Aureos Capital, the private equity fund management company, has expanded its Asia operations with the opening of a regional head office in Singapore.
The Singapore office will be a regional hub for Aureos’ existing offices across South and South East Asia. Aureos has 13 offices across Asia, including India, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.
Aureos plans to more than double the number of employees within its Singapore office by the end of 2011. Aureos currently has 74 staff working across Asia.
Sev Vettivetpillai (pictured), CEO of Aureos Advisers Ltd, says: “Asia currently accounts for just under one third of our global funds under management but our investors are looking for more exposure to the region. The creation of Singapore as our regional hub is part of that process.
“Having a large presence in Singapore will also allow us to provide better support to all of our offices across Asia.
“What has really set us apart from other global private equity investors is our commitment to investing in local infrastructure so that we can really provide valuable help to the managers of these small and medium sized businesses that we focus on. That really shows up in the performance of our funds.”
Aureos believes that there is a tremendous number of overlooked investment opportunities in small and medium sized businesses across Asia. These businesses struggle to access finance – particularly risk capital – from more traditional sources.
Vettivetpillai adds: “Combined with the flexible labour markets of the region, many small and middle-market companies in Asia are now well positioned for strong growth and profitability, particularly in their domestic and regional markets.”
