Following this transaction, the existing team at the the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Asia private equity team will continue to manage the portfolio as part of NewQuest Capital Partners.
The private equity team at NewQuest Capital Partners will be led by Darren Massara, as managing partner, and Amit Gupta, Bonnie Lo, and Min Lin as partners. All of them were formerly part of Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Asia private equity team.
NewQuest also formed NewQuest Asia Fund I, a fund focused on investment opportunities in Asia.
NewQuest said that the fund is backed by a syndicate of limited partners including Paul Capital, HarbourVest Partners, LGT Capital Partners and Axiom Asia.
The fund will also have capital reserved to make new and follow-on investments with an emphasis on the purchase of direct secondary equity positions in Asia, the private equity firm added.
Massara said that the partnership with Paul Capital, HarbourVest, LGT Capital Partners and Axiom Asia will allow the team to continue to harvest its existing portfolio on a seamless basis, as well as execute on its unique investment strategy for the Asian market.
Paul Capital Hong Kong managing director Jason Sambanju said that the establishment of NewQuest Capital Partners is an important milestone in the development of Asia’s private equity market as it is the first transaction of its kind in the region.
"Building on our history as the first dedicated secondary investment firm to open an office in Hong Kong, we look forward to continuing the development of the region’s secondary private equity market by deepening our relationship with the NewQuest team," Sambanju said.
