Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA) was an Asian investment firm headquartered in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. It was founded in 1997 as an affiliate of

Barings Bank Barings Bank was a British merchant bank based in London. It was one of England's oldest merchant banks after Berenberg Bank, Barings' close collaborator and German representative. It was founded in 1762 by Francis Baring, a British-born member ...

before becoming an independent firm in 2000. In 2022, it was acquired by

EQT AB EQT AB is a Swedish global investment organization founded in 1994. Its funds invest in private equity (EQT Private Capital Europe & North America), infrastructure (EQT Infrastructure), real estate (EQT Real Estate), growth equity, and ventur ...

to act as its Asian investment platform. It was subsequently renamed to BPEA EQT and then EQT Private Capital Asia.

History

BPEA was founded in 1997 as a subsidiary of Baring Private Equity Partners which was an affiliate of

. In addition to BPEA, the affiliates of Baring Private Equity Partners include

Baring Vostok Capital Partners Baring Vostok Capital Partners is the largest independent private equity firm focused on investments in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. The Baring Vostok Private Equity Funds invest across a broad range of industries including ...

, Baring Private Equity Partners India and GP Investments. Jean Salata and two other senior colleagues from the investment arm of

AIG American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is an American multinational finance and insurance corporation with operations in more than 80 countries and jurisdictions. As of 2023, AIG employed 25,200 people. The company operates through three core ...

were set to run it with the ING Group providing $300 million in

seed money Seed money, also known as seed funding or seed capital, is a form of securities offering in which an investor puts capital in a startup company in exchange for an equity stake or convertible note stake in the company. The term ''seed'' suggest ...

. However, the two colleagues pulled out and ING downsized its commitment to $25 million due to the collapse of Barings Bank and the

Asian financial crisis The 1997 Asian financial crisis gripped much of East and Southeast Asia during the late 1990s. The crisis began in Thailand in July 1997 before spreading to several other countries with a ripple effect, raising fears of a worldwide economic meltd ...

. However, despite the difficult circumstances, Salata recruited a team and deployed capital into

NetEase NetEase, Inc. () is a Chinese Internet technology company founded by Ding Lei in June 1997. It provides online services with content, community, communications, and commerce. The company develops and operates online PC and mobile games, adverti ...

and Mphasis. These successful investments allowed BPEA to raise over $300 million for its debut fund in 1999. In 2000, Salata led a

management buyout A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management- and/or leveraged buyouts became noted phenomena of 19 ...

of BPEA leading it to be established as an independent Firm. The firm would keep the Barings brand name and the ING relationship in exchange for a share of the profits for a limited period. In 2016, Affiliated Managers Group acquired a 15% minority stake in BPEA. In 2017, BPEA launched its Credit investment unit in India after acquiring the Credit unit of

Religare Religare Enterprises Limited (REL) is an Indian investment and financial services holding company, headquartered in New Delhi. REL is listed on National Stock Exchange of India and Bombay Stock Exchange. It is registered with the Reserve Bank ...

Global Asset Management. In March 2022,

acquired BPEA for $7.5 billion. On October, the acquisition was complete and the firm was renamed to BPEA EQT. In January 2024, the firm was rebranded to EQT Private Capital Asia.

Business overview

BPEA mainly focused on the Asia Pacific Region. It had three investment strategies which are: * Private Equity * Real Estate * Credit (operates as BPEA Credit that focuses on India)

Funds

Private Equity

Real Estate

Credit

Transactions

* In 2011, BPEA sold its holding in Hsu Fu Chi to

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

in a $1.7 billion deal. * In 2012, BPEA successfully exited Courts Asia by listing it on the Singapore Stock Exchange. * In 2015, BPEA acquired a majority stake in Vistra from IK Investment Partners. *In 2016, BPEA and

Onex Corporation Onex Corporation is a Canadian investment management firm founded by Gerry Schwartz in 1984. In September 2024, it had $50 billion dollars under management. History Schwartz founded Onex in 1984 and took the company public in 1987. In Jun ...

acquired the Intellectual Property & Science business of

Thomson Reuters Thomson Reuters Corporation ( ) is a Canadian multinational corporation, multinational content-driven technology Conglomerate (company), conglomerate. The company was founded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and maintains its headquarters at 1 ...

for $3.55 billion. * In 2017,

Post Holdings Post Holdings, Inc. is an American Fast-moving consumer goods, consumer packaged goods holding company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri with businesses operating in the center-of-the-store, refrigerated, foodservice, and food ingredient categ ...

acquired Weetabix Limited, UK based manufacturer of the Weetabix, Alpen and Ready Brek brands of breakfast cereals, from Bright Food and BPEA for $1.4 billion. * In 2018, BPEA sold its holding in PSB Academy to

Intermediate Capital Group Intermediate Capital Group is a private equity investment firm focused on providing capital to help companies grow through private and public markets and provides a number of strategies and funds aimed at institutional investors. It is headquarte ...

. *In 2020, BPEA and CITIC Capital sold their holdings in Wall Street English to its original founder, Luigi Tiziano Peccenini. *In 2021, BPEA acquired Virtusa for $2 billion.

References

* {{Private equity and venture capital Alternative investment management companies Financial services companies established in 1997 Private equity firms of Asia-Pacific Private equity firms of Hong Kong 2022 mergers and acquisitions Defunct companies of Hong Kong