Daiwa Quantum holds $80m first close

Daiwa Quantum Capital, a joint venture between Daiwa Securities SMBC Principal Investments and Quantum Leaps, has raised $80 million for the first close on a private equity fund focused on growth investments in Asia.

Fundraising for Daiwa Quantum Capital Partners I began in June 2009. Investors include the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and United Microelectronics Corporation, a semiconductor foundry in Taiwan, among others, the firm said in a statement. Daiwa Securities SMBC Principal Investments has made an anchor investment of $30 million to the fund.

The fund will make growth capital investments mainly in efficient energy and environment-related businesses and consumer-related businesses in Japan and in other parts of Asia. It will commit about 25 percent of its capital to Japan and the remainder to other Asian economies, the firm said.

Daiwa Securities SMBC Principal Investments is the investment arm of Daiwa Securities SMBC, an investment banking joint venture between Daiwa Securities and the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. The firm invests in non-performing loans, real estate, clean technology and private equity.

In June 2008, Daiwa Securities invested $80 million in Fang Fenglei’s $2.5 billion Hopu USD Master Fund I and Daiwa Securities SMBC committed $20 million to the same fund. Hopu is focused on opportunities arising from the restructuring of state-owned enterprises and the rapidly growing private sector in China.

Established in 2006, Quantum Leaps is an advisory firm providing services to Japanese and other Asian businesses. The firm is headed by Nobuyuki Idei, former chairman and group CEO of Japanese electronics giant Sony and now also the chairman of Daiwa Quantum.

Based in Tokyo, Daiwa Quantum has a senior investment team of eight professionals.