holdings and HRBrain in Japan, VetPartners in Australia, and HDFC Credila and Indium Software in India.

TPG Capital

TPG Capital’s standout Asia exit from the past 12 months is Singlife, a digital insurer that the private equity firm turned into a mainstream life insurer by helping initiate a merger with Aviva Singapore in 2020. This came a couple of months before TPG reached a final close of USD 5.3bn on its eighth flagship Asian fund, bettering the USD 4.6bn raised in the previous vintage. Since then, the manager has also launched an Asia mid-cap fund, for which it is seeking around USD 1bn. New investments include Altimetrik, a US-based digital services business that has a significant India presence.