Australia remains attractive but global private capital investors see other Asian region markets as generally offering stronger opportunities, according to Australia-based representatives of two global firms.
Speaking at Mergermarket’s Asian Venture Capital Journal Private Equity & Venture Capital Forum in Sydney on 6 March, Joel Thickens of TPG and Frank Heckes of EQT agreed that the Asian region was running hot for global investment with India and Japan offering the best opportunities.
Thickens, TPG’s local co-managing partner, said the “partial de-coupling” of China from international trade had prompted investors who had previously focused on investing in the region’s largest economy to look at opportunities in the region’s other large economies. India was clearly the most attractive market with Japan rapidly improving. Australia, however, remained a core part of TPG’s strategy as a reliable place to invest.
EQT partner Heckes said India had emerged as a “powerhouse” of the global economy led by strategies such as providing outsourced technology services to other major economies.
John Y.S. Lee, a Hong Kong-based partner of global secondary and co-investment funds manager Lexington Partners, said global investors were definitely “shying away” from China although his firm remained open to opportunities in any geography.
The Mergermarket AVCJ Australia and New Zealand Forum, at the Four Seasons Hotel, Sydney, attracted a large contingent of global institutional investors to Sydney. The event is in its 21st year.