Microsoft Corp Chairman Bill Gates and Nike Inc Chairman Phil Knight invested in a new buyout fund of as much as US$2.5 billion being raised by Oak Hill Capital Partners LP, a firm started by Texas billionaire Robert Bass.
Their participation was disclosed by Oak Hill managing partner Taylor Crandall during a fund-raising pitch to the Oregon Investment Council on Thursday. Bass, Knight and Oak Hill's 32 professionals invested a combined US$500 million in the new fund, Crandall said. The size of the investment by Gates wasn't disclosed.
Bass founded Oak Hill two decades ago to invest his own money. The organization, run from Menlo Park, California, and New York, acts as a family office for Bass and Knight and manages more than US$10 billion for individuals and institutions.
Bass "wouldn't be committing that type of money if he didn't have confidence in the team," Jay Fewel, senior equities investment officer for Oregon, told the council.
The Oregon council, which has been trying to invest money with different buyout managers partly to reduce its reliance on Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, approved US$100 million for the Oak Hill fund. The council oversees more than US$46 billion of state pension assets.
Other investors in the new fund include the government of Singapore and Stanford University, Crandall, 51, told the council. Oak Hill expects to finish raising the fund around the middle of the year.
The California Public Employees' Retirement System, the largest US pension fund, also invested, said Rick Hayes, who left Calpers to join Oak Hill as a managing partner last year.
Buyout and venture capital firms worldwide may seek to raise a record US$250 billion for new funds this year as lower borrowing costs make purchases cheaper and rising stock markets make it easier to profit from sales, according to Private Equity Intelligence Ltd.
Oak Hill has gathered US$1.4 billion of pledges after four months, said Hayes, 39. While the fund-raising document says the target is US$1.75 billion, Oak Hill will probably raise as much as US$2.5 billion, Fewel said.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS