Kuala Lumpur-headquartered mid-market manager Creador is set to establish an office in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam by the middle of the year, as it seeks to ramp up deals in the country, Private Equity International has learned.
“We see tremendous opportunities for growth capital along the lines of emerging companies like Mobile World, but also as the Vietnamese government continues divestments of state-owned enterprises,” Brahmal Vasudevan, founder of Creador, told PEI. “We think it is a very interesting market and we see a lot of similarities with what we have done in India and Indonesia.”
The firm’s new outpost will be its fifth in the region after Kuala Lumpur, Chennai, Jakarta, and Mauritius. Vasudevan noted that the firm’s goal is to build a local team supported by its investment professionals based in Malaysia and India.
Creador made its first deal in Vietnam in January, picking up a roughly three percent stake in retailer Mobile World, previously owned by Mekong Capital, for $43.8 million. Creador invested from its third fund, which raised $415 million in December 2016. It is understood Creador III is now 84 percent deployed following its investment in Mobile World. The firm also plans to secure another deal in Vietnam within the year.
In line with its Vietnam push, the firm is targeting to invest up to 15 percent of its next fund in the country over the next three years.
Creador launched Fund IV early this month with a $500 million target, a source with knowledge of the matter told PEI. The firm has raised about $300 million or 60 percent of Fund IV’s capital to date from six investors and expects a first close by mid-year.