Bank of America to sell PE assets in Asia to NewQuest Capital Partners
18 Apr 2011
Bank of America Merrill Lynch will sell all of its private equity portfolio, other than non-real estate, to Hong Kong-based NewQuest Capital Partners, a consortium of four private equity firms headed by Paul Capital, reports quoting sources close to the matter said.
The divestment, which comes a few months after the Wall Street bank sold its Asia real estate portfolio to Blackstone LP for $2 billion, is part of a restructuring plan.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which is planning to emerge a global lender, is in the process of divesting its non-core businesses, which affect its capital quality.
NewQuest, led by a four-member team of former Bank of America Merrill Lynch employees, has Darren Massara as managing partner and Amit Gupta, Bonnie Lo and Min Lin as partners.
NewQuest, with Paul Capital as lead partner, has HarbourVest Partners Asia, LGT Capital Partners and Axiom Asia as partners.
Bank of America, under chief executive Brian Moynihan, is undergoing a transition from a primarily US-based commercial bank to a global financial services company.
