Singapore-based private equity firm Ascent Capital has closed its inaugural Myanmar-focused fund at US$88 million, as per multiple reports.
In January this year, the Ascent Myanmar Growth Fund I had raised US$80 million.
AMGF I, which originally targeted to raise between US$50 million and US$100 million, had announced the first close in October 2018, with the debut investment in internet service provider Frontiir.
Its anchor investors include Myanmar’s Aung Moe Kyaw, founder and co-chairman of Grand Royal Group, and Singapore’s Tony Chew, co-founder of MDC Group and chairman of Asia Resource Corporation.
Temasek, the Asian Development Bank, and JG Summit Holdings are the other LPs.
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“In spite of the short-term tailwinds facing the economy, we remain positive about Myanmar’s long-term potential,” said Lim Chong Chong, Founder and Managing Partner of Ascent Capital.
“We will maintain our focus on sectors which will benefit from Myanmar’s robust growth, namely in consumer, education, healthcare, financial services and technology while furthering United Nations’s social development goals,” he added.
Launched in 2018, Ascent Myanmar Growth Fund focuses on providing strategic, long-term growth capital to Myanmar businesses with potential to become local and regional champions. It invests in mid-market opportunities, and targets investment opportunities of at least US$10 million.
The priority sectors of focus are consumer, education, healthcare, financial services, logistics and TMT (telecom, media and technology).
It is also open to unique opportunities in other sectors which have the potential to leverage on Myanmar’s long-term growth investment thesis.
According to a report by International Finance Corporation, fundraising in emerging markets is expected to encounter greater resistance in the next two to three years, especially for funds targeting small and mid-size companies.
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Image Credit: Photo by Sébastien Goldberg on Unsplash
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