Mr. Jindu Cui, Vice Mayor of Tianjin City and a representative of the three sponsors, the All China Federation of Industry & Commerce (ACFIC), the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), and the Tianjin Municipal People’s Government is pleased to announce the First China International Private Equity Forum (CIPEF), which is to be held on June 6-8, 2007 at the Tianjin International Convention Center. The CIPEF official website (www.pe-fund.com) is now live and accepting registrations online.
Mr. Jindu Cui and Mr. Huaiming Qu, Commerce Chairman directly under ACFIC, addressed the news conference. During the press conference, Mr. Patrick Hurley, former President and CEO of ACG, and Mr. Wei Wang, Chairman of China M&A Association – ACFIC, spoke about the growing demand from global private equity funds for investments in China.
The CIPEF is the first and largest capital raising event of 2007. Mr. Patrick Hurly indicated there would be more than 70 private equity funds with total capital ranging from $30 billion to $50 billions attending from the U.S., Europe, and Japan. In addition, many domestic investment companies, commercial banks, and intermediaries will also attend the forum.
ACG’s internationally recognized Capital Connection and Deal Source (‘speed dating”) will be the formats used during the forum. Through Capital Connection, attendees will be able to meet as many potential investors as possible. Deal Source, pre-arranged one-on-one meetings, will help target companies and potential investors exchange information and allow for brief in-depth discussions. All attendees will also have the opportunity to meet with financial services companies and intermediaries. Participants will also learn about China’s investment environment, policies and strategies as they attend panels discussing the “China M&A Annual Conference”, “Tianjin Investment Environment Conference”, “The Third Annual Privately Owned Enterprises Development Tianjin Summit” and other topics.
The private equity industry has grown rapidly worldwide and has become a major source of capital in financial markets. More and more private equity funds are interested in entering Asia’s emerging markets. The primary reasons for hosting the CIPEF are to meet the capital needs of fast-growing Chinese enterprises and the demands of international investors to invest in China. Research papers indicate that as of November 2006, 35 private equity funds (focusing on Asia, including mainland China) have successfully raised a total of US$12.2 billion.
As host city to the event, the City of Tianjin has the opportunity to become one of the first points of entry for global capital flowing into China. As such, Tianjin could become the most important economic and financial center in the northern region.
To ensure the success of the conference, the CIPEF Organizing Committee, through arrangements with ACG, has visited and exchanged ideas with more than 400 private equity funds and investment banks in San Francisco, Washington D.C., and Dallas in the U.S. The committee will soon have a number of promotional events in Japan and major cities in China as well.
Tianjin Municipal People’s Government, through its sponsorship of this conference, has shown full support for capital markets reform. ACFIC also has been a strong advocate of the forum as an avenue for privately-owned Chinese companies to raise large amounts capital.