EQT (a leading investment firm from Sweden) in early May announced the successful closing of the EQT Mid Market Asia III fund with total commitments of USD 800 million. The fund is backed by a global blue-chip investor base, including pension funds, insurance companies and fund-of-funds. The commitments are globally distributed with approximately 48% from the Nordics, 31% from rest of Europe, 19% from Asia, 1% from North America and 1% from the rest of the world.
EQT Mid Market Asia III seeks to make control or co-control investments in companies in Greater China and Southeast Asia with significant growth and development potential. It aims to create industry leaders through development themes such as sales growth, strategic repositioning, digitalization or participation in industry consolidations. The sector focus in the region follows the firm’s overall sector approach, which is composed of Healthcare, Services, Consumer, TMT and Industrial Technology.
The fund has already made four acquisitions: Long-Spring Education (largest privately-owned education group in Yunnan province, China), GPA Global (leading one-stop-shop premium packaging and display solutions provider in China), ILA Vietnam (leading premium English language training service provider in Vietnam) and Clinical Innovations (leading pure-play provider of single-use clinician-preferred products for hospitals’ Labor & Delivery department and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, based in the US with strong prospects for its product line in China and adjacent Asian markets). Clinical Innovations is an excellent example of EQT’s integrated multi-strategy platform in action – teams across the globe cooperating and capitalizing on its deep expertise within the healthcare sector.
“The closing of the EQT Mid Market Asia III fund marks an important milestone for us. We strongly believe that the model EQT applies to ownership and value creation works extremely well for Asian companies and attracts local company owners and entrepreneurs. There are vast opportunities for EQT in the vibrant and fast-moving Asian markets”, states Martin Mok, Partner and Head of the EQT Mid Market Asia advisory team.
EQT opened its first office in Asia, in Hong Kong, over ten years ago, and since then more than USD 1.2 billion has been deployed through investments in 18 companies in the region. Examples of exits or partial exits are Japan Home Centre (leading housewares retail chain in Hong Kong and Singapore), LBX Pharmacy (leading pharmacy chain in China), Classic Fine Foods (leading pan-Asian fine foods services company) and I-MED (diagnostic imaging provider in Australia and one of the largest globally). Thanks to long-standing relations with regional top-tier investors and dedicated investment advisory teams in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore, EQT has a solid footprint and the ability to capitalize on current investment trends and opportunities in the region.
Thomas von Koch, Managing Partner and CEO at EQT comments: “Being global is one of the key contributors to EQT’s long-term success as well as being local with locals. Now we are starting to build EQT’s own ‘Silk Road’ by sharing knowledge from Europe and the US to Asia and back. EQT’s strong teams and history in the region give us unique insights into its development and a great position for the future.”
EQT is a leading investment firm with approximately EUR 50 billion in raised capital across 27 funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia and the US with total sales of more than EUR 19 billion and approximately 110,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.
EQT Mid Market Asia III is a fund, with commitments totaling USD 800 million, that targets control or co-control investments in high-quality, medium-sized companies in Greater China and Southeast Asia with attractive value creation and growth potential
