Sweden’s EQT merges with Baring Private Equity Asia
Swedish EQT has reached an agreement to acquire Baring Private Equity Asia, a leading private market investment company in Asia with EUR 17.7 billion in assets under management.
In this corporate announcement, the Global Investment Organization said that expansion in Asia is a strategic priority for EQT, as the region currently accounts for more than a third of global GDP and is expected to contribute 40% + of global GDP growth by 2030.
With 24% CAGR since 2015 and reaching ~ 2.1tn USD 2021, Asia is the growth engine for global private markets (compared to 14% CAGR for Europe and North America combined). This trend is expected to continue as Asian private markets benefit from favorable long-term structural tailwinds.
Global private market firms are increasingly taking part in the under-penetrated Asian private markets, but still represent only 34% of the total market. With this combination, EQT is ideally positioned to take market share in and take advantage of the Asian growth opportunity with its truly global reach and scaled active ownership platform in Asia.
BPEA is a top 3 private equity investment manager in Asia with EUR 17.7 billion AUM, currently investing from its flagship Private Equity Fund VIII, which had its first closure in September 2021.
BPEA has been active since 1997 and has built a platform with deep sector-based expertise and a value-driven approach to active ownership, and invested in medium-sized to large companies in Asia, mainly focused on Private Equity, but also real estate and more recently Growth. With 10 regional offices, BPEA combines local implementation with a pan-Asian reach (236 FTE + as of 2021), reflecting EQT’s local-by-local strategy. BPEA has made 100+ Private Equity investments since the start and has experience of generating good returns for its customers, with 2.6x realized gross MOIC since the start (3). With its deep, long-standing relationships with over 300 customers and the best fundraising ability in its class, BPEA is well positioned to take advantage of the oversized growth opportunity in Asia.
The combination represents a gradual change in EQT’s global reach with an immediate presence in Pan-Asia on a large scale and with its thematic investment strategy, which supports companies from early stage to maturity, EQT will continue to scale and expand its range of strategies across the board. its European, North American and Asian core markets and delivers to its customers.
Christian Sinding, CEO and Managing Partner of EQT, said: “We are very pleased to be joining BPEA, which represents a gradual change in our global reach with an immediate large-scale pan-Asian presence. Expanding our footprint in Asia is part of the strategic goals we set at the time of our IPO, and BPEA represents a unique opportunity, as a well-established and top-performing company in the region, to improve our global platform and position ourselves to take advantage of the structural growth potential of Asian private markets. thematic sector-based approaches, strong merits in value creation and most importantly, a learning culture and long-term partnership strategies, we feel deeply aligned with BPEA, we are really impressed by what Jean and the BPEA team have built over the last 25 years. ideological fit with EQT, and a unique opportunity to establish EQT as a world-leading private market kneading platform with a scaled Asian platform and truly global reach ”
Jean Eric Salata, CEO and Founder of BPEA said: “We are delighted to embark on this journey with EQT and the opportunities this combination creates. It is a game changer for both our companies and will accelerate our ability to deliver superior The cultural fit between our two companies is remarkable and the strategic fit is very powerful.By combining our strong position in Asia with EQT’s world-class capabilities in sectors such as healthcare and technology, their proprietary digital transformation and data analytics resources, and their leadership in sustainability will create a highly differentiated and extremely competitive private market firm in Asia and globally. external environment.This combination positions us exceptionally t well to do just that at an industry-leading level. “
Read the full announcement and more about the matter here