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ByteDance and McDonald’s are thriving in post Covid-19 China by riding e-commerce boom, says private-equity backer Carlyle
- ByteDance’s e-commerce push will grow faster than China’s broader e-commerce industry, Carlyle Group’s Nina Gong says
- Carlyle-backed JD Logistics, ANE, Spark Education, Adicon and Abbisko Therapeutics are heading towards listings in New York or Hong Kong this year: sources
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Carlyle Group’s Nina Gong sat through five-hour conference calls in January last year with panicking chief executives (CEOs) as the first coronavirus lockdowns decimated sales figures globally. Fast-forward to the present – and the world’s second-largest private-equity firm is reaping profits as China’s economy rebounds from the impact of the pandemic.
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Carlyle’s stake in Chinese short-video and e-commerce giant ByteDance is soaring in value; McDonald’s China franchise plans 500 new store openings this year; and the US$260 billion asset manager is shepherding a clutch of Chinese firms towards listings in New York and Hong Kong.
Carlyle-backed companies eyeing initial public offerings (IPOs) this year include JD Logistics, ANE, Spark Education, Adicon and Abbisko Therapeutics, according to people familiar with the deals. The Washington-based firm is also looking to sell its stake in Hong Kong-based Asia Satellite Telecommunications to strategic investors, the people familiar said.
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“2021 we see as another great year for exits. The valuations are high and the market is open for IPOs,” Gong, Carlyle’s head of retail and consumer deals in China, said during an interview with the Post. Globally, Carlyle sold US$6.4 billion worth of assets in the first quarter.
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China’s e-commerce and live-streaming booms are opportunities for private equity, Carlyle Group says
China’s e-commerce and live-streaming booms are opportunities for private equity, Carlyle Group says
Gong said her roller-coaster ride over the past 15 months began with advising retailers on their fight for survival amid store closures, and has reached the cutting edge of e-commerce in the world’s largest online market.
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