On 14 March 2017, together with the Luxembourg Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (LPEA), the representative body of private equity and venture capital professionals in Luxembourg, CHINALUX held a conference entitled “Luxembourg, a European gateway for China: update on Private Equity and M&A”. The first conference to explore exclusively Luxembourg’s role in inbound and outbound investments between China and Europe, the event brought together speakers from China and Luxembourg to share their insights on the growing importance of Luxembourg as bridge connecting China and Europe, looking specifically at the Private Equity and M&A sectors.

Jérôme Wittamer, LPEA President, and Dirk Dewitte, CHINALUX President, welcomed the full-house of attendees to the conference. Following, speeches were delivered by Cedric Carnoye, Managing Director Hong Kong desk Deloitte, and Lorenzo Stanca, Managing Partner Mandarin Capital Partners, on the topic of China investing abroad. Addressing the state of the market for Private Equity in China, Julien Kinic, Co-founder and Managing Partner IDI Emerging Markets, then explored the Private Equity industry in China, outlining the main sectors and players, as well as the challenges. The next speaker, Alain Kinsch, Country Managing Partner EY Luxembourg, Head of EY Chinese Overseas Investment network, presented his view on Luxembourg as a bridge between Europe and China, exploring the past 12 months of Private Equity and M&A acquisitions made by China into the EU. Next, Lin Fengyun, Executive Vice President, Global Banking Dep., ICBC Head Office Beijing, China, presented a testimony from a Chinese bank, and more specifically, explored the role of Chinese banks for Private Equity and M&A transactions.

The speeches were followed by a Roundtable. Dirk Dewitte acted as moderator, and was joined by a panel of leading experts in the Luxembourg-China Private Equity and M&A fields: Lorenzo Stanca, Managing Partner Mandarin Capital Partners, Dan Choon, Dyan S.à r.l., Katia Panichi, Partner EHP, and Julien Kinic, Co-founder and Managing Partner IDI Emerging Markets.The Roundtable discussions explored topics such as why Chinese companies use Luxembourg for structuring a transaction, the attractiveness of Luxembourg vehicles to structure Private Equity and M&A transactions, and the experiences of a PE/VC house investing in China, to the transfer of technology between Europe and China. The conference finished with a networking reception, offering the attendees an opportunity to further discuss questions and topics from the speeches and Roundtable discussion.

Press: Delano, LPEA Photo Gallery

Photo: Copyright LPEA