(Aug 5): Singapore’s GIC Pte Ltd is looking to offload some of its private equity stakes as the sovereign wealth fund taps the booming secondaries market to manage its investments, according to people familiar with the matter. 

GIC is seeking to sell fund holdings with a net asset value of about US$1 billion (RM4.09 billion), one of the people said, asking not to be identified as the discussions are private. The potential divestment includes funds from multiple global private equity managers, including EQT, TPG Asia and KKR & Co, some of the people said. PJT Partners is advising GIC on the deal, the people said. 

The wealth fund reached out to potential buyers last month to gauge interest, the people added. The talks are at an early stage and details of any transaction could change, they said. 

Representatives from GIC, PJT Partners, EQT and KKR declined to comment. TPG Asia wasn’t immediately able to comment. 

GIC has become more cautious on private market investments and is actively “recycling” capital across such strategies, chief executive officer Lim Chow Kiat said in an interview last month. The wealth fund last month reported a 3.6% five-year annualized return, the lowest in more than a decade. 

The secondaries market for private assets is booming as limited partners look to offload stakes before they mature and fund managers raise more capital in continuation vehicles to hold on to their prized or hard-to-sell assets for longer. 

Such transactions grew 19% from a year earlier to US$121 billion in the first half, according to Evercore Inc. Sales by limited partners were driven by large, repeat investors such as sovereign wealth funds, the report said.

GIC has US$1.16 trillion in assets under management, according to the latest estimate by Global SWF. Last year, the Singapore firm sought to sell private equity fund stakes with a net asset value of at least US$1 billion. In June, it finalised a separate sale of as much as US$2 billion of private credit assets.

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