EQT Private Capital Asia, formerly known as Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA), has hit a $1.6-billion close of its latest mid-market fund focused on Asia Pacific, according to a statement on Monday.
The BPEA EQT Mid-Market Growth Fund has raised more than double its initial target of $750 million, despite a gloomy fundraising environment.
DealStreetAsia had reported earlier this year that EQT had increased the hard cap of its Asia mid-market growth fund by 40% to $1.4 billion.
Existing investors in the flagship Asian large-cap buyout funds made up over 80% of the total commitments for the mid-market fund, while the majority of the remaining commitments came from investors in other EQT funds which were allocating to EQT’s Asia arm for the first time. A significant portion of the commitments also came from EQT employees, the statement said.
The mid-market fund has already begun deploying. It has co-invested in Malaysian software provider Viewpoint Software alongside CPP and acquired a majority stake in India’s Indium Software as well as Japan’s HRBrain.
“The team has hit the ground running with this new fund, having made four investments to date,” said Nicholas Macksey, partner in the EQT Private Capital Asia advisory team who heads the mid-market growth fund.
The Swedish private equity firm acquired BPEA in 2022 in a $7.5-billion deal to expand its footprint in Asia.