Chinese growth capital investor
Orchid Asia Group Management Ltd. boosted commitments in its
fourth fund more than 200% over its previous effort, closing Orchid Asia IV LP with $420 million, compared with $180 million for its Orchid Asia IIII Fund, which closed in January 2006. The new fund will continue to target growth opportunities in China.
With offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and San Francisco, Orchid raised its fund from global investors in Asia, Europe, the U.S. and the Middle East, targeting independent private banks, university endowments, insurance companies, investment institutions, strategic individual investors and high-net-worth family funds. Orchid managing director Gabriel Li, who is based in San Francisco, says the firm was one of the first private equity funds operating in China when it began investing 16 years ago and that there is still a lot of opportunity in growth investments where existing managers are seeking outside equity.
Orchid is made up of investment professionals with backgrounds from companies including Goldman, Sachs & Co., Carlyle Group, McKinsey & Co., KPMG, Boston Consulting Group, General Electric Co., Hewlett-Packard Co., Swire Group and Li & Fung Ltd., and it works closely with portfolio companies.
The firm will undertake investment of the new fund without one of its recent stars,
Steven Kwok, who left the firm in December to head up Bear, Stearns & Co.'s private equity programs in China. A Chinese native, Kwok earned a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago, and he was head of Greater China for UBS Capital in Hong Kong before joining Orchid. Before that he was with Salomon Brothers in New York and Hong Kong.
Among the investments Orchid has taken to successful exits are travel service provider Ctrip.com International, which went public in December 2003 for $75 million and returned 20 times Orchid's original initial investment, and online auction leader Eachnet, which was sold to eBay Inc. for about 5 times return.
- Clifford CarlsenSee Feb. 22 press release from Orchid Asia Management via PRNewswireSee Dec. 14, 2007, story from TheDeal.com
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