By Kanjyik Ghosh, Bipasha Dey and Yantoultra Ngui
SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Sweden’s EQT has received commitments exceeding $10 billion for its new Asia-focused buyout fund and will reach its first close in April, the investment firm said on Wednesday.
EQT launched the fundraising of its ninth regional private equity fund – BPEA Private Equity Fund IX, managed by EQT Private Capital Asia – last August, with a target of $12.5 billion and an upper limit or hard cap of $14.5 billion.
“BPEA IX was activated during the period and is expected to reach its $12.5 billion target fund size during the summer,” CEO and Managing Partner Christian Sinding said in EQT’s first-quarter announcement.
Fundraising is expected to conclude in the second half of the year, EQT said in the announcement.
The average time required to close a fund was 24 months, according to Bain & Company.
If successful, the fund would be its largest in Asia so far, and could become the region’s largest ever if it surpasses its hard cap.
The region’s biggest private equity fund was KKR’s fourth Asia-Pacific focussed fund that raised $15 billion in 2021.
Private equity funds typically begin investing after their first close, once they have secured an initial round of investor commitments.
The first-close of the EQT fund in April will come against the backdrop of a challenging global macroeconomic and geopolitical environment triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and policy orders.
Asia-focused private equity and venture capital fundraising dropped 29% on-year to hit a 12-year low of $63.79 billion in 2024 amid trade tensions between the U.S and China, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
“As we look ahead, exit activity will slow down, but periods of disruption often bring compelling investment opportunities,” Sinding said, adding that EQT’s portfolio had limited direct exposure to tariffs.
(Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh and Bipasha Dey in Bengaluru and Yantoultra Ngui in Singapore; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Tomasz Janowski)
