The Chearavanont family, Thailand’s wealthiest which controls conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group), has joined hands with Los Angeles-based LDA Capital to form a private fund dedicated to globally-listed and pre-IPO companies in Southeast Asia’s middle market.
CPFam-LDA Asia Growth Fund, which is a partnership between LDA and Charoen Energy and Water Asia (CEWA), a CP Group family’s affiliate, is targeting $2 billion in capital commitments over the next 12 to 18 months, according to a statement on Thursday.
“Partnering with CEWA and CP Group family enhances LDA’s ability to access business leaders across Southeast Asia and provide necessary innovative and flexible funding solutions to support growth,” said Anthony Romano, co-founder of LDA, a global alternative investment firm that has executed transactions of $11 billion in aggregate value.
The vehicle aims to level the playing field for middle market businesses looking to grow and compete on a global level, the statement read. “I believe the fund is another excellent financing resource to support growth businesses and entrepreneurs across Thailand and Southeast Asia,” said Chatchaval Jiaravanon, chairman and founder of CEWA, who will serve as fund director.
The new setup is not the first time that LDA and the CEWA founder worked together. Thai tycoon Jiaravanon in August 2022 raised $50 million for his Singapore-headquartered fintech startup Lightnet Group from LDA. Besides directorships in several Thai companies such as True Corporation and Finansia Syrus Securities, Jiaravanon is also the owner of Fortune magazine.
CP Group is Thailand’s largest conglomerate with diverse businesses that range from feedstock to telecommunications, supermarkets, and 7-Eleven convenience stores.
The fund launch comes amid a tough fundraising environment where money flowing to private equity and venture capital funds has slowed down significantly. According to DealStreetAsia- DATA VANTAGE’s latest report, the first half of 2023 only saw three SE Asia-focused PE funds reach a final close after securing $452 million in total proceeds. This pales in comparison with the prior six months when five funds had garnered $1.96 billion in capital commitments.
Meanwhile, fundraising by Southeast Asia-headquartered VCs remained under pressure in the first half of 2023, per our latest report. Homegrown VC firms closed 11 funds during the period, raising $3.72 billion in total proceeds. The fundraising haul in H1 was less than half the capital raised during the same period in 2022.
Note: Chearavanont is an alternative spelling of Jiaravanon and vice versa.