Tikehau acquires Asian secondaries firm Foundation

Tikehau Capital has expanded its Asian presence through the acquisition of a Singapore-headquartered secondaries firm.

According to a statement, the alternatives manager has taken a majority stake in Foundation Private Equity, a firm founded by Deutsche Bank’s former Asian secondaries head Jason Sambanju.

Tikehau, which has €29.4 billion in assets under management, has also committed to the $110 million first close of Foundation’s debut fund, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.

“We are honoured to become Foundation PE’s partner of choice,” said Jean-Baptiste Feat, co-CIO of Tikehau Investment Management and co-head of Asia, in the statement. “This strategic partnership will allow Tikehau Capital to further develop its private equity offering in Asia, leveraging Foundation PE’s extensive footprint in China, India and South East Asia.”

Sambanju left Deutsche Bank to form Foundation in 2017 alongside Navis Capital Partners executive Jeremy Foo. He joined DB Private Equity in 2014 from secondaries firm Paul Capital Partners, where he was managing director and co-head of Asia.

The Foundation team invests in LP portfolios, continuation funds, spin-offs and carveouts, and renminbi-to-dollar GP-led transactions, according to its website. It also offers preferred equity and annex capital.

In February 2020, investors including LGT Capital Partners and Montana Capital Partners acquired six growth-stage assets off Tikehau’s balance sheet to create a €240 million secondaries fund, Secondaries Investor reported.

The firm has also been active in credit secondaries, raising $86.9 million for Tikehau Private Debt Secondaries against an undisclosed target, according to Secondaries Investor data.

“There is lots of primary fund growth and what happens on the primary side is a big driver of the secondary market too,” Tikehau’s head of debt secondaries Olga Kosters said last month. “If the primary market is $1 trillion then even just a few percentage points of that gives you a very significant number in terms of [secondaries] dealflow.”

This is at least the second time in 2021 that an international firm has used an acquisition to grow its Asian secondary market exposure. In February TPG increased it stake in NewQuest Capital Partners to a majority holding, having acquired a minority stake in the firm in 2018.”