Glade Brook Finds Fortune in Chinese Internet Company IPO

Glade Brook Capital Partners’ investment in Chinese internet company Meituan Dianping has soared this week — at least on paper.

The firm is among the investors that have benefited from the startup’s initial public offering in Hong Kong, according to a person with knowledge of the firm’s investment.

Glade Brook, the one-time hedge fund that morphed into a private equity firm, did not sell any shares in the IPO on September 13, the person said. But on paper, the Greenwich, Connecticut-based firm has already made a 50 percent profit from its investment in Meituan, the person said.

Glade Brook declined to comment.

Meituan raised $4.2 billion in the IPO, giving it a market capitalization of nearly $53 billion, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal on, citing anonymous sources.

Before the offering, the Tencent Holdings-backed startup was valued at $30 billion, making it the third most valuable private company, behind Uber Technologies and Didi Chuxing, according to CBInsights.

Glade Brook is led by Tiger Grandcub Paul Hudson, who previously worked for Chris Shumway’s Shumway Capital Partners. Shumway had previously worked for Julian Robertson Jr.’s Tiger Management.

Meituan was the first and largest investment made by Glade Brook’s second private fund, GB Private Opportunities Fund II, according to the person with knowledge of the matter. It raised about $200 million last year, half of which is currently invested.

The investment pool was described in an offering document, obtained last year by Institutional Investor, as a “best ideas fund” that will target 8 to 10 investments over the next two to three years.

[II Deep Dive: Glade Brook Raising Money for a New Private Fund]

Glade Brook often creates separate pools allowing investors in its main funds to put more money to work in individual deals. For the Meituan deal, the firm raised Glade Brook Private Investors XII LP to give investors in GB Private Opportunities Fund II the opportunity to increase their exposure to the internet start-up.

Meituan is the first company owned by GB Private Opportunities Fund II to go public. 

Over the years, Glade Brook has cashed out of three investments and expects to exit a fourth by the end of this year, said the person with knowledge of the firm’s portfolio. The person didn’t specify whether this would be the result of a sale of a company, or the selling of shares in a public offering. 

GB Private Opportunities Fund II has also invested in Sense Time, a Chinese artificial intelligence and computer vision software company. The business is valued at $4.5 billion, according to CBInsights.

The fund’s portfolio includes an investment in Instacart, an e-commerce grocery company valued at $4.35 billion. Glade Brook also owns shares of Capsule, which offers same day delivery of prescriptions.

For each of these deals, Glade Brook created a co-investment fund for investors.

Glade Brook’s first main private equity fund, GB Private Opportunities Fund, invested in Snap, which went public last year. The fund also bought shares of Airbnb, Uber Technologies, WeWork Cos., Lyft, and The Honest Co.