PJT Partners takes on Taiwan single-asset deal

Another GP-led secondaries opportunity has hit the Asian secondaries market.

Hong Kong- and Tokyo-headquartered buyout firm The Longreach Group is working with PJT Partners to lift Entie Commercial Bank out of its 2006-vintage fund into a continuation vehicle backed by secondaries capital, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

The deal is in the early stages and likely to be worth around $200 million in net asset value, according to one of the sources. It is not clear what options are being offered to existing LPs.

Longreach targets the consumer goods, industrial, technology, financial services and business services sectors of Japan and Greater China, according to PEI data. It acquired a majority stake in Taiwan-based EnTie Commercial Bank for NT$23 billion ($794 million; €678 million) in 2007.

EnTie has the equivalent of $10 billion in assets and a small listed stake on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.

Longreach Capital Partners I raised $750 million by final close in 2006, according to PEI data. Hampshire County Council Pension Fund, North Carolina State Treasury and University of Michigan are among LPs that committed to the vehicle.

The fund had delivered a net internal rate of return of -3.51 as of June and a total value to paid in of 0.8, according to performance data from NC Treasury.

The news comes after the completion last week of a $600 million yuan-to-dollar restructuring on a fund managed by IDG Capital, led by Harbourvest Partners.

Asia accounted for 3 percent of secondaries deal volume in the first half of this year against 6 percent in the first half of last year, according to data from Greenhill.

Longreach and PJT Park Hill did not respond to requests for comment.