Chinese Investment Giant Hillhouse Capital Seeks to Expand Outside China

Zhang Lei, chairman and chief executive officer of Hillhouse Capital Group. Photo by Bloomberg.

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Hillhouse Capital Group, the Chinese sprawling investment powerhouse that has drawn comparisons to Tiger Global Management, has a new challenge: growing outside China.

The firm is best known for investments in Chinese tech giants such as Tencent, JD.com, Didi Global and TikTok owner ByteDance. But the devastation of China’s private equity and venture capital sectors, caused by Beijing’s tech crackdown and the country’s economic slowdown, has prompted Hillhouse to look for more deal opportunities abroad.

With that in mind, Hillhouse has been recruiting more investment professionals in Southeast Asia and Europe, while its China-based team is looking into overseas startups founded by Chinese entrepreneurs. The firm told one potential candidate that it wants to reposition itself as a broader Asia-focused investor rather than a China-focused one, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.