Global asset management firm Affiliated Managers Group (AMG) has acquired a stake in PE firm Baring Private Equity Asia.
AMG said in a statement Baring Asia’s senior partners will continue to hold a majority stake in the firm and direct its day-to-day operations.
The New York Stock Exchange-listed AMG didn’t disclose the size of the stake acquired or the deal value. However, Fortune magazine reported that AMG is buying a 15 per cent stake.
Sean M. Healey, chairman and CEO of AMG, said in the statement that Baring Asia is the firm’s first affiliate in the continent.
Baring Asia will use the proceeds of the transaction to expand its business and align interests between its limited partners, or LPs, and employees.
As part of the transaction, the PE firm’s leadership has agreed to long-term commitments with AMG. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Baring Asia advises funds with total assets under management of about $8 billion. Its client base comprises about 200 institutional investors from more than 20 countries, including pension plans, insurance companies, endowments, foundations, and sovereign wealth funds.
The PE firm was founded by Jean Eric Salata in 1997 and has offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Mumbai, Singapore, Jakarta, and Tokyo. It employs 110 professionals with experience in growth-oriented investments, sponsoring management buyouts and providing capital to companies for expansion, recapitalization or acquisitions. Since its inception, Baring Asia has invested in 72 companies with transaction values totaling $11 billion.
In February last year, Baring Asia raised $3.98 billion for Baring Asia VI. The fund targets companies in Asia, as well as those in Europe and North America with growth plans in Asia, in a broad range of sectors.
In India, Baring Asia has invested in IT firm Hexaware Technologies, money management services provider CMC Ltd and broking firm Sharekhan. Last year, the PE firm sold its stake in Lafarge India Pvt Ltd to French parent Lafarge SA.
AMG has stakes in boutique investment management firms. The firm’s strategy is to generate growth through the internal expansion of existing affiliates as well as through investments in new affiliates. As of September 30, 2015, AMG’s aggregate assets under management were about $627 billion.
In a similar move of large conglomerates taking direct equity interest in global PE firms, Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière, CEO of French financial services firm Fimalac, had picked up a 5 per cent stake in private equity firm Warburg Pincus in October last year.
