Carlyle, KKR Among Firms Considering Bid for Hong Kong’s Tricor

(Bloomberg) -- Carlyle Group Inc., Baring Private Equity Asia and Hillhouse Capital are among the buyout firms considering bids for Hong Kong-based business and investor services provider Tricor Group, according to people familiar with the matter.

KKR & Co., CVC Capital Partners, Blackstone Inc. and Affinity Equity Partners are separately weighing non-binding offers for the closely-held company ahead of this week’s deadline, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. The sale has also attracted initial interest from MBK Partners and a consortium backed by Primavera Capital and Warburg Pincus, according to the people. 

Tricor’s private equity owner Permira has been considering a sale of the business in a deal that could value the firm at about $2 billion, Bloomberg News reported in May. Permira bought Tricor in 2017 from Bank of East Asia Ltd. and NWS Holdings Ltd. for about HK$6.5 billion ($836 million).

Founded in 2000, Tricor provides business operations and corporate governance support including accounting, payroll and secretarial services for publicly-traded and closely-held companies, according to its website. It says about 40% of its 50,000 global clients are in mainland China. 

Considerations are preliminary, no final decision has been made and the potential bidders could still decide against pursuing a transaction, the people said. 

Representatives for Baring, Carlyle, CVC, Hillhouse, KKR, MBK Partners, Permira, Primavera and Warburg Pincus declined to comment. Affinity didn’t respond to requests for comment.

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With assistance from Bloomberg