Siguler Guff Hits Market With $1B Emerging Market FoF

Siguler Guff & Co. is readying a PPM to raise $1 billion by September for a fund of funds targeting the emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China, with a heavy emphasis on India and China, a person familiar with the matter told Buyouts.

The new fund of funds, Siguler Guff BRIC Opportunities Fund II, comes on the heels of the New York firm’s $610 million first BRIC fund, which closed in March 2006. That pool is now about 70 percent depleted, according to our source.

The successor will likely be commited to about 25 general partners, the same number as with the debut fund, our source said. The fund will have a distinctly Asian focus since Siguler Guff expects to direct 80 percent of BRIC Opportunities II to managers making growth investments in companies based in India and China. Traditional control-stake deals are still rare in those countries.

With its first BRIC fund, Siguler Guff backed ChrysCapital and CITIC Capital. ChrysCapital, with offices in New Delhi, Mauritius and Mumbai, raised its $555 million fourth fund last year to invest in Indian companies. CITIC Capital, an affiliate of Chinese financial services conglomerate CITIC Group, closed its first fund earlier this year at $425 million.

With the launch of BRIC Opportunities II, led by Managing Director Patricia Dinneen, Siguler Guff is now in the market with three funds. Managing Director Maria Boyazny is leading the fundraising for the firm’s third distressed fund of funds, expected to enter the market later this year with a target north of $1 billion. Meanwhile, Managing Director Kevin Kester, the former head of alternative investments for the Colorado state pension fund, is assembling a debut small-buyout fund of funds. That vehicle is in the market with a $400 million target.—M.C.