HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong-based Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA) has hired Goldman Sachs to sell Shanghai-based HCP Packaging, which could fetch more than $1.5 billion, people familiar with the situation told Reuters. HCP is a global leader in the design, development and manufacturing of cosmetic packaging containers, with 11 offices and more than 250 clients worldwide, according to its website. Goldman Sachs has begun approaching potential buyers and a formal process is expected to start soon, two of the people, who declined to be named as the information is confidential, said. HCP, founded in 1960 in Taiwan, has estimated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of slightly over $100 million for 2021, one of the sources said. A number of private equity assets have been sold this year at more than 15 times or even 20 times EBITDA, sources close to the transactions have said. BPEA and Goldman Sachs declined to comment. HCP did not respond to a request for comment. HCP was bought by BPEA from U.S. private equity firm TPG in December 2015 for $775 million, Reuters reported at the time. BPEA invited bids for HCP in early 2020, but the sale plan was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, sources familiar with the situation said. The latest attempt to sell HCP coincides with a record amount of private equity cash and pent-up demand for strategic exits and investments among buyout firms. Private equity-backed deals in Asia Pacific (including Japan) for 2021 have already hit an annual record, totalling $188 billion as of last week, Refinitiv data showed. BPEA on Tuesday announced a deal to buy business services firm Tricor Group from Permira for $2.76 billion. In August, it picked Carlyle Group to buy its Indian IT services firm Hexaware Technologies in a $3 billion deal, Reuters reported at the time. Reporting by Kane Wu; Editing by Alexander Smith