TPG Growth, a member of US private equity investment firm Texas Pacific
Group, said it is looking for further investment opportunities in
Vietnam, with the market poised for substantial growth.
Finishing the firm’s two-day annual limited partner meeting in Hanoi on
March 21, TPG Group founder ad managing partner William McGlashan
highlighted Vietnam’s potential to his company’s investor from around
the world.
This is first time TPG Group has held its annual meeting abroad and Hanoi was selected to be the venue.
“We chose Vietnam because we have a very successful history
investing here with FPT (software developer) and Masan Group (private
sector group), McGlashan said.
He added that Vietnam is an
interesting country for investors, with a young consumer population and
reforms taking place in the financial sector and state-owned
enterprises.
“We did a survey of our investors and Vietnam is a country that they are all interested in understanding,” he added.
Unlike country funds, TPG Growth allocated its portfolios to
companies. “For us what really matters is whether we can find companies
with potential to become bigger, more valuable and more productive, and
Masan is an example.”
According to the investment fund founder, a good company is one positioned to take advantage of the maker context.
After divesting from FPT, the US-based firm has maintained its
investment in Masan since 2009 and is eager to invest elsewhere in
Vietnam .
When considering an investment opportunity, he
looked at two criteria: the quality of corporate management and the
economic sector the company is operating in, McGlashan said.
“I think the Vietnamese market is looking substantially better today,” he said.
TPG Growth manages 4 billion USD in capital, focusing on middle
markets and growth equity. In October 2006, it purchased stake in FPT
for 21.5 million USD. However, the partnership ended the following year.
The transaction with Masan in 2009, valued at up to 35 million USD,
was the largest private equity deal at that time.
Meanwhile,
Masan Group is Vietnam’s premier private sector group, whose subsidiary
Masan Consumer recently received 200 million USD from investment firm
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.-VNA