PAG (investment firm)
PAG is a global alternative investment firm that manages multiple asset classes, including private equity, real estate and hedge funds. It is considered one of the largest private investment firms in Asia. History. PAG was founded in 2002 by Horst Geicke, Chris Gradel and Katherine Yip. In March 2018, the Blackstone Group acquired a minority stake in PAG. In 2019, PAG formed Polymer Capital Management, a long/short equity hedge fund. In January 2022, there was speculation that PAG planned to hold an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong. In March, PAG filed for an IPO  aiming to raise $2 billion. Business overview. PAG is headquartered in Hong Kong with additional offices in Tokyo, Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, New York, Geneva, London and Mumbai. PAG has three main strategies, namely Absolute Returns, Real Estate and Private Equity. Notable Deals. On 13 December 2013, PAG invested $250 million into theme park operator Universal Studios Japan. Other investors in the deal included Goldman Sachs, MBK Partners and Owl Creek. On 16 June 2014, TPG Capital, PAG and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan acquired DTZ from UGL Limited for an enterprise value of US$1.215 billion. On 11  May 2015, DTZ merged with Cushman & Wakefield in a $2 billion deal. On 2 August 2018, Cushman & Wakefield held an IPO and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “CWK”. On 27 June 2014, PAG acquired Commerzbank's Real Estate subsidiary in Japan including a EUR700 million ($954 million) Japanese mezzanine property loan portfolio. On 21 October 2014, PAG's Secured Capital announced sale of Pacific Century Place Marunouchi in Japan to Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, GIC for US$1.7 billion (S$2.2 billion). On 20 April 2016, Apex Technology and PAG acquired Lexmark  for US$3.6 billion. On 11 April 2018, PAG and Joyson Electronics funded Key Safety Systems to successfully complete the acquisition of Air-Bag Maker, Takata for $1.588 billion. The combined company was rebranded Joyson Safety Systems. On 12 July 2019, PAG acquired Craveable Brands from Archer Capital for $450m. On 27 August 2020, PAG acquired a 51% stake in Edelweiss Wealth Management (EWM), the second largest non-bank wealth management business in India for US$300 million (INR 22 billion). On 19 November 2020, PAG signed an agreement to invest up to AUD150 million in Regional  Express Airlines (REX) to support the launch of Rex's domestic jet operations scheduled to commence on 1 March 2021. In April 2021, PAG was merging Yingde Gases Group with Shanghai Baosteel Group, in preparation for a $10 billion offshore IPO. During the same month, PAG and Aspex invested $60 million in Adrian Cheng's SPAC Artisan Acquisition.