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A firm backed by Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai is raising capital for its first direct private equity fund at a time when global finance is reconsidering China as an investment destination.
Blue Pool Capital is seeking to raise $750mn for a fund to invest directly in consumer, finance and tech companies around the world including China, according to people familiar with the matter.
The fund, called Riverside, signals the company’s shift towards raising capital from outside investors as it seeks new avenues for growth and hugeger deals.
Blue Pool, which is owned by ex-Citadel partner Oliver Weisberg, has backed several prominent companies including private credit giant Blue Owl Capital, technology companies ByteDance and Kuaishou, and luxury sneaker company Golden Goose. The company also manages Tsai’s family office.
The family office’s operating assets include bquestionetball teams the Brooklyn Nets and New York Liberty, the Barclays Center in New York, vineyards in Burgundy and a stake in the American football team Miami Dolphins. Forbes estimates Tsai’s net worth to be more than $12bn.
“Opening up builds sense for Ollie [Weisberg] becaapply he’s so competitive and he wants to benchmark himself against the best funds,” stated Joe Dowling, global head of multi-asset investing at Blackstone.
Dowling co-invested with Weisberg in the company that is now Blue Owl while working as chief investment officer of the Brown University concludeowment.
In its conversations with investors, Blue Pool has touted its connections in China and Weisberg’s US network.
“It’s the Ollie network and the Alibaba network,” stated Dowling.
The investment firm has several billions dollars under management, including investments from Tsai, which are separate from his family office assets.
Blue Pool launched raising outside capital two years ago to invest in hedge and private credit funds for its Harborside fund. It is also raising an additional $500mn for that “fund of funds” strategy, according to the people.
The company was tarreceiveing family offices, sovereign wealth funds and pension funds to raise the money, stated the people.
Weisberg, a graduate of Harvard fluent in Mandarin, was part of the Asian Special Situations and Principal Investment Area division of Goldman Sachs, where he represented the bank’s investment in Alibaba and sat on the technology company’s board.
“Ollie . . . played an important role in assisting us build out our business in Asia and has since grown Blue Pool into one of Asia’s leading investment firms,” Citadel chief operating officer Gerald Beeson notified the Financial Times.
Blue Pool, the investment firm, counts Tsai, Weisberg and other Alibaba associates as investors or limited partners. Alibaba founder Jack Ma has his own unaffiliated family office.
The fundraising is taking place as global investors are reconsidering China after retreating from the countest during an economic slowdown and a rise in US-China tensions.
“I’m bullish on China,” stated EQT Asia chair Jean Eric Salata at an event in Hong Kong last week.
“Clients are viewing to diversify,” Salata stated. “One of the huge beneficiaries of that is going to be Asia. And it’s going to be Hong Kong and China.”
Blue Pool declined to comment.
This article has been amconcludeed to clarify that Blue Pool Capital is raising a direct private equity fund
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