Dymon closes DAPE II, raves about gains
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Dymon closes DAPE II, raves about gains

Dymon Asia, an alternative investment management firm, has announced the closure of Dymon Asia Private Equity Fund II (DAPE II), a US$450-million (14.3-billion-baht) fund focused on lower mid-market companies in Southeast Asia.

This was the firm's first fund, which successfully invested in 12 companies across Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand during 2013-17.

"We are excited to be able to continue with our strategy to invest in small and medium-sized companies in Southeast Asia, where we believe there are many uncut diamonds," said Keith Tan, a partner at DAPE.

"Our partnerships with entrepreneurs and management teams have been very successful so far. We have been able to achieve many of our strategic milestones ahead of schedule, which in turn have resulted in the successful exits of three investments.

"The distributions from these three investments alone have already returned more capital than we have drawn from investors. We're delighted that our investors and partners have done well with us. We're also proud to have found world-class strategic buyers for our companies, who will be strong partners in their journeys ahead."

DAPE has grown from a small team in Singapore when it first started in 2012, to having regional offices in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok.

"We believe in an engaged and committed approach, where we only invest if it is clear that we have specific execution roles in our investment thesis and can make a meaningful difference to our companies," said Tan Chow Yin, another partner at DAPE.

"We discuss our involvement well before we invest, so that we are all aligned on our joint goals, and our partners are clear on our roles in their transformation. Our ability to add value is the key reason for management teams and entrepreneurs to partner with us.

"Of the 12 companies we invested in, seven had more cash than debt, indicating they were looking for more than capital alone. DAPE team has worked directly on technology implementation projects, succession planning and management incentives, mergers and acquisitions for industry consolidation, regional expansion, brand building and company restructuring initiatives. We will always insist on board seats of our companies, even for listed companies."

Demand from both existing and new investors was strong, and the fund was oversubscribed and closed at its hard cap of $450 million within several months of its launch in the fourth quarter of 2017.

"We are very grateful to our existing investors for their trust in us," said Gerald Chiu, a partner at DAPE. "In fact, many of our existing investors have deep industry experience, and have helped us with more than money -- they have proven invaluable in providing proprietary deal introductions, channel checks and business opportunities for our portfolio companies.

"We are also very happy to welcome our new investors. We now have a much larger contingent of international institutional investors, including sovereign institutions, insurance companies and banks, multi-generational family offices and professional asset managers. We believe these investors will further widen our network to the benefit of our portfolio companies and bring tangible benefits to our businesses. We are truly energised by our investors' confidence in us."

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