Private investment firm Bain Capital has closed its second Asia Pacific (APAC) special situations fund at over $2 billion, surpassing the original target of $1.5 billion.
Bain Capital Special Situations Asia Fund II (SSAII) is the largest dedicated special situations fund in the APAC region, the firm said in a statement. Its 2017-vintage first vehicle was raised with $1 billion of capital commitments.
With the close of the second APAC fund, Bain Capital’s special situations business will now have nearly $5 billion of dedicated capital to invest in the region, including a material component of the global special situations fund pool, the India Resurgence Fund and specific strategic accounts.
The firm said SSAI has attracted global institutional investors including pension and sovereign wealth funds. DealStreetAsia earlier reported that US pension funds such as Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System, Ventura County Employees’ Retirement Association, and Baltimore City Fire and Police Employees’ Retirement System had committed to SSAII.
The fund will continue the strategy of its predecessor to invest opportunistically across industries, asset types and countries in APAC. It will look across capital structures in debt, structured capital solutions, distressed assets, hard asset opportunities, and growth equity. While the industry approach is flexible, the largest focus area is real estate.
With offices in Greater China, India, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia and Australia, Bain Capital’s Asia special situations team has completed more than 65 transactions totalling over $6 billion.
In February, the business exited China Logistics Property Holdings “at superior return” through a takeover transaction by JD Property, the firm said. Bain Capital invested in the company’s convertible bonds in 2020.
It also exited frozen food manufacturer Schwan’s Company to South Korean chaebol CJ Group last year, after two years of investment. Other investments by the special situations unit in APAC include India’s marine chemicals company Archean Chemical and Australia-based Judo Bank.
Bain Capital’s special situations business has $15 billion in total assets under management and has invested $28 billion globally since its founding in 2002.
“Today’s dynamic and diverse Asia Pacific markets require an investor who can match local relationships with a deep global platform and expertise across a range of complex investment structures,” said Barnaby Lyons, a Hong Kong-based managing director and global co-head of Bain Capital Special Situations.
In APAC, Bain Capital’s private equity team has invested over $11 billion in more than 50 transactions.
The investment firm said its special situations Asia team “benefits significantly from and, at times, partners with” the APAC private equity team.