Private equity firm Warburg Pincus on Monday named India head Vishal Mahadevia as head of Asia private equity, a newly created position, while veteran China head Frank Wei will step down amid an Asia-wide reshuffle at the US investment firm.
Mahadevia, a 17-year veteran of the firm, will remain as co-head of financial services as part of its leadership reshuffle in the region where it is appointing new leaders for markets including China and India, Warburg Pincus said in a statement.
Mahadevia’s “leadership skills and investment expertise, paired with our long-tenured next generation of investors, are an ideal team to drive the firm’s Asia strategy forward,” Warburg CEO Chip Kaye said in the statement.
In China, Wei who has worked at Warburg Pincus for over two decades would step down from his current role but would remain as a managing director at the firm through 2024 to ensure a “seamless transition”, said the statement.
Partners Min Fang and Ben Zhou, who joined the firm in 2007 and 2005, respectively, would become co-heads of China private equity to lead the firm’s investments in the world’s second-largest economy, where it has a nearly 30-year presence.
The moves come as Warburg Pincus is moving close to raising its maiden yuan-denominated fund, which has targeted 3 billion yuan ($420.5 million) and will focus on investing in the healthcare sector, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
Warburg Pincus declined to comment.
Shanghai-based partner Jericho Zhang, who focused on consumer sector, and another four China dealmakers had recently left the firm, two other people with knowledge of the matter said.
A Warburg Pincus spokesperson said the firm was “making some modest changes to the structure and size of our team, to better support the opportunities in the region.”
“China remains a significant part of Warburg Pincus’ Asia strategy and the firm will continue deploying capital and partnering with management teams in the market.”
The latest appointments at Warburg Pincus come at a crucial time for private equity funds as they seek new strategies in the current interest rate cycle.
Expectations that the Fed is done with the bulk of its rate hikes have led to a rebound in startup investments, but worries about a potential downturn in the near future are still weighing on sentiment.
The U.S. investment heavyweight last month said it had raised $17.3 billion for its latest global flagship private equity fund, the largest in its nearly 60-year history.
Elsewhere in Asia, with Mahadevia’s promotion, Narendra Ostawal, a 16-year veteran, has been appointed head of India private equity.
In Singapore, Saurabh Agarwal who has been at the firm since 2009, has been named head of Southeast Asia private equity.
Warburg Pincus also said that Takashi Murata, a former Goldman Sachs veteran, will be joining in early 2024 as head of Japan and co-Head of Asia real estate, alongside Ellen Ng as it seeks to bolster its business in the developed markets in the region and beef up its real restate and private equity investments in Japan.
Founded in 1996, Warburg has more than $84 billion in assets under management and its portfolio spans more than 250 companies.
Reuters