Bespoke Secondary Solutions Across Asia

Foundation Private Equity partners with Tikehau Capital

Foundation Private Equity (Foundation PE), a provider of bespoke secondary solutions across Asia, has entered into a strategic partnership with Tikehau Capital.

Foundation PE is a founder-operated private equity player that specialises in delivering innovative secondary solutions to GPs and LPs across Asia. This firm is headquartered in Singapore, with a presence in Beijing and Mumbai.

Foundation PE targets private equity secondaries in Asia, with a focus on China, India and South East Asia. It specialises in GP-led fund restructurings, purchase of limited partner (LP) interests in existing funds, and other bespoke liquidity solutions for LPs. Foundation PE seeks to partner with GPs in providing liquidity to their LPs and works alongside GPs to aim for optimal outcomes to portfolio companies.

Tikehau Capital has taken a majority equity stake in Foundation PE as part of the partnership arrangement, cementing the global alternative asset management group’s expansion into the private equity secondaries business and broadening its investment capabilities in Asia.

“We are delighted to be collaborating with Tikehau Capital, whom we view as an important strategic partner for the development of our firm going forward. We believe that there are many areas of synergy between our firms and that Tikehau Capital’s global reach will help us to expand our presence and capabilities in Asia and beyond,” says Jason Sambanju and Jeremy Foo, co-founders of Foundation PE.

“We are honoured to become Foundation PE’s partner of choice. This strategic partnership will allow Tikehau Capital to further develop its private equity offering in Asia, leveraging Foundation PE’s extensive footprint in China, India and South East Asia. Foundation PE is an entrepreneur-led company and shares the same strategy of selectiveness and alignment of interests as Tikehau Capital. Jason Sambanju and Jeremy Foo, the co-founders of the firm, have extensive experience in both secondaries and direct investing in the region, and this aligns closely with the platform’s fundamentals-driven approach to investment underwriting,” says Jean-Baptiste Feat, co-CIO of Tikehau Investment Management and co-head of Asia.

Foundation PE has a team of seven professionals across Singapore, Beijing and Mumbai and recently expanded its execution capabilities by appointing Kimberly Tong as a Vice President within its investment team. The firm is also bringing on board a Finance Director with deep experience in overseeing private equity funds that invest in multiple jurisdictions across Asia.

Jason Sambanju

Partner, CEO & Founder | Singapore

Jason has over 30 years of experience in financial services, the last 25 years of which has been in Asian private equity. Before establishing Foundation Private Equity in July 2017, he was Head of Asia, Secondaries for DB Private Equity, the private equity arm of the Deutsche Bank AG group. Prior to this, he spent 7 years as Co-Head of Asia for Paul Capital Partners, establishing and leading their practice in the region. Jason started his private equity career as a direct investor with Symphony Capital. He has invested in funds and companies in India, China and Southeast Asia and has a broad and deep network of relationships across the region. Jason has a B.Sc. in Finance and B.A. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania, from which he graduated with honors. Jason is an Indonesian citizen. See Appendices for further information on Jason’s background.

Jeremy Foo

Partner, Co-Founder | Singapore

Jeremy has over 20 years of private equity experience, of which 13 years were focused on control buyouts and growth equity investments in Asia. Prior to Foundation Private Equity, Jeremy was a Director with both Navis Capital Partners and Southern Capital Group -- two leading Southeast Asian private equity firms -- where he was responsible for deal generation, execution, and portfolio value creation across multiple sectors and jurisdictions. Jeremy has also served on the Board of Directors of numerous portfolio companies. Prior to this, Jeremy spent over 5 years with Standard Chartered Private Equity and started his career in New York as an analyst with Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity. He holds a B.Sc. with honors in Finance and Accounting from the Leonard N Stern School of Business, New York University. Jeremy is a Singaporean citizen.

Alok Gupta

Partner, Head of India | Mumbai

Alok has over 30 years of experience in financial services, of which the last 12 years have been focused on growth equity investments in India. Alok was most recently Managing Director with HSBC Private Equity (later Headland Capital), where he was responsible for its India office and operations, including origination, execution and monitoring of direct investments. Prior to this, he was with Yes Bank and Rabo India, where he oversaw the life sciences and technology business verticals. He started his career at ANZ Grindlays Bank and worked primarily in Structured Finance & Syndications in Mumbai and London. Alok has an M.Sc. Economics and B.E. Mechanical Engineering degree from BITS Pilani and an MBA from IIM Calcutta. Alok is an Indian citizen.

Jason Ong

Vice President | Singapore

Jason has more than 6 years of experience working for leading financial institutions in Singapore. Prior to Foundation Private Equity, he was an Associate with PricewaterhouseCoopers in their Deals Advisory practice, focusing on debt and capital advisory for corporate and private equity clients across Southeast Asia. Prior to this, Jason completed internships at Azalea Asset Management and Temasek Holdings. Jason holds a Bachelor of Business, Honours (Highest Distinction) with a specialisation in Banking & Finance from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Jason is a Singapore Citizen

Xie Cheng

Venture Partner | Shanghai

Cheng has been a Managing Director of Tripod Capital since 2006 when he co-founded the firm. He was responsible for launching the firm’s first USD-denominated growth equity fund, which received commitments in excess of $260 million. Prior to Tripod Capital, Cheng was President of SK China, a subsidiary of SK Group, one of Korea’s largest conglomerates. While in this position, Cheng oversaw 29 existing businesses with more than $2 billion of trading revenue and launched seven new businesses in China. Before joining SK China, Cheng spent 11 years at Intel Corporation. He was a founding team member of Intel China and eventually became its Deputy General Manager and the Asia Managing Director for the operations of Intel’s Converged Communications Group. Cheng received his B.S. in Engineering Physics from Tsinghua University and an M.S. in Physics and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University.

Mingzhu Tang

Venture Partner

Mingzhu has 14 years of experience working for leading financial institutions, including UBS Securities, J.P. Morgan Asset Management and Bank of China Investment Group in Hong Kong and spent the last 11 years focusing on private equity. Previously, she was a Partner at Sunward Capital in Shanghai and established its RMB Fund of Funds business. Mingzhu has an extensive network in both the onshore and offshore Chinese private equity industries and has been responsible for allocating and managing nearly $1.5 billion of private equity assets on behalf of global institutional investors and UHNWIs. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Beijing Normal University and a Master’s degree in Financial Engineering from University of Michigan. Mingzhu is a Chinese citizen.

Naval Ambekar

Finance Manager

Naval has over 10 years of experience in the financial services sector. Prior to Foundation Private Equity, he worked as a Senior Associate at Alpha Alternatives, where he handled financial reporting, fund administration, and compliance matters. Before that, he worked as a Finance Associate at Affirma Capital. Earlier in his career, Naval worked with BSR & Co. (KPMG India) in the Audit and Assurance practice, focusing on financial services clients. Naval holds a Master of Commerce from the University of Mumbai and is a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He is an Indian citizen.

Jasmine Tan

Finance Associate

Jasmine is a Finance Associate at Foundation Private Equity, where she is involved in financial reporting, fund administration, and regulatory compliance matters. Prior to this, she was a Finance Associate at EZA Hill, focusing on corporate finance functions and investment related activities. She also spent several years at PwC Singapore in Financial Services Assurance, as an Assistant Manager in the audit practice where she gained extensive experience in financial reporting, audit, and regulatory compliance across a diverse portfolio of clients. Jasmine holds a Bachelor of Accounting (Hons) from Multimedia University and is a Singapore Permanent Resident.

Dinesh Tiwari

Venture Partner

Dinesh has over 25 years of experience in private equity, with deep expertise across emerging markets and extensive leadership experience as a Partner across multiple investment platforms. He is currently the Managing Director at Broad Peak Capital Advisors LLP. Prior to this, Dinesh helped to build and scale early-stage private equity franchises, including the India businesses of Standard Chartered Private Equity, Alcazar Capital, and Multiples. He has also worked with leading global investment firms such as Actis, J.P. Morgan, and ICICI Venture. Dinesh holds a Bachelor's degree in Physics and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.