Texas County & District commits $50 mln to Baring Private Equity Asia

Baring Asia Private Equity Fund VI reportedly held a first close on $3.2 billion earlier this month, according to Asian Venture Capital Journal. The fund reportedly has a $3.85 billion hard cap.

The Hong Kong-headquartered firm had not responded to a request for comment as of press time.

Other limited partners in Fund VI include The Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System, which approved a commitment of up to $100 million to the fund in August, as well as The Oregon Investment Council, which committed $150 million to the fund earlier this year.

Chief Executive and Founding Partner Jean Eric Salata launched Baring Private Equity Asia in 1997 as an offshoot of UK-based Baring Private Equity Partners. He later led a management buyout of the business in 2000. The firm invests in companies in need of capital for expansion, recapitalization or acquisitions.

Baring’s previous fund, a $2.5 billion 2011 vintage fund, was netting a 9.9 percent internal rate of return and 1.16 investment multiple as of June 30, according to Oregon Investment Council data. The firm’s $1.5 billion 2007 vintage generated a 10.5 percent IRR and 1.58x multiple as of the same date, according to Indiana Public Retirement System data cited by data provider Bison.

In April, Baring sold its stake in precious metal and jewelry recycler Net Japan Co to Orix Corp, a Japanese financial services company, for roughly $205 million, news service Reuters reported.

Texas County & District has committed roughly $1 billion across 27 private equity, distressed debt and real estate funds in 2014, according to its website. The $24.5 billion retirement system had an 8 percent allocation to private equity as of June 30, four percentage points short of its 12 percent target.