L Capital Asia, the Asia operations of the corporate venturing unit of luxury brand goods group LVMH, has held a first close of its second private equity fund, L Capital Asia 2, at its hard cap of US$950m. The latest fund attracted strong existing investor comeback alongside new investors across the globe. L Capital Asia said in a statement that commitments were broad and global, including institutions including sovereign wealth funds and pension funds based in North America, Europe and Asia.
Ravi Thakran, Managing Partner of L Capital Asia stated, “We are delighted to have achieved this significant milestone in our short, but fruitful history, and I would attribute the successful fund raise to three clear factors: the first is our focus on middle class consumption across developing Asia, which, as endorsed by the large institutional investor fraternity is a secular theme that will play out over the next few decades. The second has been our differentiated approach to very granular value add aided by the sponsorship of the LVMH Group.”
Thakran said that the third attribute to the team’s swift fund closing was that the fund’s remit stuck to the basics that the firm outlined when they launched the business in 2009.
The L Capital Asia franchise was launched in 2009 and the firm conducted a final close of its first private equity fund at US$637m in December 2010. Since then, L Capital Asia has invested in thirteen companies across emerging Asia, and successfully exited two of these.
LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton S.A. (“LVMH”), is the firm’s parent and sponsor, alongside Groupe Arnault and luxury hotel and services conglomerate, YTL Corporation Berhad.