À̹ÌÁö È®´ë Record fluid money, brimming to $2.7 trillion across the world amid virus-led stimuli and easing, would funnel into Asia as the continent poses as the hotbed for bio and healthcare, Ed Huang, senior managing director of Blackstone said.
At the Global Alternative Investment Insights (GAII) 2020 jointly organized by Maeil Business Newspaper and European Chamber of Commerce in Korea (ECCK) and held virtually in central Seoul on Wednesday, Huang said the company has around $152 billion ¡°dry powder,¡± a cash reserve that it can deploy any time when an attractive investment opportunity arises, and sees a great potential in various Asian markets.
Global management consulting firm Bain & Company also found that private equity funds around the world now have a record-high amount of dry power at $2.7 trillion in total. Andrew Tymms, a senior partner at Bain & Company who spoke as the second speaker at the session, said Asia is the only market that has been seeing a record breaking number of PEF transactions while PEF investments in the rest of the world are shrinking.
The two speakers stressed that Asia has been attracting investments due to the high growth potential of the healthcare and bio industry in the market. Tymms said healthcare and technology trading account for 70 percent of the buyout and growth capital in the Asia-Pacific region, and global PEFs investing in the healthcare firms in the region have generally posted sound returns despite Covid-19.
Huang said PEFs will be able to provide funds and resources to help the bio firms to continue their work in testing and developing vaccines.
By Park Chang-young, Kang Woo-seok and Choi Mira
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