Bain Capital to launch US$2.5b fund for Asia

Bain Capital, whose investment portfolio on the mainland includes Gome Electrical Appliances, the mainland's No2 home appliance retailer, is close to completing a fund raising of about US$2.5 billion for a new Asia-dedicated private-equity investment vehicle.

The successful fund raising comes despite weak market sentiment worldwide that has turned many investors cautious about making new investments.

People familiar with the situation told the South China Morning Post that Bain Capital, which was co-founded in the early 1980s by current US presidential candidate Mitt Romney, would name the fund Bain Capital Asia II. It will be the firm's second private-equity fund focused entirely on investments in Asia, a region that is growing faster than most of the rest of the world.

In 2008, Bain Capital raised US$1 billion for its first Asia-dedicated fund.

Industry insiders say at least 10 investment firms - including the Washington-based Carlyle Group and Wall Street bank Morgan Stanley - are now trying to raise money for their new Asia-focused funds. Many of them aim to raise between US$1 billion and US$2 billion each.

But weak sentiment amid the debt crisis in Europe and a slow economic recovery in the United States have posed difficulties for some private equity firms in securing enough capital for their new funds this year.