Altair Capital is a private equity firm focused on buyout or significant minority investments in quality companies across Southeast Asia
We are owned and managed by Southeast Asian professionals with over 50 years’ combined experience of leading successful private equity investments in the ASEAN market.
Our investors consist of leading financial institutions and family offices. We are currently deploying capital from our maiden Altair ASEAN Fund L.P..
We are the ASEAN affiliate of Polaris Capital Group, the leading mid-cap buyout group in Japan with over US$4 billion in assets under management.
Our Approach
Our typical investments are in small to mid-market companies with the following parameters:
Enterprise value – US$5 to 100 million
Investment size – US$5 to 30 million per deal
Preferred sectors – Manufacturing, services, consumer, healthcare, and education. The Fund will also consider deals in the technology sector.
Type of deals – MBOs, corporate carve-outs, privatizations, family succession, growth capital
Leveraging on our affiliation with Polaris Capital Group, we have a proprietary and strong network with various financial groups, professional firms, and entrepreneurs, both inside and outside of Japan. Being a regional firm with international affiliations, especially in Asia, enhances our ability to identify corporates with the right technology and expertise to partner our portfolio companies and take them to the next stage of growth. Our unique approach working with Polaris Capital allows for partnership with its strategic partners, investors, and Japanese firms looking to expand into ASEAN.
Strong Local Presence
We are locals and strong believers in the Southeast Asian story. The region’s steady growth is fuelled by an increasingly well-educated workforce, young demographics, a wealth of natural resources, rapid urbanisation and growing infrastructure spending. Under the Asian Free Trade Area (AFTA) and ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), Southeast Asian nations are strengthening linkages to better facilitate the movement of goods, develop services trade and reduce investment barriers. We believe that this vision for deeper economic integration encourages cross-border expansion for companies, accelerating their growth.
To capture these opportunities effectively, we have local professionals across offices in Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and soon Thailand. Due to their deep understanding of local business practices and regulations, we are able to source proprietary deal flow, conduct thorough due diligence, and assist our portfolio companies in growing their businesses from local players to regional platforms.
Our Value Add
Our partners have led over 30 private equity investments in Southeast Asia, with extensive value creation experience earned through hands-on monitoring of portfolio companies at various stages of corporate life cycle. Together with our strategic and investment partners, here are some examples of how we help our portfolio companies:
operational and strategic value creation
Our team comprises of individuals with strong and varied track records in building value, covering the areas of Governance, Ownership Structuring, Business Planning, Monitoring, Finance, Business Support, Organisation and Human Resources, and Operational Support to help grow our portfolio companies.
Some examples of our past value creation initiatives are:
Business succession support during transition from founder-led to professional management
Adoption of incentive plan, driving value for company and management team
Implementation of new technology to improve productivity and lower costs
Corporate re-branding exercise to strengthen brand equity and product positioning
partnerships with japanese corporates
Backed by Polaris Capital, we have strong connections with Japanese corporates with excellent technology and/or quality services for customer and strategic partnerships with our portfolio companies.
identifying and executing m&A
Portfolio companies looking to acquire other players to expand their product offering, enter new markets, or improve their business positions can expect our support for end-to-end M&A transactions. We have the ability and network to identify suitable targets, negotiate attractive terms, and execute such acquisitions for them.
close-knit relationships with investment banks
Having spent the entirety of our professional life in the region, we have cultivated close-knit relationships with established regional investment banks. Through our connections, we ensure our portfolio companies receive the most favourable terms when raising equity capital through IPOs or debt via working capital loans or LBO loans.
maximising shareholder value at exits
We are a financial investor with a 3 to 5 year holding period. After which, we seek to exit our investment via an IPO on a regional stock exchange or trade sale to a strategic or financial sponsor.
Initial Public Offering
Our team has a long professional history of successfully completing initial public offerings for portfolio companies on regional exchanges including Singapore, Hong Kong, United States, China, India, and Indonesia. We offer hands-on assistance on the end-to-end process, including preparing the equity story, pre-IPO ownership structure, appointment of underwriters and negotiation of offering terms.
Trade Sale
Our team also has extensive experience in maximising shareholder value through trade sales. Leveraging our affiliation with Polaris Capital, we are well positioned to attract international strategic buyers (including from Japan) for our portfolio companies. Our unique approach working with Polaris Capital allows for potential partnership with its strategic partners, investors, and Japanese firms looking to expand into ASEAN.