Endeavour Capital partners with Chinese firm to invest $120M

Endeavour Capital partners with Chinese vehicle to spend $120 mln worldwide

By Paul McBeth

May 11 (BusinessDesk) – Endeavour Capital Ltd., the Wellington venture capital vehicle, has attracted a Chinese partner to help invest $120 million in companies looking to tap international markets.

The local venture capitalist will enter into 50/50 investments with Wuhan Venture Capital Co. on a global scale to help companies compete in world markets, the companies said in joint statement.

“This is a very important partnership as it brings together world class companies, plus research and development from two complementary regions,” Wuhan Venture Capital chief executive Joanna Lee said. “The mutual benefits to be gained far outweigh the results that would otherwise be achieved by each operating independently.”

The deal marks the growing relationship, if somewhat strained, relationship between New Zealand and China since the nations signed a free trade agreement in 2008, China’s first with an OECD country.

Since then, New Zealand exports to the world’s second biggest economy have surged on China’s economic boom, though Chinese interest in buying local farmland has attracted criticism from all sides of the political spectrum.

Endeavour executive chairman Neville Jordan said the joint venture was “further evidence that offshore partnering is one of the best ways to provide funding for companies that are growing to meet international opportunities.”

The Wellington-based vehicle is raising a Sustainable Investment Fund through a listed company on the Deutsche Bourse Frankfurt stock exchange, which is “integral to the overall strategy of international operations.”

Endeavour was started in 1999 and invests in science and technology innovations looking to expand offshore.

(BusinessDesk)

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