CBC Group has raised over RMB 7 billion (USD 980 million) in the first close of its inaugural RMB-denominated healthcare buyout fund, with a target size of RMB 10 billion (USD 1.4 billion). The fund, which is now the largest of its kind in China, will pursue mergers and acquisitions across biotech, medical devices, consumer health, and healthcare services—consistent with CBC’s longstanding focus areas.
CBC serves as the fund manager and a general partner, alongside Shunxi Fund, an investment platform backed by Beijing State-owned Capital Operation and Management Company (BSCOMC).
Initial anchor capital has come entirely from state-owned investors, including RMB 3.467 billion (USD 485.4 million) from BSCOMC and RMB 3 billion (USD 420 million) from Beijing E-Town International Investment and Development. There’s a possibility the fund will open to market-driven capital down the line, including insurance companies.
This is not CBC’s first collaboration with BSCOMC and Shunxi Fund, and the new fund aligns with policy goals laid out by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area. The district has identified biotech and healthcare as one of its four core industries, and this fund weaves together CBC’s M&A capabilities with the policy muscle and local clout of municipal and district-level state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
In the past decade, CBC has gone from an underdog to one of the most closely watched players in China’s healthcare investment scene. While others focused on venture deals and early-stage bets, CBC quietly embraced a strategy that was labor-intensive and operator-led, often getting deeply involved in company building. The result: more than USD 9 billion raised across both USD- and RMB-denominated vehicles.
That strategy—and the personality behind it—has attracted attention. CEO Fu Wei, a financier born in the 1980s with no medical training, has become something of a case study. He’s raised outsized pools of capital, built global teams, and timed exits with uncanny precision. He calls buyout investors the “blue-collar workers of finance,” and likens value creation to an assembly line. What sets CBC apart, in his view, isn’t financial modeling—it’s operational horsepower.
A playbook for outliers
One of the clearest case studies in CBC’s approach is Everest Medicines.
Founded in 2017, Everest was CBC’s first foray into co-foundership. It led both the Series A and B rounds, totaling USD 110 million, and structured the company around a straightforward but effective license-in model: build a pipeline quickly in oncology and immunology, then layer in in-house R&D.
The inflection point came in 2019. Everest inked an USD 835 million deal with Immunomedics—then a Gilead Sciences subsidiary—for the exclusive rights to Trodelvy in Asia. At the time, it was the biggest license-in transaction the region had seen, paving the way for Everest’s IPO in Hong Kong the following year. The listing opened with a valuation above HKD 20 billion (USD 2.56 billion), and CBC held more than 60% of the company.
Most investors would’ve called it a win and walked away. CBC didn’t.
Then came the crash. In 2022, Everest returned the rights to Trodelvy. The stock plunged—from HKD 55 (USD 7.1) to HKD 6 (USD 0.8). At its height, shares had hit HKD 104 (USD 13.4).
Fu had anticipated the fallout. In the face of a harsh market downturn, he cut losses by spinning off the unprofitable oncology unit and doubling down on the commercialization of drugs in nephrology and antibiotics. It was a strategy that prioritized retaining the core business, and fueling growth elsewhere. CBC also tapped into its global network to help Everest rebuild its team and expand sales to South Korea, Southeast Asia, and even the US.
The rebound was stunning. On March 7, Everest’s stock surged past HKD 60 (USD 7.7) for the first time in three years, reclaiming its IPO price. From its lowest point, the stock has climbed over 880%, bringing its market cap back to HKD 20 billion (USD 2.6 billion). Everest’s new CEO, Luo Yongqing, has since set an ambitious goal: RMB 10 billion in annual drug sales by 2030.
I-Mab, another CBC-backed company, followed a similar arc. CBC co-founded I-Mab in 2016, helped build its drug pipeline and leadership team, and steered it toward IPO. But in 2023, its crown jewel—the CD47 monoclonal antibody—suffered a major setback. I-Mab’s market cap, once USD 7 billion, plummeted.
CBC again stepped in with a bold solution: split the company. It retained I-Mab’s globally competitive assets while divesting its China operations. Fu personally took on the role of board chairman to oversee the turnaround.
While Everest and I-Mab often headline CBC’s portfolio, the more telling throughline is the firm’s ability of helping companies on the brink rise from the ashes. Its strategy has always been to play the long game: maximize value creation and stick to it relentlessly. It doesn’t exit at the first pop. It digs in.
That long-game strategy crystallized with CBC’s fifth USD-denominated fund, which raised more than USD 1.6 billion. Now, with its new RMB 10 billion (USD 1.4 billion) vehicle, CBC has dual-currency flexibility—and the scale to chase bigger, more complex targets.
In recent years, CBC has ventured into outbound M&A, including incubating companies abroad and taking on its first cross-border asset divestiture from a global pharmaceutical company.
A key example: the 2021 acquisition of South Korea’s top-listed medical aesthetics company, Hugel.
In May that year, Bain Capital put its controlling stake in Hugel up for sale. Within just three months, CBC orchestrated a deal with Korea’s GS Group and Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company, acquiring 46.9% of Hugel for KRW 1.7 trillion (USD 1.2 billion). CBC didn’t offer the highest bid, but Bain ultimately chose them.
This was CBC’s largest overseas acquisition to date and a major test of its global M&A chops. Bain was swayed by the global platform CBC had spent years building.
For stealthy industry leaders like Hugel, success depends on scaling in high-growth markets. By extending its proven product portfolio into new regions, Hugel could unlock exponential growth.
Founded in 2001, Hugel held the largest market share in South Korea across several medical aesthetics categories. But its domestic growth had plateaued, so it aimed abroad. In 2021, it filed with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to bring its flagship product, Letybo, to market. But the process hit snags due to compliance issues at its manufacturing facility.
CBC stepped in to fix that—quickly.
Post-acquisition, CBC recruited some of the most formidable names in the industry. Brent Saunders, former chairman and CEO of Allergan—the creator of Botox and Juvederm—joined Hugel’s board. In 2023, Suk-yong Cha—who led LG Household & Health Care (LG H&H) through 62 straight quarters of growth—also came onboard. Korean media described his departure from LG H&H as a loss. His arrival at Hugel was a vote of confidence.
But perhaps CBC’s greatest contribution was global market access. Under its leadership, Hugel expanded its footprint from 30 to over 60 countries and regions.
Hugel’s newly released 2024 financials showed net sales of KRW 373 billion (USD 254.4 million), up 16.7% year-on-year, and net profit of KRW 142.4 billion (USD 97.1 million), up 45.8%.
Buying into troubled assets—and rebuilding them
Hasten Biopharmaceutical marks CBC Group’s first cross-border divestiture project involving a major pharmaceutical company. In March 2022, the firm acquired the China operations of Takeda Pharmaceuticals’ hypertension and diabetes portfolio, carving it out into a new entity: Hasten.
It wasn’t just a spinout. Hasten became the anchor for CBC’s broader push into chronic disease drugs. The platform has since added well-known products like Rocephin and Stilamin to its lineup, expanding both scope and scale.
From day one, CBC took the operator’s seat. It brought in a new CEO, overhauled the sales team, and kicked off its first M&A project in Southeast Asia—laying the groundwork for regional expansion across the Asia Pacific.
The pattern is familiar by now. CBC targets companies with strong industry positions, solid products, and steady cash flow—but which have lost momentum. Then it applies pressure, precision, and patience.
Hasten is a textbook example. Fu saw the commercial potential in Takeda’s divested assets and moved quickly to secure them at a favorable price. He personally led the strategic reset—reworking the product lineup, streamlining operations, and accelerating execution. The company flipped back into profitability soon after and hasn’t looked back.
At the heart of CBC’s strategy is a focus on regional champions—firms that dominate in one market but haven’t yet scaled beyond it. The goal is to globalize them.
And CBC has the team to pull it off. Its bench includes professionals from more than a dozen nationalities, each bringing deep local fluency. That diversity is a competitive edge—especially in fragmented healthcare markets.
Today, CBC operates far beyond its original mandate as a financial sponsor. It can provide everything from buyout capital and structured financing to infrastructure funding through its healthcare real estate platform. Few firms, especially in China, offer this full-spectrum approach.
That breadth—not just capital, but execution—is what sets CBC apart.
For years, buyout investing has been a niche pursuit in China’s capital markets. That may now be changing—and CBC is giving the rest of the industry a blueprint to study.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This article was written by Ren Qian for 36Kr.