Clifford Chance has advised Singapore’s Heliconia Capital Management, a Temasek-seeded fund manager, on its investment into a newly launched private equity fund managed by hedge fund Dymon Asia Capital, which is being represented by Baker & McKenzie.Wong & Leow.
The fund, named Dymon Asia Private Equity (DAPE), will target small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore and Southeast Asia, and be focused on making investments ranging from S$20 million to S$50 million.
The fund held its first closing with an initial S$203 million of commitments comprising a S$100 million commitment from Heliconia, and an additional S$103 million of commitments from private investors. Heliconia's investment is part of an initial S$250 million seed injection by the Singapore government under an SME-nurturing programme, which equally matches private to public funding. The size of the programme is expected to reach S$1.5 billion eventually.
Reuters reported that Dymon Asia Capital’s branching out to the private equity world indicated an uncommon move by a hedge fund. The firm aims to raise S$300 million for DAPE.
Dymon Asia Capital is one of the biggest ever homegrown hedge funds in Asia with assets under management of about $2.8 billion. Dymon's assets include about $2.5 billion in its macro hedge fund, which has grown from $113 million since its launch in 2008. It is currently closed to fresh investments.
The Clifford Chance team was led by partner Han Ming Ho.
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