Carlyle-backed Chinese companies raise $780m in IPOs

The initial public offerings (IPOs) of three Carlyle Asia Growth Capital Partners portfolio companies this month have raised a combined total of almost $780 million.

The Asian growth investment arm of Carlyle has maintained its stake in China Forestry and Kaisa Group, which listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and Concord Medical Services, which listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

“As an ongoing long-term investor, we do not view these IPOs as exit events and have not reduced our stake through any of these IPOs,” Wayne Tsou, managing director and head of the Carlyle Asia Growth Capital group, said in a statement.

China Forestry was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 3 December and raised $200 million from its IPO. Carlyle first acquired a roughly 12.5 percent stake in the forestry plantation operator for about $40 million in 2008. In June 2009, it acquired an additional 4 percent stake in the company for about $15 million. The investment was made out of Carlyle Asia Growth Partners III, which closed on $680 million in 2005.

Kaisa Group, a Shenzhen-headquartered developer in the Pearl River Delta region, was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 9 December, six days after China Forestry. The company raised $445 million from its IPO. Carlyle Asia Growth Partners and Carlyle Asia Real Estate Partners are jointly invested in Kaisa Group.

Concord Medical Centres, which operates a network of radiotherapy and diagnostic imaging centres in China, raised $132 million from its IPO and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange on 11 December 2009. Carlyle holds a 17.7 percent stake in the company.

In June, Carlyle closed Carlyle Asia Growth Partners IV on $1.04 billion. The fund has made four investments thus far: in ship components supplier Nantong Rainbow Heavy Industry; tourism services provider iTour; fertilizer company Agritech; and high-end women’s fashion house Ellassay.

Carlyle’s Asian growth group manages about $2 billion across four funds. It makes sector agnostic investments and has closed transactions in sectors such as energy, consumer, technology, business services, education, industrial, healthcare, real estate and media. Four-fifths of the group’s investments have been made in either in China or India.