Creador targets $200m with Fund II(2)

Southeast Asia- and India-focused private equity firm Creador has started pre-marketing its second vehicle, which is targeting $200 million, a source with direct knowledge of the matter revealed to Private Equity International. Creador will formally launch the vehicle within the next month. 

The firm, led by ex-ChrysCapital managing director Brahmal Vasudevan, has already deployed roughly 80 percent of its maiden vehicle, which closed on $130 million in December last year.

The fund's investments include taking a 9.9 percent stake in India-based Repco Home Finance worth $13.7 million in January, the acquisition of Indonesian foods business Simba Indosnack Makmur from family-owned Indian conglomerate the Godrej Group in February and anchoring the $228 million IPO of Indonesia-based MNC Skyvision alongside Saban Capital last year, PEI reported earlier. 

The firm expects a “quick fundraise” for its successor vehicle and a first close by the summer, according to the source. He said the fund has already garnered provisional commitments of around $80 million from its existing investors and is likely to have a 50-50 split of old and new LPs.

However, the firm has slightly changed its geographical focus and will now only invest in India “opportunistically”, having previously allocated 20 percent of the fund’s capital to the country. The source explained, “A lot of [LPs] are overexposed to India so what they like about Creador most is that it is in these high-growth Southeast Asian markets.” 

Institutional investors have increasingly called for GPs to gain exposure to Southeast Asia due to the fading growth stories that initially drove China and India investment. 

The Riverside Group, which historically focused its Asia operations in developed economies such as Australia, Japan and Korea, opened a Singapore office in February to tap opportunities in Southeast Asia. The firm will mainly look at Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, responding to calls for Southeast Asian exposure from its LPs, PEI revealed earlier. 

However, large inflows of capital are already targeting Southeast Asia. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is about to close its $6 billion Asia fund and in 2012 the firm opened a Singapore office to address Southeast Asia opportunities. TPG, which invests in Southeast Asia through its partnership with Indonesia-based Northstar Capital Partners, is raising a $4 billion fund for Asia.

Navis Capital Partners, which has been investing in Southeast Asia since 1998, is planning to launch Fund VII in 2014. Saratoga Capital, Capsquare Asia Partners, FalconHouse Partners and KV Asia are among the firms raising funds for Indonesia.

Creador is a Kuala Lumpur-based private equity firm, which focuses on small- to mid-cap investments in Southeast Asia and India. The firm was founded by Vasudevan in 2011 and currently manages funds totaling $132 million, according to PEI’s Research & Analytics division.