<article>Chinese private equity firm <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.honycapital.com/?l=en-us" target="_blank">Hony Capital</a> has reached a first close of US$1 billion on its new Greater China-focused fund, and has raised and additional $250 million towards a second close for of this vehicle, a report sad.</article>

Chinese private equity firm <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.honycapital.com/?l=en-us" target="_blank">Hony Capital</a> has reached a first close of US$1 billion on its new Greater China-focused fund, and has raised and additional $250 million towards a second close for of this vehicle, a report sad.
The Asian Venture Capital Journal (AVCJ), said Hony Capital Fund VIII, which had hit the first close, had a target of $2 billion for the core corpus, citing sources familiar with the situation. The report also added that this vehicle had achieved its first close a few months ago.
The fund is expected to focus on Greater China &#8211; mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan &#8211;  with 50 per cent of the corpus deployed in Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) that require restructuring to function across private and public markets. It will also focus on investing in private firms undergoing restructuring, transformation, or are encountering financial distress.
Comprising a US dollar-denominated and renminbi-denominated capital pool &#8211; each with a target of $1 billion &#8211; the funds will be invested in the same assets. Additionally, a $600 million co-investment side vehicle is being raised by the general partner (GP), which will enabled limited partners (LPs) to participate in cross-border transactions outside of China.
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This is due to past restrictions on foreign investment in specific sectors and currency convertibility issues, which resulted in funds operated by the same manager investing in different deals. Tony Capital is aiming to pioneer a more equitable structure, as well as leverage new <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2015/04/23/new-free-trade-zones-explained-part-guangdong.html" target="_blank">reform policies announced April 2015</a>. This saw the <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2015/04/23/new-free-trade-zones-explained-part-guangdong.html" target="_blank">lifting of restrictions</a> on foreign investment and position Hong Kong and Macau as economic gateways.
The reforms, part of a wave of economic deregulation, are focused on Shenzhen&#8217;s Qianhai Special Economic Zone, which is part of a <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.economonitor.com/blog/2016/01/guangdong-the-epicenter-of-chinas-rebalancing-2/" target="_blank">larger industrial reconfiguration of Guangdong</a>, as well as reforms impacting the Shanghai Free Trade Zone which saw <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2015/01/06/china-rolls-new-ftzs-expands-current-one.html" target="_blank">expansion in early 2015</a>. Both zones are are <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2015/08/06/the-shanghai-and-guangdong-free-trade-zones-a-comparison.html" target="_blank">qualitatively different</a>.
The <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2014/09/25/spotlight-qianhai-shenzhen-hong-kong-modern-service-industry-cooperation-zone.html" target="_blank">Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone (Qianhai)</a> was specifically established to serve as an experimental business zone for developing and enhancing interaction between mainland China and Hong Kong in the financial, logistics, and IT services sectors. The latest tax policies will likely see enhancement and further opening of the region to foreign investment and ventures.
Hony <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.avcj.com/avcj/news/2137331/hony-capital-raises-usd4b-usd-rmb-funds" target="_blank">closed its fifth US dollar fund</a> at $2.36 billion and secured RMB10 billion ($1.6 billion) for its second renminbi fund in 2012, with their corpus twice the capitalisation of preceding funds. Again, according to AVCJ report, as of September 2015, the fifth US dollar fund has committed $2.16 billion across 18 corporations, with an IRR was recorded at 30 per cent in June 2015.
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Hony Capital has reached a first close of $1b on its new Greater China-focused fund, and has raised and additional $250m towards a second close

Hony Capital hits $1.25b mark on new Greater China-focused fund

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Hony Capital hits $1.25b mark on new Greater China-focused fund

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