Hony Capital to focus on consolidating sectors in China

Chinese private equity firm Hony Capital is targeting investments in the pharmaceutical, media and retail sectors, which CEO John Zhao sees as fragmented and therefore ripe for consolidation, the Wall Street Journal reported. “We have too many so-called pharmaceutical companies. We have more than 4,500 in China, while the total sales volume, if you add all that together, is less than one huge multinational,” Zhao said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Dalian. While Hony’s parent company, Legend Holdings, intends to list shares in the medium to long term, Zhao said he saw little point in Hony doing the same. He added that Legend’s strategy – the company plans to invest US$1.46 billion over the next five years in clean energy, new materials, financial services and consumption-related industries – was to add “core companies” to complement its current holdings. Hony currently has more than US$2.8 billion under management.