[SINGAPORE] Quadria Capital, a Singapore-based private equity (PE) firm, announced on Tuesday (May 27) the final close of its third healthcare fund at nearly US$1.1 billion.
That is above the original target of US$800 million, said the healthcare-focused company, which manages more than US$4 billion across 27 investments in South and South-east Asia.
Its investors – which include North American and European sovereign wealth funds and asset managers – may also commit another US$300 million during the investment phase of the third fund. This could bring the total committed capital to around US$1.3 billion when Quadria fully deploys the fund.
The oversubscription comes even as PE firms continue to face challenges in raising capital, Quadria’s co-founder and managing partner Abrar Mir told The Business Times.
“This has been one of the most difficult, complex fundraising environments that we’ve ever witnessed… even worse than the dotcom crisis and the global financial crisis of 2008-09.”
According to a McKinsey report, PE fundraising in Asia-Pacific plunged almost 77 per cent to US$61 billion in 2024, from US$263 billion in 2021. That was driven mainly by American institutional investors – the world’s largest PE investors – who pulled back from China amid growing bilateral tensions.
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Draw of a US$5 trillion market
Still, institutional investors outside the US find Asia’s US$5 trillion healthcare market appealing, Mir said.
“We’re increasingly seeing institutional investors in Asia, who understand the opportunities of Asia becoming much more prominent going forward,” he added.
Apart from drawing capital from several Asian sovereign investors, Quadria’s fund also secured new commitments from Indian investors, spanning banks, insurers and family offices, he added.
Middle-Eastern institutions, including those from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, invested into Quadria’s fund for the first time as well.
Boston Consulting Group forecasts that Asian healthcare is expected to drive 40 per cent of global healthcare growth by 2030.
Often viewed as a defensive sector that can withstand the ups and downs of economic cycles, healthcare has been steadily drawing more private investments. According to a Bain report, global PE deal activity in the sector surged last year, to an estimated US$115 billion – the second-highest annual deal value on record. Bain added that PE firms continue to invest in healthcare in the Asia-Pacific, where deal values have been steadily rising since 2016.
About 40 per cent of Quadria’s fund has already been deployed, including in India’s eyecare chain Maxivision and Asia’s largest dialysis chain NephroPlus. Quadria expects to seal two new investments in South-east Asia soon.
The company invests in two types of businesses – the first are those that either manufacture or provide a healthcare service to domestic markets, such as hospitals. The second is in businesses that produce healthcare products in Asia, and sell globally.
Mir said that Quadria is also assessing deals in Asia and in the Gulf Cooperation Council region.
