Asset Management Firm of Hong Kong Will Raise Investment for Asian Credit Fund

CLSA Capital will raise capital for its own Asia-centric private fund called Lending Ark. This was revealed in the venture capital firm’s regulatory filing. CLSA Capital is headquartered in Hong Kong and Lending Ark is the fund established by this firm as part of its strategy to focus on investments in Asia and Australia.

As of now, the firm has neither revealed the timeline nor the target for its investment fund. The regulatory filing was approved by the Chief Finance Officer of CLSA Singapore, Hyein Jun. The details of the filing showed that Lending Ark Asia Secured Private Debt Fund I is a Cayman Island based private equity fund.

According to the data reported by Crunchbase, the Lending Ark fund has already made two financial deals. One investment is worth $30 million while the other is a $5 million Series B investment. Both of these investments were made in PeopleFund.

The South Korean fintech portal PeopleFund specializes in providing a range of investment and loan products.

CLSA Capital states on its official website that its fund Lending Ark focuses on deals for secured private debt in Asian, New Zealand and Australia.

The private debts have a maturity period of three to five years. These include bank collateralized loan obligations, mezzanine and senior tranches for asset backed securities and secured debt financing.

CLSA mentions that Lending Ark has a strategy of providing a steady income stream from opportunities created by the declining credit supply and the growing credit demand due to rising business in the region.

CLSA is the global debt financing platform operated by CITIC Securities – one of the leading investment banks of China. The asset management firm CLSA Capital Partners is owned and operated by CLSA. CLSA Capital Partners operates a $5 billion fund through 8 offices located in Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong.

The asset management firm is planning to raise up to $500 million its Asia-based real estate fund Fudo Capital IV. This fund will make investments in Northern Asia.

CLSA Capital Partners has faced several challenges in recent times due to resignations by senior executives. In 2018, the CEO of the firm, John Pattar left the firm to join the private equity firm KKR. Since then, ten more executives have resigned.

However, despite the setbacks, the firm is continuing with its bold expansion plans.