<article><a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=tpg+capital" target="_blank">TPG Capital&#8217;s</a> Asia co-head, Ben Gray, will be leaving the firm, to be replaced by <a style="color: #000080;" href="https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&amp;ion=1&amp;espv=2&amp;ie=UTF-8#q=champ+private+equity+sydney" target="_blank">CHAMP</a> Private Equity&#8217;s  Joel Thickins as country head of Australia.</article>

<a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=tpg+capital" target="_blank">TPG Capital&#8217;s</a> Asia co-head, Ben Gray, will be leaving the firm, to be replaced by <a style="color: #000080;" href="https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&amp;ion=1&amp;espv=2&amp;ie=UTF-8#q=champ+private+equity+sydney" target="_blank">CHAMP</a> Private Equity&#8217;s  Joel Thickins as country head of Australia.
Gray is reportedly keen to set up his own Australia and New Zealand-focused investment firm sometime in the second half of 2017.
He will end his role at the American private equity firm at the end of the year, after the current $3.3-billion Asian fund is fully invested.
Gray had been joint head of TPG’s Asian operations, alongside Timothy Dattels, a former Goldman Sachs partner, since November 2013. He joined the firm in 2004.
TPG had confirmed Gray’s move, and said it had hired Joel Thickins as its new country head of Australia. Thickins has been with Australian private equity firm CHAMP for eight years.
“Joel is a proven deal originator with significant experience executing large cross-border transactions. We have a strong track record in Australia, and I am confident that Joel will continue to build upon it,” Dattels said in <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://press.tpg.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=254315&amp;p=irol-newsArticle&amp;ID=2151175" target="_blank">a statement</a>.
With Gray jointly at the helm, TPG had achieved an internal rate of return on Australian deals of 60 per cent and had been responsible for $3 billion worth of investments, <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.afr.com/business/banking-and-finance/new-shades-of-gray-as-tpg-boss-plans-exit-20150818-gj1rhq" target="_blank">Australian Financial Review</a> and <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/28/business/dealbook/ben-gray-to-leave-tpg-capital-in-asia.html?_r=1" target="_blank">Dealbook reported</a>.
He is best known for the Myer deal, which returned a $1.4 billion profit in three years.
Dealbook reported that American private equity giants like TPG, Apollo Global Management, the Blackstone Group and Carlyle Group have found it challenging to source Australian deals that meet their usual investment threshold of $1 billion.
This is further tested by Australian companies’ suspicions towards leveraged buyout proposals.
Dealogic data shows that Apollo, Blackstone, Carlyle and TPG have made 22 private equity investments worth $14.22 billion since 2000. TPG has accounted for 29 per cent of these deals or transactions, worth $6.28 billion.
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TPG Capital's Asia co-head, Ben Gray, will be leaving the firm, to be replaced by CHAMP Private Equity's  Joel Thickins as country head of Australia.

TPG Asia co-head Ben Gray to leave end-2016, CHAMP's Thickins to lead Australia ops

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TPG Asia co-head Ben Gray to leave end-2016, CHAMP's Thickins to lead Australia ops

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