Exclusive: Riverside Asia fund blasts through target

The Riverside Company expects to make a final close on its second Asia Pacific fund during the second quarter of 2014 significantly above its original $150 million target.

The firm has already hit $230 million, making an interim close, a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission this week showed.

However, the latest filing represents only a fourth close for the fund, with Riverside expecting a small amount more in further commitments.

The vehicle is likely to make a final close in the coming months “above and beyond” the $150 million cover, and significantly above the $31 million raised by its predecessor vehicle, a source with knowledge of the matter told Private Equity International.

A Riverside spokesman declined to comment on fundraising.

The firm launched its second Asia private equity offering in 2012, making a first close in September that year. The vehicle targets mid-market opportunities in Asia’s developed economies, specifically Australia and New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and Singapore.

Its focus on Singapore, and Southeast Asia as a destination for add-on acquisitions or portfolio company expansion, has increased in the new fund, with Riverside opening an office there in March 2013, PEI reported earlier.

The firm has continued to strengthen its capabilities in the sub-region, promoting Ivica Turza to managing director and head of Asia Pacific deal origination in October last year. Turza was the first member of the Riverside team based out of its newly-established Singapore office.

Deals from the recent fund include its November investment in Japanese bike retailer Y International and New Zealand-based animal drug administrator Simcro, which it acquired in July last year.

Riverside has also had success on the fundraising trail elsewhere, closing its Riverside Capital Appreciation Fund VI on $1.5 billion out of the US in January this year, surpassing its $1 billion target, PEI reported at the time. Fund VI, which is Riverside’s largest fundraise to date, was launched in summer 2012.

The Riverside Company was founded in 1988 by co-chief executive officer Béla Szigethy. Co-chief executive Stewart Kohl joined in 1993. Riverside is headquartered in New York and has over $3.5 billion in assets under management, according to the firm.