Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia has raised $366.4 million for its fifth Asia fund, a regulatory filing shows.
The fund, North Haven Private Equity Asia V, mobilised the money from 551 investors, the filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission shows. The fund hasn’t hit its final close yet, the filing shows.
The filing didn’t specify any target amount, but media reports have previously said that Morgan Stanley could aim to mop up as much as $2 billion for the new vehicle. It had raised $1.7 billion for the fourth Asian fund in 2014.
Morgan Stanley’s Asia PE funds make a bulk of the investments in China and South Korea. In India, Morgan Stanley typically focusses on minority investments in sectors such as consumer products, industrial products, financial services, healthcare and telecom and technology, according to its website.
The India team is co-led by managing director Nirav Mehta and executive director Arjun Saigal.
In 2018, the PE firm made four investments in the country. In early 2018, it invested Rs 152 crore in Southern Health Foods Pvt. Ltd, which markets its products under the brand Manna Foods. The investment firm led a Rs 230 crore funding round in medical devices maker Sahajanand Medical Technologies Pvt. Ltd in January 2018.
In June 2018, the PE firm joined hands with BanyanTree to invest around Rs 515 crore in education services firm NSPIRA Management Services. It invested in Jaipur-based Kogta Financial (India) Ltd in November 2018.
Morgan Stanley joins TPG Capital and Bain Capital in raising a new Asia fund over the past year. TPG raised $4.6 billion for its seventh Asia-focused PE fund earlier this year while Bain secured an equal amount late last year.
Several other PE firms have raised global funds this year. Blackstone, the world’s biggest PE firm, raised $22 billion last month while TA Associates raised $8.5 billion for its new PE fund in May.
