Bank capital alone is insufficient to address the growing demand for credit in Southeast Asia, according to a top executive of US investment giant KKR.
“Bank capital remains the dominant source of financing in the region, but we believe it is not sufficient to address the growing demand,” said SJ Lim, Managing Director, Asia Credit, KKR in an interview with DealStreetAsia. Businesses operating in sectors such as consumer discretionary, industrials, information technology, healthcare face a funding gap, which provides opportunities for private credit to step in, Lim added.
There are currently two Southeast Asia-focused private credit funds in the market looking to raise capital—Navis Capital’s debut credit fund, which has a target of $300 million; and ADM Capital’s The Asia Climate-Smart Landscape Fund, which is looking to raise $200 million, according to DealStreetAsia DATA VANTAGE’s recent report Private Equity in SE Asia: H2 2023 Review.
Hong Kong-based ADM Capital’s The Asia Climate-Smart Landscape Fund will focus on Indonesian startups. According to its website, the new climate fund will invest in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in ticket sizes ranging from $5 million to $20 million.
Malaysia-based Navis Capital, meanwhile, beefed up its credit team in 2023 with the appointment of Jack Ng and Nicholas Nugroho as directors based in Singapore and Jakarta, respectively to tap the demand for private credit in the region.
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Edited excerpts from the interview with Lim:
