CPE () is a Chinese

alternative investment An alternative investment, also known as an alternative asset or alternative investment fund (AIF), is an investment in any Asset classes, asset class excluding capital stocks, Bond (finance), bonds, and cash. The term is a relatively loose ...

firm headquartered in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. Previously known as CITIC Private Equity, it was the

private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...

investment arm of

CITIC Securities CITIC Securities Co., Ltd. is a Chinese full-service investment bank. It offers services in underwriting, research, brokerage, asset management, wealth management, and investment advisory. CITIC Securities was established in 1995 and it is head ...

before it was spun off as an independent firm in 2018.

Background

CITIC Private Equity was founded in June 2008 during the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

as the private equity investment arm of CITIC Securities. It quickly a high profile in the private equity industry after hiring Liu Lefei as chairman. Liu who is considered a princeling is the son of top ranking CCP official

Liu Yunshan Liu Yunshan (; zh, s=刘云山, t=劉雲山, p=Liú Yúnshān; born July 1947) is a retired Chinese politician. He was a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, the top decision-making body of the CCP, between 2 ...

and was previously the chief investment officer of

China Life Insurance Company China Life Insurance Company Limited (short China Life, ) is a Beijing-headquartered China-incorporated company that provides life insurance and annuity products. China Life is ranked No. 94 on Fortune 2015 Global 500 Company list. and is China' ...

. In January 2010 after taking over a year in fundraising, CITIC Private Equity raised 9 billion yuan ($1.32 billion) for its first industrial investment fund called CITIC Mianyang Private Equity Fund. It was the largest yuan-denominated private equity fund ever raised in China at the time. Wu Yibing, the then-president of CITIC Private Equity stated that two-thirds of the fund will be allocated to companies in the state sector, where the fund enjoys good access partially because of its links to

CITIC Group CITIC Group Corporation Ltd., formerly the China International Trust Investment Corporation (CITIC), is a state-owned investment company of the People's Republic of China, established by Rong Yiren in 1979 with the approval of Deng Xiaoping. ...

. In addition the fund would only seek

minority interest In accounting, minority interest (or non-controlling interest) is the portion of a subsidiary corporation's stock that is not owned by the parent corporation. The magnitude of the minority interest in the subsidiary company is generally less than ...

s in companies as founders were reluctant to step aside. The fund would play on the aspirations of local companies to emulate Chinese corporate success stories such as

Lenovo Lenovo Group Limited, trading as Lenovo ( , zh, c=联想, p=Liánxiǎng), is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in designing, manufacturing, and marketing consumer electronics, personal computers, software, servers, conv ...

and

Haier Haier Group Corporation () is a Chinese multinational home appliances and consumer electronics company headquartered in Qingdao, Shandong. Its Haier Smart Home Company affiliate, of which it owns 35%, designs, develops, manufactures and se ...

. Notable investments of the fund included

Wind Information Wind (Wind Information; ) is a Chinese financial data and software company headquartered in Shanghai. The company produces the Wind Financial Terminal which is considered the largest Chinese domestic alternative to the Bloomberg Terminal. Ou ...

. In June 2012, Liu resigned from his position of chairman at CITIC Private Equity although he would still remain as CEO of the firm. In 2018, CITIC securities spun off CITIC Private Equity as an independent firm when it raised a $2.3 billion fund. It was subsequently renamed to CPE. Investors of its later funds included

GIC GIC may refer to: Education * Ghana Insurance College, in Accra, Ghana * Government Intermediate College, a type of school in India * Grait International College in Nigeria * Gyosei International College in the U.K., defunct Finance * General ...

and

Temasek Temasek ( or , also spelt Temasik or Tumasik) is an early recorded name of a settlement on the site of modern Singapore. The name appears in early Malay and Javanese literature, and it is also recorded in Yuan and Ming Chinese documents ...

. Companies the funds invested in included

DiDi Didi Chuxing Technology Company is a Chinese vehicle for hire company headquartered in Beijing with over 550 million users and tens of millions of drivers. The company provides app-based transportation services, including taxi hailing, private ...

and JD Health. In September 2023, CPE was mentioned in an

opinion piece An opinion piece is an article, usually published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about a subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals. Editorials Opinion pieces may take the form of an editorial, ...

by Marc Thiessen in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' that concerned

Vivek Ramaswamy Vivek Ganapathy Ramaswamy (born August 9, 1985) is an American entrepreneur and politician. He founded Roivant Sciences, a Biotechnology, biotech Pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical company in 2014 and was its Chief executive officer, CEO ...

. During his 2024 presidential campaign, Ramaswamy portrayed himself as tough on China, promising to bar American companies from doing business there. However it was revealed that in 2017, Ramaswamy partnered with CPE to form a company called Sinovant. In 2019, Ramaswamy partnered with CPE again to launch Cytovant Sciences. In 2023, a Roivant Sciences spokesperson told ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...

'' that both companies never generated sales or profits and were no longer operating. Since Ramaswamy's most recent deal with CPE was just over four years ago, his sudden conversion from China deal maker to China

hawk Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are very widely distributed and are found on all continents, except Antarctica. The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks, and others. This ...

was deeply suspect.''''

References

External links

* {{authority control CITIC Group Chinese companies established in 2008 Companies based in Beijing Financial services companies established in 2008 Private equity firms of China

Background

See also

References

External links