Hony Capital raises $2.7b for new fund

Hony Capital Ltd, the Chinese private-equity firm that bought UK restaurant chain PizzaExpress Ltd in 2014, raised $2.7 billion for a dual-currency fund intended to smooth the way for overseas and China-based investors to participate in the same deals, people familiar with the matter said.

Hony Capital has completed the fundraising, of which about 70 percent is in US dollars and the rest in yuan, one of the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information.

The dual-currency fund is a first among larger firms in China's private-equity industry and is designed to resolve some of the long-standing tensions between participants in the firm's separate yuan and dollar pools, the people said.