Swedish PE firm EQT raises $1.6 billion for Asia fund

Swedish private equity (PE) firm EQT on Monday closed its mid-market buyout fund, which primarily targets India among other Asian nations, at $1.6 billion, more than double its target size of $750 million, the company said.

EQT’s mid-market growth (MMG) strategy focuses on the technology, services, and healthcare sectors across Asia, prioritizing India, South East Asia, Japan and Australia, the firm said in a release.

The MMG strategy invests in high-growth, mid-market companies across Asia, “the epicenter of global growth that is expected to contribute 60% of global gross domestic product by the end of 2024,” EQT said.

Asia’s private markets are relatively underserved as “in 2023, just 9% of capital raised globally went to Asia-focused funds, the PE fund noted, while adding that its dedicated strategy aims to help address the funding gap.

“We have been investing in Asia for the best part of three decades and now have a fully-scaled and established large-cap platform. Following this growth, we found that we no longer had a dedicated pool of capital to invest in compelling mid-market companies,” said Jean Salata, chairman of EQT Asia and head of the EQT Private Capital Asia advisory team.

“With EQT Private Capital Asia Mid-Market Growth, we return to our roots. We already had the track record, local expertise and global capabilities to identify the champions of tomorrow while they are still mid-sized. Now we have the capital to execute.”

MMG is a “natural extension” of EQT Private Capital Asia’s large-cap buyout strategy and one of the few scaled pan-Asian investment strategies dedicated to mid-market control buyouts, the company said.

It leverages EQT’s pan-Asian presence – with more than 100 investment professionals across eight offices – with a particular focus on India, Southeast Asia, Japan, and Australia, it added.

Nicholas Macksey, partner in the EQT Private Capital Asia advisory team who heads the MMG strategy, said: “The team has hit the ground running with this new fund, having made four investments to date. In a testament to the dynamism of Asia’s mid-market segment, as well as our scale and network, the pipeline is strong and we’re excited for what’s ahead.”
Existing investors in the flagship Asian large-cap buyout funds made up over 80% of the total commitments.

Of the four investments EQT has made from the new fund, two are in Indian companies, Mint reported citing a company spokesperson

The two companies are Securonix and Chennai-based Indium Software, the report said, adding that in December 2023, EQT had said that it was acquiring a majority stake in Indium, which in turn said it would use the funds to expand into “generative AI and advanced analytics.”

The majority of the remaining commitments came from investors in other EQT funds, which were allocating to the Asian platform for the first time, and from EQT employees, it said.

The final close of the fund brings the combined total of fundraises completed so far this year by EQT’s global private capital strategies to nearly $29 billion in total commitments, following the $24 billion close of EQT X in February and the $3.3 billion close of EQT Future in March, the PE firm added.