Nanostart AG / Key word(s): Joint Venture
19.03.2014 08:58
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- Nanostart founds "Nanostart Westbridge Co. Ltd." in Hong Kong with
Chinese partner Asset-Manager
- Nanostart Westbridge launches venture capital funds with Chinese
government
- Market entry into the second largest national economy in the world
Frankfurt / Hong Kong - March 19, 2014 - The Frankfurt-based investment
company Nanostart AG has entered into a joint venture through its Asian
subsidiary Nanostart Asia Pte. Ltd. with the Chinese asset manager
Westbridge Asset Management Ltd. The venture capitalist has a 50 per cent
stake in the newly founded asset manager Nanostart Westbridge Company Ltd,
based in Hong Kong. Over the coming months, the asset manager will be
launching funds in China in association with the Chinese government. The
first funds are already expected to have a cumulative volume in the range
of triple digit millions of euros.
A significant amount of the fund volume is to be invested in Germany, the
rest regionally in China. The funds will be invested in high-tech companies
with a focus on nanotechnology, but may also take a share in promising
technology companies with no connection to nanotechnology. The aim is to
offer the German holdings of the funds a bridge to Chinese partner groups
with access to the Chinese market. Chinese corporates can thus benefit from
the innovative strength of German companies, whilst emergent German
technology companies will be able to use the associated cooperation to gain
direct access to customers in one of the largest and most dynamic sales
markets in the world.
The Chinese partner's team has a longstanding track record and has already
launched several venture capital funds with the Chinese government.
The first venture capital funds will originate in the Jiangsu province, and
the newly founded asset manager is working closely with the government of
this region. Jiangsu, a province with one of the fastest developing
economies in China, has a population of around 80 million. The economic
strength is demonstrated by the highest per capita gross domestic product
of all the provinces in China. In the past year, the gross domestic product
was around 1 billion euros - about half that of India.
"Our new asset manager Nanostart Westbridge is not only the result of
almost two years of intensive work in China, but it also marks the most
significant strategic event in the history of Nanostart AG. For Nanostart
AG, the joint launching of funds with the Chinese government represents a
successful market entry into the second largest national economy in the
world and has the potential to raise us to a leading asset manager over the
coming years", explains Marco Beckmann, chairman of Nanostart AG. "The
cooperation with the government so far has been based on mutual trust and
has the mutual goal of rapidly achieving a significant size with a
multitude of funds that are being developed now".
"We are delighted to have found an internationally experienced partner in
Nanostart AG, whose global network offers outstanding opportunities to lead
the newly developed German-Chinese venture capital funds to great success",
adds Dr KK Chan, Managing Director of Westbridge Asset Management Ltd.
"With our funds, we are a first mover in an emerging class of
internationally oriented venture capital funds and we are enabling the
accelerated growth of emergent technology companies in two of the most
important markets in the world".
The operational responsibility, or in other words the fundraising and fund
management, lies with the Chinese partners. Nanostart chairman Marco
Beckmann, as the delegated member of Nanostart AG, will be representing the
interests of the company on the management board of Nanostart Westbridge
Co. Ltd.
As a general rule, the asset manager will receive a fixed remuneration of
2% of the fund volume (so-called "management fee") for the launched funds,
as well as a performance-related remuneration of up to 20% of the income
from the funds (so-called "carried interest").
About Nanostart:
Nanostart AG is a leading nanotechnology venture capital company. The
company invests venture capital (VC) in promising young nanotechnology
companies. Nanostart invests globally and at different phases of
development. Emphasis of investments is on especially innovative industries
such as cleantech, life sciences, and IT/electronics. Nanostart invests
either directly in nanotechnology companies or through a regional
nanotechnology fund. The headquarters of Nanostart AG is in Frankfurt,
Germany.
Disclaimer:
This notice constitutes neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation of
offers to purchase or subscribe to securities. There will be no public
offering of securities of Nanostart AG in conjunction with the existing
listing of its shares in the "Entry Standard" segment of the regulated
unofficial market (Freiverkehr) on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. This
notice does not constitute a securities prospectus. Neither this notice nor
the information contained within is intended for direct or indirect
distribution within Canada, Australia, or Japan.
Media contact:
Quadriga Communication GmbH
Kent Gaertner
Telefon: +49 (0)30-30 30 80 89 13
Telefax: +49 (0)30-30 30 80 89 20
E-Mail: presse@nanostart.de
19.03.2014 DGAP's Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements,
Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.
Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de
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Language: English
Company: Nanostart AG
GoethestraÃe 26-28
60313 Frankfurt
Germany
Phone: +49 30 30308089 13
Fax: +49 30 30308089 20
E-mail: presse@nanostart.de
Internet: www.nanostart.de
ISIN: DE000A0B9VV6
WKN: A0B9VV
Listed: Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf, München, Stuttgart;
Frankfurt in Open Market (Entry Standard)
End of Announcement DGAP News-Service
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DGAP-News: Nanostart AG: Market entry in China
| Source: EQS Group AG