Leopard Capital LP is a private equity fund manager specializing in

frontier market A frontier market is a term for a type of developing country's market economy which is more developed than a least developing countries , least developed country's, but too small, risky, or illiquid to be generally classified as an emerging market ...

investments. The Group is considered a pioneer investor in Southeast Asia’s Greater Mekong Subregion and the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

Structure and key personnel

Leopard Capital is a Cayman domiciled frontier market investment group established in 2007 by current CEO and founder

Douglas Clayton Douglas W. Clayton (born September 2, 1960) is an American venture capitalist. He is the founder and CEO of Leopard Capital. Education and military service Clayton was awarded a 4-year Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps scholarship to attend C ...

. Clayton also recruited various renowned investors such as Dr. Jim Walker to serve as directors and shareholders.

Investment strategies

Leopard Capital creates private equity funds targeting pre-emerging, post-conflict or post-disaster economies that are undergoing transition and are poised for rapid growth. The funds invest commercially in basic industries, targeting attractive financial and social returns. Leopard Capital invests through a variety of financial instruments including equity, mezzanine, and debt.

Activities by country

Cambodia

During the 2008-9 financial crisis, Leopard raised $34.1 million for the Leopard Cambodia Fund, Cambodia's first private equity fund. The fund has since made thirteen investments in

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

and

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

within various sectors including mobile telecoms, hydropower, electric transmission lines, banking, microfinance, beer and water production, seafood processing, agriculture, housing development and professional services. Since its launch, Leopard Cambodia has exited five investments. In January 2011, Leopard Capital fully exited its investment in Cambodia's then- largest mobile telecommunications operator,

CamGSM Cellcard, a trademark of CamGSM Co. Ltd, is a Cambodian-owned and -operated telecommunication Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. ...

. The deal structure included a $5 million secured bridge loan. The transaction was awarded ''Telecomfinance's'' "2009 Asia Deal of the Year". The internal rate of return (IRR) for this investment was 26%. In May 2013, Leopard Cambodia profitably exited its full investment in Kulara Water, producers of

's first local mineral water, and also partially exited its investment in ACLEDA Bank at an attractive return. Leopard Capital also participated in the initial public offering (IPO) of Electricite du Laos Generating Co. (EDL-Gen), the first listed company on the

Lao Securities Exchange The Lao Securities Exchange (LSX) is the primary stock exchange in Laos, located in the capital Vientiane. Companies on the LSX have raised more than LAK 6.7 trillion (approximately USD 750 million) History In 2010, the Lao government sought te ...

. The investment realized a partial exit through secondary trading on the

, earning a 60% gain within a short period of time. Leopard Capital also participated in the first

IPO An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

on the

Cambodia Securities Exchange The Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX; km, ក្រុមហ៊ុនផ្សារមូលបត្រកម្ពុជា, abbreviation: ផមក) is the national stock exchange of Cambodia. The exchange's purpose is to achieve high econom ...

by investing in the

Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority The Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA) ( km, រដ្ឋាករទឹកស្វយ័តក្រុងភ្នំពេញ) is the municipal water utility that serves Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh and surrounding areas. In 1992 it p ...

. In February 2016, the company announced that it was winding down its Cambodia fund. In December 2016, Leopard Capital announced that it would not move forward with a second fund.

Leopard Cambodia Fund investment portfolio

Kingdom Breweries Kingdom Breweries is a Cambodian craft beer brewery company that was founded in 2009. It is the largest craft brewery in Southeast Asia, serving as a backend production hub for over 30 craft brewers in Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Ph ...

- Cambodia's first micro-brewery, producing high-end beer in Phnom Penh. * Tropical Beverage Co. - Thailand-based producer of

Phuket Beer Phuket Lager Beer is an Asian beer brand founded in 2002 in Thailand. The beer is brewed with premium German hops and Thai jasmine rice. History Phuket Beer was launched in 2002 as a premium beer, associating itself with the lifestyle of Phuket ...

. * Greenside Holdings - Rural power transmission and distribution system in Kampong Cham Province. * Intean Poalroath Rongroeurng (IPR) - Cambodian agricultural

microfinance Microfinance is a category of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; savings ...

institution providing credit to rice farmers. * Engage Resources - Thailand-based developer and producer of kenaf. * Angkor Residences - downtown land in Siem Reap, near

Angkor Wat Angkor Wat (; km, អង្គរវត្ត, "City/Capital of Temples") is a temple complex in Cambodia and is the largest religious monument in the world, on a site measuring . Originally constructed as a Hinduism, Hindu temple dedicated ...

. * ACLEDA Bank ''(partially exited)'' - Cambodia's leading bank with 232 branches nationwide and approximately 7,000 employees. The bank maintains a rural focus and has branches in

and

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

. * Electricite du Laos Generating Co. (EDL-Gen) ''(partially exited)'' - Publicly traded operator of seven

hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, converting the Pot ...

dams in

, totaling 387 MW. *

''(exited)'' - Cambodia's second largest mobile telecommunications network and leading internet services provider. Fully exited in January 2011 with IRR of 26%. * Kulara Water ''(exited)'' - Cambodia's first local mineral water, bottled at the source in Siem Reap Province. Fully exited in May 2013. *

(PPWSA) ''(exited)'' - Municipal water provider in

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh (; km, ភ្នំពេញ, ) is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its economic, indus ...

and the first listed company on the

(CSX). Full exit through secondary trading, with 42% gain in short period.

Haiti

In 2012, Leopard's Capital's latest project, Leopard Haiti Fund, received a commitment of $8.5 million from the International Finance Corporation - the investment arm of The

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

, $8.5 million from the

Netherlands Development Finance Company FMO ( nl, Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden N.V.) is a Dutch development bank structured as a bilateral private-sector international financial institution based in the Hague, the Netherlands. FMO manages funds for the ...

, and $3 million from the

Inter-American Development Bank The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB or IADB) is an international financial institution headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States of America, and serving as the largest source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribb ...

Multilateral Investment Fund The Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) is an independent fund administered by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), created in 1993 to support private sector development in Latin America and the Caribbean. In partnership with business organiz ...

, closing the initial round of funding with $20 million. Leopard has an investment team on the ground in

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...

, and aims to raise up to $75 million to invest in four priority sectors: affordable housing,

renewable energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...

food processing Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms. Food processing includes many forms of processing foods, from grinding grain to make raw flour to home cooking to complex industr ...

and

hotels A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

. In May 2013, Leopard Haiti made its first investment by providing equity financing to

dloHaiti dloHaiti, Inc. is a private company providing safe, affordable drinking water to consumers in underserved neighborhoods across Haiti. The company is building a network of wells serviced by solar-powered kiosks that are equipped with hi-tech purifi ...

, a water kiosk venture that aims to provide safe, affordable drinking water to underserved neighborhoods across Haiti. dloHaiti’s water will exceed WHO health standards and be priced at a 25%-40% discount to other water sources. On July 22, 2014, Leopard announced that it had invested $1.7 million in Veerhouse Voda Haiti S.A., a manufacturer of eco-friendly, disaster-resilient buildings in Haiti.

Bangladesh

On 25 March 2013, Leopard Bangladesh Fund received an anchor commitment of $15 million from the International Finance Corporation.

Awards

Leopard Capital was named "Frontier Markets Investment Manager of the Year" in the 2013 Acquisition International M&A Awards. The firm was also named "Private Equity House of the Year - Cambodia" in both the 2012 and 2013 awards, "Fund of the Year - Cambodia", and "Boutique Private Equity House of the Year - Haiti", all

vanity award A vanity award is an award in which the recipient purchases the award and/or marketing services to give the false appearance of a legitimate honor. Pitches for ''Who's Who''-type publications (see vanity press), biographies or nominations for award ...

s. A syndicated bridge loan to

in which Leopard Capital participated was named by ''TelecomFinance'' as “Asia Deal of the Year” for 2011. In 2013, Leopard Capital was the subject of a case study by the

Stanford Graduate School of Business The Stanford Graduate School of Business (also known as Stanford GSB) is the graduate business school of Stanford University, a private research university in Stanford, California. For several years it has been the most selective business schoo ...

focusing on frontier market private equity.

References

External links

Official website
{{private equity firms Financial services companies established in 2007 Privately held companies of Cambodia Investment companies of the Cayman Islands Private equity firms of Cambodia Private equity firms of Haiti