In this edition, we capture how Asia’s quick service restaurants and fast food chains are witnessing renewed deal traction and liquidity events for their earlier investors, the continued growth prospects for private credit despite challenges and top PE developments in the region.
QSR deals return in Asia
Nearly six years since COVID-19 upended global food and beverage businesses, Asia’s quick-service and fast-casual chains are finally seeing a burst of deal activity, in a clear signal of renewed investor confidence.
Barring Carlyle’s stellar 2023 exit from McDonald’s China, now owned by CITIC Capital and Trustar, large-cap transactions largely stalled in the aftermath of the pandemic.
Momentum became clear last week when Goldman Sachs Alternatives agreed to acquire Burger King Japan from Affinity Equity Partners’s fourth fund, returning cash to investors after Affinity’s failed attempt two years ago to roll the chain and its Korean unit into a continuation vehicle during its eight-year hold.
The rebound has been most evident in North Asia, where multinational F&B giants are seeking local partners to navigate the cultural nuances in Asian markets. Earlier this month, CPE (CITIC Private Equity) bought majority stakes in Burger King’s China operations from Restaurant Brands International, pledging $350 million of fresh investment. Starbucks also sold control of its China business to Mixue’s backer Boyu Capital in a $4 billion transaction, ending months-long bidding process that reportedly attracted Carlyle, EQT and Hillhouse.
Carlyle was early to the latest QSR comeback with the acquisition of KFC Japan from Mitsubishi Corporation, which led to the subsequent delisting in 2024. The privatisation came about three years after it bought Korea’s A Twosome Place in the record M&A year of 2021.
Quick-service chains have long been a favourite of buyout funds, but deal activity lost momentum in the years after the pandemic as growth rates faltered and recovery patterns looked uncertain. With performance now stabilising, investors are seeing returns again, and transactions are picking up. Deals getting done also signal that buyers and sellers are finally finding common ground on price, even as bid‑ask spreads remain wide across the broader M&A market. In cases where acquirers want an asset badly enough, they’re willing to stretch valuations and pay up.
Transactions in 2025
India
Away from North Asia, fund managers are on a major path for monetisation.
Creador delivered cash from Sapphire Foods India, a restaurant operator and the largest franchisee of Yum! Brands such as KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell in India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. The Malaysian fund sold its entire 3.7% stake for Rs 394 crore ($39.4 million) through an open market transaction in August after it invested $73 million into the business in 2021.
Everstone Capital was reported to revive efforts to exit its 11.27% in Restaurant Brands Asia, formerly known as Burger King India, after setting up a joint venture with its parent company in 2013 to bring the chain to India, according to CNBC. It was also looking to make partial sales of Subway India earlier this year, Mint reported.
Southeast Asia
In Southeast Asia, funds are also moving to exit long‑held QSR positions as the industry keeps a close watch on the rise of tech‑enabled chains that are being dubbed the new wave of F&B investments in the region.
Everstone sold its 10‑year‑old investment in Domino’s Pizza Indonesia to Asia Partners, marking a pivot for the buyer from earlier bets on tech unicorns like ShopBack and Carsome. Fresh DPI from such exits will be critical in helping firms push toward the final close of their flagship funds. Dymon Asia Private Equity, which closed its second fund in 2018 and has been steadily working through portfolio disposals, likewise returned capital this year with the sale of the Singapore parent company of Texas Chicken and Peach Garden.
At the same time, new capital is flowing into the region’s tech‑enabled coffee chains. Unicorn Kopi Kenangan is in the market for a fresh fundraising that would deliver distributions to its backers, following East‑backed Fore Coffee’s public market debut earlier this year. ZUS Coffee, which secured investment from KV Asia last year, also remains firmly on investors’ watchlists.
Is Asia’s private credit already crowded?
The short answer might be “No”. The private debt AUM in Asia Pacific, even at $59 billion in 2024, accounted for only 1.4% of the region’s credit market. It is expected to grow to $92 billion in two years, according to the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA).
But some global players have already felt the pressure. BlackRock’s fundraising for its third Asia vehicle has stalled, and the firm is reportedly extending the deployment period of its current fund for another year. Deutsche Bank’s DWS Group was also said to have axed its Asia private credit team.
These firms were among global managers seeking low to mid-teen returns from Asia private credit. Others, including KKR, Ares and Ascertis, are still aiming big, targeting several billions of US dollars for their next funds.
In an earlier edition of this newsletter, we discussed the challenges in deal origination for large capital providers. Data from Preqin by Q3 2025 again highlighted constrained deployment, with both deal volume and value across the region declining.
Unlike more mature markets, big-ticket investors in Asia may find it hard to compete with banks, which typically offer more attractive terms and pricing.
“This is due to the structural imperative for private credit funds to meet specific yield hurdles for their debt investments – private credit loans are typically priced 200 to 400 basis points higher than comparable public or bank loans,” AIMA highlighted.
Meanwhile, mid-market private credit providers continue to see the vast opportunities when 97% of Asian businesses are SMEs, facing a $2.5 trillion funding shortfall.
“The largest lenders to startups in the US are venture debt funds, not banks. A similar scenario will play out in emerging markets such as India and Southeast Asia,” Ankit Agrawal, Executive Director and Head of Growth Debt at Lighthouse Canton, recently said.
Investors in this segment argue that credit quality in Asia is generally strong. For one, deals in the region are often fixed-rate, eliminating the interest-rate risk component.
Much of the demand is event-driven, such as the need for M&A and bridge financing. These situations are typically less correlated to global market cycles. For example, Orion Capital Asia has executed at least three acquisition financing deals in the past two months.
Asia is known for its heterogeneity risk, but players with on-the-ground insight can still dissect this diversity and are equipped to underwrite that risk.
With more local GPs, such as Malaysia-based Ekuinas and Navis Capital, and Indian asset manager Motilal, chasing yields in private credit, it’s painting an irreversible and secular trend for the strategy.
Top PE developments
Deals and exits
KKR has reupped in India’s preschool and K-12 education chain Lighthouse Learning Group, bringing in Canada’s PSP Investments as a new shareholder.
Warburg Pincus has agreed to acquire Hong Kong’s Topcast Aviation Supplies, the largest independent aircraft parts distributor and maintenance, repair, and overhaul service provider in Asia.
Brookfield Asset Management has acquired Alba Renewables from SUSI Partners AG, marking the Switzerland-based energy infrastructure investor’s first exit in Asia.
Taiwan’s CDIB Capital Group and Federated Hermes have exited Taiwan-based Poyun Group, following a sale to Taiwan-listed Compucase Enterprise Co. at an enterprise value of $250 million.
Pentagreen Capital and Nordic-backed investor Tinfund have agreed on up to $45 million of multi-tranche construction financing to build a pipeline of small run-of-river hydropower plants in Indonesia.
Fundraising
MBK Partners has raised $5.5 billion for its sixth fund, lower than the earlier reported target of $7 billion. August Global Partners has closed its second fund at $150 million to invest in healthcare in Asia.
People
Ontario Municipal Employers’ Retirement System (OMERS) Asia-Pacific head Ashish Goyal is reportedly expected to depart at the end of the year, as the pension fund revamps its private equity strategy, pulling back from direct deals and relying more on external partners.
Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is expected to transition oversight of its Asia real estate investments to Toronto by 2026, following earlier cuts to its venture and growth teams in Hong Kong, while OMERS has also disbanded its Asia buyout team.
These moves signal a shift in Asia Pacific private equity, with Canadian pensions recalibrating strategies amid a tougher PE and venture environment. Capital continues to follow the strongest risk-adjusted returns, whether in direct deals, private credit, or infrastructure.
