Chase raises $1b for Asia

Chase raises $1b for Asia

HONG KONG (Dow Jones): Chase Capital Partners said Monday it has raised US$1.1 billion for its Asian private equity fund, and that it would soon be opening another private equity fund to invest in technology companies.

The Asian Opportunity Fund already has invested more than $330 million in six companies, said Andrew Liu, Chase Capital's chief executive in Asia.

"We are actively looking at some large-size, very large-size, investments," Liu said at a press briefing. The fund expects to invest up to $300 million more this year, he said.

A quarter of the fund came from Chase Capital, a unit of Chase Manhattan Corp. (CMB), and the rest came from other financial institutions and private families.

Hong Kong's Liu family, of which Andrew Liu is a member and which controls Liu Chong Hing Investment Ltd. (H.LCH), invested $50 million in the fund. The International Finance Corp., an arm of the World Bank, has invested $100 million in the fund.