PE, VC firms cautious in China ventures

Initial public offerings in the A-share market restarted in January this year after more than a yearlong freeze. The United States has been popular again among Chinese high-growth companies as a venue for going public.

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The resumption of IPOs may bring limited partners confidence and encourage them put more money into PE and VC funds that have Chinese investments, said Gao Jianbin, a partner at PwC China.

Gao added that LPs will choose PE and VC funds that are able to cash out from deals in a timely fashion and bring them benefits.

More than 70 percent of the respondents said they will invest in funds with operating cycles longer than five years, which shows LPs in China have been more patient, said the report.

Venture and growth funds were the most favorable among respondents and were chosen by almost 70 percent of them, followed by buyouts. Funds for buyouts, potentially high-return mezzanine investment in which debt capital gives the lender the rights to convert to an ownership or equity interest in the company if the loan is not paid back in time and in full, real estate and funds of funds are increasingly popular this year compared with 2013.

There are fewer good opportunities in pre-IPO deals. Companies at an early development stage may have great potential, which explains the popularity of venture and growth funds, according to Li Xin, an analyst at ChinaVenture Group.

As the second generation take over private companies from their aging elders, many of them are keen to sell their companies or be controlled, so buyout funds can do a lot of businesses in China, Li said.

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