Asia private equity firms are paying more for the assets

Asia private equity firms are paying more for the assets, the sale of investments faster and buy more liquid public equity and fairness, competition increases and offers investors stand to lock up their money for long periods.

Sales in the three years of private equity investments in 2007 increased almost 10-fold compared with those made in 2000, according to Asian Venture Capital Journal. Comes after five years of negotiations conducted in 2005 fell 80 percent compared with those made in 2000.

Purchasing managers pool money from investors to take over the business, financing purchases with debt mostly with the intention of improving the performance and later sell at a profit. In Asia, home to the fastest growing economies in the world, private equity managers have been able to turn the companies that do not need the kind of restructuring that is more common in the U.S. and Europe.

"In the fast-growing countries like India and China, businesses are already too busy dealing with exponential growth, unlike their counterparts in the U.S. who are relying more on market expansion and cost reduction to increase profits, "said Alice Chow, Hong Kong managing director Squadron Capital Management Ltd., which invests in Asia private equity funds.

"Most of them have fast-on, fast focus is not to think beyond three years," said Vincent Chan, CEO of Spring Capital Asia Ltd., a private equity firm in Hong Kong .

The average premium for private equity deals announced in 2010 in the Asia-Pacific rose 30 percent from 13 percent in 2009. In 2008, the premium was a record 35 percent.

Late pipe

To take advantage of Asia's move of the stock market, managers of private equity in the region have resorted to buying minority stakes in listed companies, which normally takes less than due diligence and provides an easy way out. The Asia-Pacific MSCI index rose nearly 50 percent since 2009, compared with a gain of 31 percent by the U.S. Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The amount of private investment in public equity, known as PIPE deals, the increase in half to $ 12.5 million in 2009 from a year earlier, according to Asian Venture Capital Journal. Has been $ 7 billion of PIPE deals this year.

"Usually I do not like PIPE because if it is a public trust, we could make ourselves and we can do it cheaper," said Sebastiaan Van den Berg, director of HarbourVest Partners (Asia) Ltd. in Hong Kong invests in private equity. He was referring to the management fee, usually 2 percent, paid to the directors to purchase the assets.

short-term focus of industry need to change, as competition increases, including private equity firms U.S. which are the creation of offices in the region to gain better access to companies to buy.

Blackstone, Carlyle

Blackstone Group LP, based in New York, last year was the first global private equity firm to open an indoor buyout fund in China, followed by Washington Carlyle Group and TPG Capital of Fort Worth, Texas. A fund registered in China requires the approval under regulation of certain investments and the use of foreign exchange, and is easier to explore the offers, Antony Leung, chairman of Blackstone Greater China, said in September.

The number of private equity firms in Asia rose 13 percent, to 2,604 in June from the beginning of 2009, according to Asian Venture Capital Journal. The 39 billion U.S. dollars raised in the period was 26 percent less than the amount collected in 2008.

Work harder

"It's going to go down to the business who really know how to select the greatest assets and do more with the assets that will be able to drive differential returns" by Steven Barnes, a managing director of Boston-based private equity firm Bain Capital LLC , told a conference in Hong Kong in November. "It will take twice the number of executives that work to get done what needs to be done in Asia than it does on a relative basis in the U.S. and Europe."

That could be a disadvantage to buying companies in Asia, Chow said Squadron.

"The industry in Asia is relatively small and in its infancy, so the talent level is not high compared with the U.S. and Europe," he said. "It is less focused on the natural way of functioning of value added."

Refunds will fall as some private equity shops face pressure to invest, even less attractive targets, after raising money from investors, said Charles Huh, managing director of venture capital division of Standard Bank, Standard Chartered Chartered Plc.

"Five years ago, there were a number of managers who had exceptional returns, leading to more private equity firms to come to market," said Huh. "Operational experience is important to identify the right opportunity in Asia."

Lunar Capital

That could be good news for Derek Sulgen, which began focusing on China Lunar Capital Management in 2007. Two years ago, Sulgen could not convince two global private equity funds to co-invest $ 25 million from him in a Chinese manufacturer of tropical juices. The agreement, which began work in late 2007, was too small and that the company needed much work, they said.

Now, after preparing food Beihai BPG for sale, Sulgen is set to 2.5 times to collect the money that he and other small funds Guangxi positions in the company, based in China, according to documents filed with the Stock Exchange Hong Kong.

"It's hard work, but that's how you get the outputs of fact," said Sulgen, 38, who was co-founded more than a decade of Linktone Ltd., a provider of wireless entertainment Shanghai service. "The private equity community is very big with the bankers and financiers and has very few people with real operational experience."