Swedish investment firm EQT is in an exit mode, and Asia has emerged as a major contributor to the firm’s realisation momentum.
The region accounted for 29% of EQT’s total exit value of 19 billion euros ($22 billion) in the 12-month period ended September 2025, only behind Europe (46%), according to its Q3 2025 earnings report released on Thursday (Oct. 16).
While the firm did not disclose a geographic breakdown by quarter, its executives said on Thursday that Asia “significantly outperformed” in the third quarter.
On a global basis, EQT is on track to deliver 30 liquidity events in 2025.
During the year, EQT’s BPEA VI exited Nord Anglia Education, while the firm also sold Australian digital and IT services provider Nexon Asia Pacific, Southeast Asia-based TELUS Digital, and Japanese automotive technology company Pioneer Corporation, and a sell-down in China’s Horizon Robotics.
EQT’s CEO and Managing Partner Per Franzen said he has seen an encouraging pickup in IPOs and M&As globally. Increased corporate confidence has resulted in positive impacts on EQT’s pipeline, he noted, adding that divestments in the rest of the year will be more tilted towards infrastructure.
By the end of September 2025, EQT BPEA VII scored a 2.7x MoIC, while the eighth Asia vehicle achieved 1.3x. Performance of both funds was “above plan”, the firm said.
In terms of investment activity, 16 billion euros was deployed in Asia in the 12 months ending September 2025, accounting for 18% of the global portfolio—up from 15% in the first half of this year.
EQT also revealed that the fundraising for its ninth Asia fund is approaching a final close in early 2026, after having raised $12 billion as of October 16. The vehicle, which is already 5-10% deployed, is expected to reach its hard cap of $14.5 billion.
Fundraising for its ninth Asia fund is approaching a final close in early 2026
The company claimed it has the largest dry powder in Asia.
“Investors are increasingly consolidating their GP relationship and looking for close partnerships that can help them achieve strategic objectives,” Franzen commented on the current fundraising dynamics.
He added that, as a lot of limited partners are over-allocated to US-denominated assets, it has guided them to the attractive alpha in Asia and Europe.
With buyout volume in Asia projected to double between 2023 and 2030, the CEO expects private market allocation to this region, which currently stands at about 8%, to soon be on par with the ratios seen in the US and Europe.
Within Asia, Japan is growing as a strategic opportunity for EQT, as the country’s government reforms and structural shifts create attractive opportunities for EQT’s active ownership model. As EQT is ramping up its private wealth products, the firm is also increasingly tapping wealth clients from Japan.
The firm’s assets under management reached 267 billion euros in Q3 2025, of which fee-generating AUM accounted for 139 billion euros.
