Exclusive: Ant trader Boyu Cash targets $6 billion for new private fairness fund

By Kane Wu

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Chinese personal equity organization Boyu Capital, an trader in Chinese know-how titans like billionaire Jack Ma’s Ant Group, is raising a new, China-focused fund concentrating on as a lot as $6 billion, three individuals with information of the make a difference said.

Its fifth and major U.S. dollar-denominated fund is likely to close in the in close proximity to time period, reported one particular of the individuals, who declined to be determined as the details is confidential.

Boyu did not right away answer to a ask for for comment.

The fundraising by a agency broadly involved with tech startups amounts to a large-profile check of investor urge for food at a time when heightened oversight of China’s tech giants clouds the around-phrase outlook of individuals organizations.

It follows authorities’ November suspension of Ant’s Shanghai and Hong Kong twin listing, which delayed the significant returns early buyers this sort of as Boyu could have predicted from the world’s most important first general public supplying (IPO).

The financial technological know-how huge was set to increase $37 billion at a valuation of $315 billion. Considering that the suspension, China has sharpened oversight of its home-developed champions which has also uncovered their traders to more community scrutiny.

A central lender official claimed Ant’s IPO was suspended to safeguard buyers and investors. Ant has considering the fact that agreed a restructuring program with regulators, Reuters reported this thirty day period.

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Boyu was founded in 2010 by, between other people, Alvin Jiang, grandson of former President Jiang Zemin. The organization has workplaces in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore, and invests in customer and retail, economic providers, health care and media and technological innovation sectors, its internet site confirmed.

It is identified for its 2012 investment decision in Alibaba Group Keeping Ltd which served Ma buy again fifty percent of Yahoo! Inc’s 40% stake in the e-commerce firm, Reuters has described.

At $6 billion, Boyu’s new fund would be a person of the region’s most significant concentrating on China. It very last lifted $3.6 billion in 2019.

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Past traders incorporate Hong Kong’s richest guy Li Ka-shing and Singapore condition investors Temasek Holdings Ltd and GIC Pte Ltd, Reuters has reported. The New York Common Retirement Fund has also been an trader, confirmed the web-site of the condition comptroller.

Non-public equity administrators in Asia raised $108 billion for 481 new funds previous yr, down 45% by dollar value from 2019, showed Preqin data, as the COVID-19 pandemic dampened fundraising.

Action has picked up in 2021 with $21 billion raised by means of 56 resources so far, the knowledge showed.

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Boyu invested in Ant’s $4.5 billion fundraising in 2016 and $14 billion funding spherical two yrs later. In the interim, Ant’s valuation leapt from $60 billion to $150 billion.

The private equity company has invested in other booming Chinese tech and healthcare startups in the latest yrs that produced valuable returns，two of the people claimed.

Portfolio corporations contain trip-hailer Didi Chuxing, synthetic intelligence (AI) company MegVii and dwell-streaming app operator Kuaishou Technologies, in accordance to media stories and public information and facts.

In January, it participated in a $700 million fundraising by AI agency 4Paradigm, Dealogic details showed.

(Reporting by Kane Wu Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee and Christopher Cushing)