Asian private equity firm NewQuest Partners has held the final close of its fourth dedicated secondary fund, NewQuest Asia Fund IV with over USD1 billion in total commitments, surpassing its initial target of USD850 million.
The Fund increased its original hard cap of USD950 million to accommodate strong investor demand.
Fund IV investors include a diverse group of endowment funds, pension funds, sovereign funds, insurers, financial institutions and family offices across Asia, North America, Europe and the Middle East. Fund IV’s close comes on the back of NewQuest’s prior fund, NewQuest Asia Fund III, being fully deployed.
The Fund’s close coincides with a continued, robust increase in demand for alternative liquidity solutions for private equity investments across Asia. In addition, complex portfolio transactions, such as fund restructurings and spinouts, an area in which NewQuest also specialises, have become more prominent in the region.
“We are very grateful to our limited partners for entrusting us with their capital, and extremely excited about the market prospects for NewQuest’s secondary business. The overall secondaries market continues to see positive momentum as private equity owners actively manage their portfolios to seek liquidity,” says Darren Massara, Managing Partner of NewQuest. “NewQuest has established itself as the leading provider of direct and bespoke secondaries transactions in the region, offering practical solutions to PE investors while also delivering returns to our LPs.”
Along with its announcement of the final close of Fund IV, NewQuest also announced that Nitin Agarwal has joined the firm as Managing Director, based in its Mumbai office.
“We are very pleased to have Nitin join our team. Nitin is a very well-regarded investment professional in the India market, with a wealth of practical hands-on experience throughout the investment lifecycle, from sourcing and execution to portfolio management and divestment,” said Amit Gupta, Partner and Head of India and South East Asia of NewQuest. “The addition of Nitin to the team allows NewQuest to further deepen its bench of senior investment professionals, which is critical as we look to further grow our investment activity in India.”
Agarwal is a seasoned investment professional who brings to NewQuest over 18 years of experience. Prior to joining NewQuest, Agarwal was Managing Director and Co-Head of CLSA’s India private equity arm. Previously, he worked at Motilal Oswal Private Equity as well as JPMorgan, all based in Mumbai. Agarwal has invested across various industries in the India market, including financial services, consumer, education, business services and logistics sectors.
“Our India business is a key component of our overall strategy, having led transactions amounting to over USD350 million in the past two years,” adds Massara. “Having Nitin join us just as we closed NewQuest Fund IV is timely as we have a lot of work to do in the coming months and years.”
