Happy Easter to all our readers.
It’s been nearly two decades since the Global Financial Crisis, but twenty-odd years is only an eye wink in history. Ripples from the summer of 2008 are still being felt across the financial system.
For those old enough to remember, recent headlines about private credit funds capping withdrawals bring back memories of the day when BNP Paribas, in mid-2007, froze activity in funds exposed to subprime mortgages, an early sign of what would become the biggest financial upheaval since World War 2.
Private credit grew in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis as regulators restricted bank lending to riskier businesses. Private equity firms made the most of this surge to finance buyouts, shifting away from traditional bank debt. Consequently, from a niche asset class in 2008, private credit has grown to over $3 trillion in assets under management as of end-2025.
But now, the music seems to have stopped.
Investors have been demanding money back from some private credit funds on worries about competition, muted returns, lack of borrower quality, and heavy exposure to software companies whose businesses could be disrupted by AI.
Blue Owl Capital reported this week that it has received a historic level of redemption requests and limited withdrawals from two of its retail-focused funds. The news immediately triggered a fall in the shares of many US alternative asset managers.
Ares Management, Apollo Global, BlackRock, Blackstone, KKR and private credit arms of banks such as Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, and Goldman Sachs have also limited redemptions.
For now, the stress appears concentrated in the US rather than Asia, and there is little evidence of systemic risk on the scale of Lehman Brothers.
In fact, according to a recent report in Nikkei Asia, private credit seems to be facing the opposite problem in India—it’s looking for big-value, high-yielding deals but opportunities are scarce. “Demand for private credit in non-software sectors that are less likely to face systemic disruptions, and the fact that most deals in India are backed by real assets and cash-flow visibility, means the market is, for now, unlikely to face the rising defaults and redemption requests that have stymied the US private credit sector,” the report noted.
In Southeast Asia, the asset class remains underpenetrated, as our latest DATA VANTAGE report Southeast Asia Private Equity Funds: H2 2025 Review noted. Only two funds—Indies Special Opportunities IV and III— reached a final close, raising a combined $440 million, in the last five years.
While parallels to 2008 are hard to ignore, the fault lines today are more contained. The real test is whether liquidity pressures remain episodic or evolve into a broader recalibration of risk across private markets.
Scroll down for the other top headlines that defined the week:
LP-GP updates
A renewed focus on operational fundamentals is making the private equity mid-market segment more attractive, especially as investors look for disciplined capital deployment and tangible value creation, Vikram Lokur of Morgan Stanley Investment Management said in an interview. MSIM is focusing heavily on the mid-market, investing both directly in companies and through top-tier external funds to combine deal expertise with global reach.
Mark Hoeing and Ethan Levine of CF Private Equity also spoke to us this week about ensuring stable distributions. Discipline needs to be maintained around entry prices and realistic growth assumption. Managers must focus on fundamentals and mid-market growth, often supported by a consistent exit pathway and strong demand from larger sponsors, they said.
Switzerland-based Partners Group has generated a 3.5x dollar DPI across its India investments since inception, reflecting a strong record of realised distributions and a continued focus on DPI as a key priority, said Managing Director Vageesh Gupta in another interview.
Jaka Prasetya, a former KKR partner, is raising a $100-150 million mid-market private equity fund under Leafgreen Capital, marking his return to Indonesia’s dealmaking scene with a consumer-focused strategy.
The IFC is considering an investment of up to $130 million in a BlackRock-managed infrastructure debt fund. Infrastructure Resilience Development Fund (IRDF) will allocate 30-50% of its investments to Asia.
SCV, a venture capital platform led by China’s Source Code Capital managing partner Samuel Huang, has raised over $150 million for its maiden US dollar fund. SCV also disclosed that it has already initiated fundraising for its first RMB fund to form a dual-currency fund strategy.
Future Wealth Investments, a Singapore-based investment firm with a multi-geography focus including India, has launched its debut venture fund targeting $50 million, with a green shoe option of $10 million.
French alternative asset manager Tikehau Capital plans to expand its Tokyo team and begin private equity investing in Japan from April. A new pan-Asia fund being launched will be managed by Tikehau Amova Investment Management, a joint venture with Sumitomo Mitsui Trust’s asset management arm, Amova, and aims to raise $350 million, with a hard cap of $500 million.
Singapore-based circular economy investment management firm Circulate Capital has achieved $220 million in the first close of its second climate fund, representing more than 70% of its $300-million targeted fund size.
An analysis and a report
Fundraising by Southeast Asia-focused private equity funds declined for a third consecutive year in 2025 as recovery stalled in the latter half of the year, finds the latest report from DealStreetAsia DATA VANTAGE. Only three SE Asia-focused PE funds reached a final close in 2025 as mounting macro uncertainty and escalating geopolitical tensions in West Asia weighed on LP sentiment and slowed capital formation.
An increase in gasoline and diesel prices across SE Asia has hit ride-hailing drivers, who have begun co-ordinated action. In late March, roughly 5,000 transport network vehicle service drivers across different ride-hailing platforms in the Philippines joined the nationwide transport strike on March 26–27. They are now calling for a three-day strike in the second week of April. As geopolitical tensions, including the ongoing instability linked to tensions between Iran, the US, and Israel, have kept global crude prices elevated. For ride-hailing drivers who shoulder fuel costs directly and have no control over what they charge their customers, this translates into immediate margin compression.
Of startups and corporate actions
Philippines-based investor Foxmont Capital Partners is exploring bets in integrated circuit (IC) design, as it looks to tap a higher-value segment of the country’s semiconductor industry. Jelmer Ikink, managing partner at Foxmont said that IC design has emerged as an “interesting opportunity” for the Philippines, with the firm already in discussions with multiple local players.
Singapore-listed First REIT is moving ahead with its plan to exit its assets in Indonesia, announcing a $367.15 million divestment plan. The divestment will be executed in two tranches, with the REIT selling eight hospital assets to Siloam International Hospitals and its subsidiaries for about S$389.2 million. The assets being sold also include malls and a hotel.
UNO Digital Bank has reached operating break-even in its Philippine operations in February 2026, and is preparing to tap investors for fresh capital, President and CEO Manish Bhai said in an interview.
Global Digital Niaga, the Indonesian retail and e-commerce group that owns Blibli, Tiket.com, Ranch Market, and Dekoruma, posted 34% revenue growth in 2025 and narrowed losses, as higher smartphone sales and expansion into physical retail helped offset margin pressure.
One of the leading players in China’s crowded artificial intelligence sector, Zhipu AI, reported revenue growth of 131.9% for 2025, in its first results update since its January listing.
Vietnam’s first tech unicorn VNG has reported a consolidated net revenue of 10,894 billion dong ($414 million), approximately 22% of which was generated from international markets, in its audited full-year 2025 results. Adjusted operating profit rose 183% year-on-year to 856 billion dong ($32.5 million).
Vietnamese electric vehicle maker VinFast now expects that it will only break even after 2027 as it pushes ahead with plans to expand rapidly while also dealing with rising costs, Reuters reported. The Nasdaq-listed startup has made forays into Indonesia, India, and the Philippines, although it has downsized initial growth ambitions in the US and Europe. The expansion has been expensive, however, with VinFast posting a net loss of almost $4 billion last year.
Singapore-headquartered provider of modular and prefabricated data center infrastructure EPG has raised over $100 million in a Series B+ funding round led by Decarbonization Partners, a joint venture between BlackRock and Temasek, Alibaba Cloud, and other strategic investors.
California-based battery innovator EnerVenue bagged $300 million in a Series B+ funding led by Hong Kong-based Full Vision Capital. Alongside Full Vision Capital, Hong Kong Investment Corporation (HKIC) also invested in the round.
Malaysian insurtech firm PolicyStreet has secured $21 million in the first close of its Series C funding round. The round was led by Cool Japan Fund (CJF), a Japanese sovereign wealth fund, with participation from returning investors Altara Ventures and Gobi Partners. The Cool Japan Fund is the second sovereign wealth fund to back the firm after Khazanah.
IPOs
Clinical-stage biotech startup Immuno Cure is considering filing for an IPO in Hong Kong in the second half of 2026, targeting a market cap of over $1 billion. The startup, which was valued at $440 million during its Series B round several months ago, is also in the process of raising its pre-IPO financing before it moves to submit a formal IPO application.
Vietnam-based financial services firm F88 is planning to offer 10% of its shares in an IPO as the company is set to transfer its shares from the Unlisted Public Companies Market (UPCoM) to the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange.
Malaysia’s Capital A Berhad, meanwhile, is exploring a plan to list the firm in Hong Kong by mid-year.
That’s all for this week. Wishing you a restful Easter weekend.
