NEWS
AXA Private Equity opens China office
06 November 2012
Category:
News, Asia, China
By Asia Asset Management
AXA Private Equity announced on Tuesday (November 6) a new office in Beijing, the firm’s first in China. AXA Private Equity opened its first Asian office in Singapore in 2005 and has since deployed US$1.3 billion of capital across the region. The firm now has a total of ten offices across Europe, North America and Asia.
The opening of the Beijing office forms an important part of AXA Private Equity’s international development strategy, as Beijing has become an increasingly active commercial and financial hub in the Asia region. The Beijing office will allow the firm to strengthen its relationships with key private equity market players and the business community in Asia.
AXA Private Equity’s Beijing office will be headed by Jenhao Han, managing director and head of AXA Private Equity Asia. He will be supported by three investment professionals with significant knowledge of the Asian market: Won Ha, Jason Yao, and Colin Wang, all of whom were previously based in AXA Private Equity’s Singapore office.
Dominique Senequier, CEO, AXA Private Equity, said: “Despite the ongoing economic uncertainty, we continue to look to the future with our new Beijing office. Our increasing global visibility and ability to attract new investors from Asia, America, Europe and the Middle East, ideally positions us to further capitalise on the significant opportunities for our investors and portfolio companies in China.”
Mr. Han, who has been at AXA Private Equity since 2006, added: “Having a presence in China means we can now further develop our relationships with our Asian counterparties, while increasing our ability to take advantage of the best investment opportunities in the region. A physical presence in China will enable the team to identify synergies between European and Asian portfolios and gain access to more co-investment opportunities. This is an exciting prospect for us.”
The launch of the Beijing office continues a successful year for AXA Private Equity. In June the firm secured its global market-leading fund of funds position with the raising of US$8 billion from its Secondary Fund V and commitments from its early-secondary V and primary funds. On the direct side the firm has executed a string of significant transactions in recent months, including the acquisitions of Fives in France, Riemser Arzneimittel in Germany and Novotema in Italy.
Meanwhile, AXA Asia announced on Tuesday (November 6) that it has successfully completed the acquisition of HSBC property and casualty (P&C) operations in Hong Kong and Singapore. It also announced that it has launched its P&C bancassurance partnerships with HSBC in Hong Kong, Singapore, with the distribution agreements in China, India and Indonesia expected to be launched in the near future.
This follows an agreement entered into by the two companies in March under which AXA would acquire HSBC’s P&C businesses in Hong Kong and Singapore, and benefit from a ten-year exclusive P&C bancassurance partnership with the bank in five Asia markets; Hong Kong, Singapore, China, India and Indonesia.
Gaelle Olivier, CEO of AXA Asia P&C commented: “We are very pleased to complete this major strategic acquisition which marks another milestone in AXA Asia P&C’s growth strategy in the region. Not only will this deal help us secure leading market positions in the general insurance space in Asia, it will also combine the capabilities and expertise of two world leading organisations, providing both our commercial and individual customers with a wider product range and strengthened offer.”
Mike Bishop, CEO of AXA Asia, went on to comment: “This operation underscores our long-term commitment to Asia. It takes us one step closer to meeting our objective outlined in our strategic plan to become one of the leading international composite insurers in Asia by 2015. This acquisition makes us de facto the largest P&C insurance provider in Hong Kong and consolidates our position as the second largest P&C insurer in the Singapore market.”
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