Hony Capital Is Interested in More Overseas Deals

By Chao Deng 

SHANGHAI--Hony Capital Ltd., the Chinese private-equity firm that is buying London-based restaurant chain PizzaExpress for $1.54 billion in its biggest overseas deal yet, is interested in investing further in foreign consumer brands so it can build them up in China.

Hony Chief Executive John Zhao told The Wall Street Journal the Beijing-based firm isn't changing course on a long-held core strategy: investing in and helping state-owned enterprises restructure. But he said Hony now considers cross-border deals to be "another major drive" of its strategy, as more large Chinese firms look to internationalize and more international brands seek to tap into China's growing consumer market.

"China, in the last 20, 30 years, being busy becoming the world's factory, has not done enough to produce brands, technology, service that could satisfy domestic requirements," he said. "We like to acquire and invest in these global brands, bring them to China and build growing businesses."

Hony Capital is one of China's largest private-equity firms, with assets of about $7 billion. It has stepped up its overseas deal making since its first cross-border deal. In 2008, it helped state-owned construction equipment giant Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science & Technology Co. purchase Italian equipment maker Compagnia Italiana Forme Acciaio SpA. Since then, Hony's overseas investments have included hotels, health care and technology. With the PizzaExpress purchase, Hony has joined a handful of private Chinese investment firms that have bought overseas consumer assets for more than a billion dollars with an eye toward building these businesses at home.

"We want to make sure that we position ourselves to satisfy [the] ever increasing consumer demand in China," said Mr. Zhao.

As an example, he cited Hony's collaboration earlier this year with U.S. buyout firm TPG Capital and movie producers Robert Simonds and Gigi Pritzker to invest more than $1 billion over five years in a new Hollywood studio that will make films to be distributed globally, including in China. He also cited Hony's June undisclosed investment in Deem, a San Francisco e-commerce firm Deem.

PizzaExpress has several branches in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong but plans to expand further in China, under Hony.

Hony wants to build all its investments "around what China needs," Mr. Zhao said, adding that it sees itself as "a Chinese investor," not "an international investor," even as it expands it reach.

While Hony is buying PizzaExpress alone, he said the firm remains open to co-investing alongside other companies when going abroad.

He declined to comment on United Biscuits, the British snack-and-cookie maker that a person familiar with the situation said Hony is interested in buying.

He did say, however, that one area Hony and other Chinese players have been interested in is packaged foods, and especially branded ones. United Biscuits, bought by private-equity firms Blackstone Group L.P. and PAI for GBP1.6 billion ($2.7 billion) eight years ago, is still engaging in talks with interested buyers but is also weighing a year-end initial public offering, The Wall Street Journal reported in July, citing people familiar with the matter.

In China, Hony is sticking to investing in state-owned enterprises and helping them become more market-oriented, a broad goal that China's policy makers have emphasized. Mr. Zhao said "easy" investment opportunities into SOEs that were "operating badly" are gone, leaving SOEs that are in "reasonably good shape."

The firm's most recent investment in an SOE is a 12.43% stake worth 3.04 billion yuan ($486.7 million) in Shanghai Jin Jiang International Hotels (Group) Co., announced by the state-owned operator of midrange hotels last month.

Buying into large privately-owned firms is "still coming" and it will take "a bit of time for that sector to become a large sector," said Mr. Zhao.

Hony is investing from two funds, a $2.4 billion dollar fund and a 10 billion yuan-denominated fund. It has no plans for fundraising yet, as it is about halfway through those two pools, said Mr. Zhao. He declined to comment on returns.

Hony is backed by Legend Holdings Ltd., a quasi-government conglomerate that owns Chinese computer maker Lenovo Group Ltd. Hony is known for a more sophisticated and Western approach to investing compared with its Chinese peers. Investors in the firm's private-equity funds include North American pension funds, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and China's national Social Security Fund. Mr. Zhao, who is both Chinese- and Western educated, is an executive vice president at Legend.

Write to Chao Deng at [e-mail]

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