Chinese firm Kylin Capital, claiming to be the first mover of private equity (PE) in China for the shipping sector, is seeking opportunities during the market downturn and aiming to enlarge its shipping portfolio.
Gordon Guo, managing director of Kylin Capital, said that while shipping has been thus far neglected by China-based PE, his company is interested in all segments of shipping as long as the conditions for the deals are right.
“We are the first mover of PE in China as other major Chinese PE are not interested in shipping. The big Chinese PE are mainly interested in properties and even football clubs,” Guo told delegates at Capital Link International Shipping Forum China held in Shanghai on Friday.
“We will just focus on shipping and even offshore as well,” he told Seatrade Maritime News at the sidelines of the conference. Guo however preferred to stay confidential on the present value of its portfolio.
“The Chinese PE market for shipping is absolutely zero as the PE here do not understand shipping,” he said.
Shanghai-headquartered Kylin Capital is a relatively young company established three years ago.
Mark Young, ceo of Asia Maritime Pacific, observed that China’s PE and public listing capital market are strongly lacking behind compared to other metropolitan cities such as Hong Kong, New York and London.
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