A long-time partner of Softbank China & India Holdings, a venture capital fund backed by Japans Softbank Corp, said on March 25 he will quit his full time role and return to a firm he founded. Jay Chen will end his at the end of March, he said, confirming an earlier Reuters story.
Chen, will return to ChinaVenture, a China-focused private equity and venture capital industry researcher and deal adviser he founded six years ago. He will remain as a "venture partner" of SBCI, a part-time role that will allow him to finish some projects and provide investment advice in the future.
Besides Softbank, Japans No 3 mobile phone operator, the fund firm is also backed by US technology giant Cisco Systems Inc Founded in early 2007, SBCI focuses on early state investment and looks at companies in consumer, agricultural, new energy, health, education sectors in China, Chen said.
"In China, you really need to look at the countrys strategy to make investment plans," he said. "There are a few sectors, which do not see any growth in other countries, are still rapidly growing in China," Chen said.
In Asia, private equity investments continued to slide as of the end of 2008, with the fourth quarter seeing $8.4 billion of deals, down from $27.6 billion in the same period of 2007, according to Asian Venture Capital Journal.
SBCI is in no rush to invest this year with its priority on the managing the current portfolio well, Chen said. "Just two or three investments this year is fine," he said. Roughly half of the $100-million fund had been allocated as of the end of 2008, he noted.
In 2003, Chen founded ChinaVenture, which has later expanded into research, consulting, investment banking businesses. The firm also operates a website and organises industry conferences with offices in Beijing and Shanghai. Chen said intended to double ChinaVentures staff to 120 in the next year.