Terra Firma’s Guy Hands looks to China for partners

According to the Wall Street Journal, Hands is looking for partners from the Asian country for some of the investments his private equity firm Terra Firma has done in western markets.  

“We feel very strongly that the economic future of the world for the next 20 to 50 years is going to be dominated by China,” Hands reportedly told a media roundtable.

While he did not specify how he wanted the partnerships to work, he said, “We are going to walk before we run,” by developing expertise organically in China, instead of throwing money at the hotly pursued market.

US buy-out major KKR is thought to be considering launching an $800m  China-dedicated fund, as private equity’s brand names shift their focus away from more traditional, western markets.

Despite regulatory restrictions that limit yuan funds from being accessed by foreign investors, both Blackstone and Carlyle are raising vehicles denominated in the Chinese currency in a bid to diversify their exposure outside of the US and Europe.

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