Yangzijiang Financial, on Nov 22, announced that it will partner Heliconia Capital to invest in promising small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Southeast Asia with a focus on Singapore and Vietnam.
Heliconia Capital, a subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, focuses on investing in growth-oriented SMEs. Its portfolio companies include CSE Global, Jumbo Group, Nanofilm, Carousell, One Championship and Razer.
The investments will be made through the Heliconia Generation Fund Limited Partnership which will have a target size of up to $150 million.
Yangzijiang Financial will contribute $80 million to the fund as the fund’s anchor limited partner, says the Mainboard-listed financial company in a bourse filing. As such, Yangzijiang Financial will have one representative in the fund’s investment committee to represent its interests as a limited partner.
The fund is said to be intended to co-invest with other funds managed by Heliconia Capital, including the SME Co-Investment funds.
Yangzijiang Financial will also explore co-investment opportunities alongside the fund where necessary.
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The investments may be structured in the form of equity, debt and/or hybrid debt-equity structures.
“We are honoured to join hands with Heliconia Capital Management to invest and support the growth of Singapore and Southeast Asian SMEs. SMEs form the critical pillar of the economic system of every country in Southeast Asia. With the fund focused on investing in promising small and medium businesses in the region, there is a plethora of growth opportunities that we can target,” says Vincent Toe, CEO and chief investment officer of Yangzijiang Financial.
Heliconia’s CEO, Derek Lau, says, “This is in line with our overall co-investment objective where we can leverage more networks to support our Singapore SMEs. We are excited to have SGX listed Yangzijiang Financial as the anchor investor in this new fund and also to extend our network to Asean.”
Shares in Yangzijiang Financial closed 0.5 cent lower or 1.45% down at 34 cents on Nov 22.
