CVC Capital Partners, which manages some USD46bnbn in private equity funds, has announced the opening of its Beijing office, which it hopes, together with its existing presence in Hong Kon
CVC Capital Partners, which manages some USD46bnbn in private equity funds, has announced the opening of its Beijing office, which it hopes, together with its existing presence in Hong Kong, will enable the firm to target and invest in companies in China more effectively.
Zhu Wei has joined the firm as a managing director and head of the Beijing office. He was previously a managing director in the China investment banking team at Goldman Sachs and headed investment banking coverage in Shanghai, and earlier was president of A.T. Kearney for the greater China region and Roland Berger China.
‘CVC has an outstanding track record across the region, with a very strong investment team and a strong reputation for professionalism and value-added approach towards investments,’ Zhu says. ‘I look forward to helping the firm further develop its investment portfolio in China.’
Says managing director William Ho: ‘China continues to be a highly attractive market for CVC and we are committed to [the country] as a long-term and trusted investor. We look forward to working with Zhu Wei to build on CVC’s success in China.’
The firm’s senior team for China already includes Francis Leung, Ho and Alvin Lam. Leung was formerly chairman of Citigroup’s investment banking business in the Asia-Pacific region and has been working with CVC to find investment opportunities. He is also a non-executive director on several CVC China investee companies.
Ho, who joined in 1999 when CVC first established a presence in Asia, has more than 14 years of private equity experience and completed some 15 investments in China. Lam, a director, joined in 2005 after spells with Boston Consulting Group and Philip Morris International.
Over the past two years, CVC has completed various major transactions in the greater China region including Plantation Timber Products, a thin MDF board supplier, Zhuhai Zhongfu, a Shenzhen-listed plastic bottle manufacturer, Asia Dekor, a laminate flooring manufacturer integrated with Plantation Timber, and Nien Made, a manufacturer of window blinds and shutters. A deal to acquire printing and packaging company Hung Hing is nearing completion.
These deals are mostly large scale and proprietary, with control features. The five companies have combined annual sales of CNY13bn, own more than 120 factories and employ over 46,000 workers.
CVC and its affiliates have also invested in various international companies with significant operations in China, including Singapore precision metal company Amtek, Taminco, a producer of alkylamines and derivatives, and Evonik, a specialty chemicals producer based in Germany.
CVC Capital Partners is a private equity and investment advisory firm with a network of 19 offices throughout Europe, Asia and the United States. Since its establishment in 1981, the group has completed more than 250 investments covering a wide range of industries and countries, including more than 30 deals in Asia with an enterprise value exceeding USD19bn.
