DealStreetAsia’s inaugural Asia Private Equity Leadership Summit in Hong Kong gathered the biggest allocators and managers from across the region for a day of curated discussions around investment opportunities across the Asia Pacific. This edition captures conversations around the liquidity playbook that needs to be rewritten to look beyond mainstream exit routes, diversification and capital consolidation trends in Asia.
We also examine the merger between GHO Capital and CBC Group and what it means for the healthcare PE thesis.
Is Asia prepared to meet the liquidity demand?
Capital in Asia is finally returning to Limited Partners (LPs), recent data suggests. This could spark a wave of optimism. But could this be enough to inspire LPs to increase their commitments and back new managers across the region?
Despite the promising signs, allocators are treading cautiously. As Brian Lim, partner and head of Asia and emerging markets investment teams at Pantheon Ventures, pointed out, LPs would need to discern whether this recovery is robust or merely episodic, depending on markets.
The market will need to demonstrate evidence that multiple exit routes are developing—proving that liquidity is sustainable beyond just a few isolated wins.
The million-dollar liquidity question was at the centre of the conversations among LPs, fund managers and private capital principals at the just-concluded Asia Private Equity Leadership Summit in Hong Kong.
Gone are the days when strategic exits and IPOs dominated the landscape. Today, the playbook needs to be rewritten to not only incorporate traditional exits but also continuation vehicles and recapitalisations across diverse markets.
This adaptability is crucial.
While exits from multi-asset portfolios are encouraging, experts observed, far more of that flow needs to materialise. Valuation expectations between buyers and sellers are ostensibly adjusting, but deal numbers remain stubbornly down. It cannot just be the marquee assets grabbing the headlines.
Does this reflect a mixed deal landscape, or is it something more fundamental? It likely comes down to the reality that buyers and sellers are still struggling to fully align on price expectations. And ultimately, those expectations will need to adjust even more significantly to bridge the divide.
Beyond the mechanics of deals, the fact that Asia offers diversification is no longer a question.
For the LPs present at the summit, looking at Asia is fundamentally about assessing risk versus return. Asian economies are newer, rapidly growing, less efficient, and less established. But isn’t that precisely where the potential lies? The inefficiency of the market is the very engine of private equity value in the region.
Consider India as a prime example. From a capital supply and demand perspective, a decade ago, few were willing to invest there. Yet, those who did are now seeing significant payoffs. Conversely, China was the investment darling of the past. Today, the tables have turned. While interest is returning to China, it lacks the uniform fervour of a decade ago. But isn’t that shift itself a potential opportunity?
The biggest trend over the past 10 to 15 years is undeniable: investors are no longer equating Asia solely with China. From a portfolio construction standpoint, the region has become far more diversified. China has faced a confluence of challenges since COVID, and naturally, other Asian markets have become the net beneficiaries of this capital rotation.
Over the past year, conversations have centered heavily on concentration in certain funds and managers. If the differentiation between top-tier managers and the rest is widening, does that actually strengthen the case for concentrating capital in a smaller number of GPs? Or does it make portfolio construction significantly more complex, forcing a move away from simple selectivity toward a more intricate balancing act?
Many LPs alluded to this underlying truth: there is always market beta. During the good times, delivering returns looks deceptively easy. But isn’t the true test of a good manager the ability to generate alpha when the cycle is not in your favour?
The unique challenge in Asia is that the asset class is still young; we have only seen two or three decades of private equity unfold here, and the cycles have been drastically different. India today is unrecognisable compared to India a decade ago. The same goes for China. Investors are constantly wading through the noise to find the signal and this forces them to go back to first principles—to truly examine the building blocks of what makes a good deal.
So, where does this leave the industry in the debate of concentration?
Does one double down or spread the bets? Perhaps the answer isn’t a rigid strategy at all. Maybe it comes down to a simpler reality: it is about the manager quality in each market. If the manager is best-in-class, doesn’t that concentration argument solve itself?
One can debate endlessly regarding selectivity and capital consolidation among pan-Asian and larger regional funds. But is this a structural constraint we simply have to accept? Or is it actually an opportunity to build different strategies in undercapitalised segments?
As Abhishek Sharman, Founder & Managing Director of Carpediem Capital, candidly put it, he prefers to look at the latter. The logic is compelling. “If you look at the lower end of the market to the mid-market,” Sharman argues, “the level of competition is certainly lower.”
Why does this matter? Because the chance to differentiate is significantly higher in these spaces. There are a multitude of options for generating returns that don’t exist at the top of the market. As you move up the size curve, the number of opportunities shrinks while competition intensifies. In that crowded space, investors are often forced to pay higher premiums simply for the sake of scale.
The path forward in Asia isn’t about blindly chasing the region’s general growth story, nor is it about retreating in fear. Instead, the market rewards a disciplined, specific approach. Whether it means backing top-tier managers who can navigate volatility or capitalising on the inefficiencies of smaller, undercapitalised markets, the opportunity remains.
More from the Asia PE Leadership Summit
China PE interest returns, but bar is higher for fundraising, exits
Developed Asia draws private capital as LPs prioritise exits, DPI
Asia secondaries poised for breakout growth amid liquidity pressures
Global LPs redraw Asia diversification playbook as private markets evolve
Asia-Gulf corridor private capital momentum builds despite geopolitical noise
GHO-CBC deal shows healthcare is not just a PE sub-segment
The merger between GHO Capital and CBC Group to create a $21-billion healthcare-focused investment firm highlights how healthcare is increasingly becoming a standalone private capital strategy rather than just another sector allocation within buyout portfolios.
The deal comes at a time when fundraising conditions remain difficult across private equity, pushing firms toward greater scale and diversification. But unlike consolidation among generalist managers, the GHO-CBC tie-up reflects another trend: the growing importance of sector specialisation.
Healthcare investing has become significantly more complex over the past decade, spanning biotech, medical devices, healthcare services, contract manufacturing and drug discovery. That complexity has made operational expertise and scientific networks as valuable as financial capabilities.
The transaction also reflects Asia’s rising importance in global healthcare investing. Historically, healthcare innovation and capital formation were concentrated in the US and Europe, while Asia served as a manufacturing or commercialisation base. That dynamic is changing rapidly. Asia-Pacific now accounts for a substantial portion of global healthcare R&D spending, while China’s biotech ecosystem has become a major source of licensing deals, clinical development and pharmaceutical innovation.
CBC brings deep networks across Asian healthcare markets, while GHO contributes a European and North American healthcare investment platform. The combination effectively creates a cross-border healthcare investor, set to benefit from increasingly globalised healthcare supply chains, clinical trials and drug commercialisations.
Top PE Developments
Deals
Temasek-backed climate investment platform GenZero has acquired the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s stake in Seraya Partners Fund I in a secondary transaction.
Hillhouse Investment Management has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Sydney-headquartered Barwon Investment Partners, deepening its exposure to Asia-Pacific real assets and healthcare-focused property investments.
Templewater has acquired Singaporean healthcare provider Ascensus Health Group from Dymon Asia.
In news from India, InCred Alternative Investments has invested in Hyderabad-based VEM Technologies through its two private equity funds.
Advent International is investing $150 million for a significant minority stake in Iscon Balaji Foods, a maker and exporter of processed frozen potato products.
Fundraising updates
Bain Capital has raised $10.5 billion for its Bain Capital Asia Fund VI, including $9.1 billion of external commitments. The fund has exceeded its original target of $7 billion.
British International Investment and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners have partnered to launch North Star, a $300-million platform aimed at accelerating renewable power development in India.
Pentagreen Capital Fund Management has announced the second close of the Green Investments Partnership, a flagship blended finance programme, bringing the committed capital from $510 million to $800 million.
Interviews
Singapore-based CGS International (CGSI) is building its Southeast Asia private equity strategy around the China–Southeast Asia corridor, as it takes on the role of general partner in a newly-established, sovereign-backed vehicle backed by China Investment Corporation, Indonesia Investment Authority and the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan. James Ong, Group Head, Asset Management at CGSI, described the firm’s investment thesis as capitalising on the so-called China-plus-one theme, integrated with direct investment into Southeast Asia.
