CITIC Capital’s private equity (PE) affiliate, Trustar Capital, announced on Wednesday the closing of its new RMB-denominated M&A fund at over 4.5 billion yuan ($626.4 million), bringing the firm’s assets under management (AUM) to $9.59 billion.
The new RMB M&A fund, located at the Suzhou Industrial Park in eastern China’s Jiangsu Province, secured capital commitments from government guidance funds, insurers, funds of funds (FOFs), securities companies, and corporates.
Insurance companies contributed to over 70%, or more than 3.15 billion yuan ($438.5 million), of the fund’s dry powder. Suzhou Harvest Capital Management, a government investment platform in Suzhou, serves as a cornerstone investor of the fund, according to an August 6 report by the Securities Times, a state-owned financial media outlet in China.
The report said that the new M&A fund will focus on consumer products & services, medical treatment, healthcare & wellness, business services, and technology. It will source opportunities in corporate spin-offs, industrial consolidation, privatisation of listed companies, and cross-border acquisitions, according to the report.
In a company statement, Trustar Capital said the new fund will follow the same investment strategy as the Chenxi Co-Win Fund, a 4.5-billion-yuan RMB M&A fund that was launched this January by its limited partner (LP) Sunshine Life Insurance and general partner (GP) Trustar Capital.
Specifically, the new fund will target control buyouts across its key sectors and around its portfolio ecosystem, targeting high-growth companies.
“Despite a complex and evolving global landscape, China’s economy has demonstrated resilience and maintained steady growth. The domestic private equity industry is navigating a period of adjustment, making the successful final closing of our new RMB Buyout Fund especially meaningful,” said Yichen Zhang, chairman & CEO of CITIC Capital and chairman of Trustar Capital, in the statement.
“It underscores our shared confidence in China’s economic outlook,” said Zhang.
With offices in China, Japan, and the US, Trustar Capital has completed over 100 investments, of which more than 70 are buyout transactions, since 2002. Its portfolio of companies includes facility management platform TrustLink, drug manufacturer GuiLong Pharmaceutical, digital imaging solutions developer OmniVision, and telecom software & IT services provider AsiaInfo.
Its landmark deals include an array of transactions worth a total of approximately $430 million in late 2024 for McDonald’s businesses in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau. The completion of the transactions saw Trustar Capital and CITIC Capital collectively hold 52% of McDonald’s China.
