Singapore’s GIC seeks to sell US$1 billion of stakes in PE funds
[SINGAPORE] Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC is looking to offload some of its private equity fund stakes, continuing to utilise the booming secondaries market to manage its portfolio.
The state-run firm initiated a process to sell holdings with a net asset value of at least US$1 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, asking not to be identified as discussions are private.
The divestment may include as many as than 30 funds from global private equity managers, including Blackstone, Apollo Global Management and TDR Capital, one of the people said. Their average vintage is around 2016 with US$100 million of assets, the person added. Evercore is advising GIC on the deal, the people said.
Representatives from GIC, Blackstone, Apollo and TDR declined to comment. Evercore didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Faced with a sluggish dealmaking environment that has hindered private equity exits, institutional investors have increasingly turned to secondary markets to offload portions of their holdings.
Secondary transaction volume for private markets hit a record US$103 billion in the first half of the year, according to a report from Jefferies Financial Group. Such sales offer investors an opportunity to rebalance their portfolios and reinvest the cash into newer funds.
The contours of the GIC sale, including the number of funds and the final value of the portfolio, could change, the people said. GIC might cancel its plans completely if it doesn’t get the price it wants, they added.
The current sale is understood to be normal market practice for GIC, which is also a major buyer of secondaries. In 2023 alone, it took interests in 50 funds with more than 500 underlying companies.
The sovereign wealth fund doesn’t publicise its assets under management, but data platform Global SWF estimates it manages assets worth US$936 billion. Without adjusting for inflation, in dollar terms, its annualised five-year return as of March was 6.1 per cent. BLOOMBERG
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