In Thickins of it

Good morning.

TPG Capital has a key-man problem in Asia at the worst possible moment, and it walks into Waverley Local Court this morning.

Co-head of Asia Joel Thickins, who effectively runs the investment committee while his co-head works the Middle East fundraising trail, is expected to plead guilty (per the AFR) and ask for leniency over the five-car crash and two refused breath tests that put him on paid leave earlier this month.

Best case for Thickins is a guilty finding with no conviction recorded (The Australian says he’s lawyered up with Streeton’s Justin Wong, a self-styled white-collar and DUI specialist).

But with Thickins sidelined and a US law firm crawling over the incident, TPG has reportedly spent a fortnight reassuring rattled LPs and shelved plans for a new regional fund, just as Bain, EQT and Blackstone hoover up tens of billions across Asia. Raising a fund is hard enough without your dealmaker-in-chief in the dock.