Fund Managers

Bain clears halfway mark to $1bn target on Asia fund

The development comes one year into another Asian distressed venture with Piramal Enterprises.

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Bain Capital Credit has held an initial close on its first Asia-focused special situations fund a year after the firm held a final close on a global distressed debt vehicle and launched a distressed debt partnership focused on India. 

The Boston-based firm has locked down $557.89 million from 38 investors for its Bain Capital Special Situations Asia fund, according to a regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The vehicle has a $1 billion target, Private Debt Investor previously reported.

Bain held a final close in August 2016 on $3.1 billion for its Bain Capital Distressed & Special Situations 2016 fund, which will deploy capital across the world but dedicate less than 10 percent to the Asia Pacific region, according to documents from the Pennsylvania Public Employees’ Retirement System, which committed $250 million to the vehicle.

The vehicle – which had initially been marketed as Sankaty Credit Opportunities VI before Bain rebranded its debt investment practice – is investing approximately 50-60 percent in the US and 40-50 percent in Europe.

The 2016 fund expects to have 30-50 positions with investments ranging from $25 million to $100 million, and generate a net internal rate of return of 13-17 percent and a 1.5x total value to paid in multiple.

The Bain Capital Credit Distressed and Special Situations team invested more than $1 billion in special situations across Asia Pacific last year through its global funds. Among those investments was a $130 million portfolio of NPLs and distressed equity positions in Southeast Asia and India from a global bank, PDI previously reported.

In August 2016, Bain also entered into a partnership with Piramal Enterprises to invest in restructuring situations in India through which the two firms would either lend directly to distressed companies or acquire debt on the secondary markets.

Bain Capital Credit manages $34.3 billion in assets, $6 billion of which are overseen by the Distressed & Special Situations team. The firm’s private equity arm also has Asia-focused vehicles, with its latest, Bain Capital Asia Fund III, closing on its $3 billion hard-cap in December 2015.