Bravia Capital is trying to raise $2 billion, mainly for investments with a China tie-in.

The plan is to split the capital among as many as three funds employing two different strategies, with an initial round of marketing set for completion during the first half of 2011.

One of the vehicles would aim to capitalize on a surging market for initial public offerings in China by buying a range of publicly traded companies in other countries and taking them private while performing operational improvements – and then re-listing them in China.

Bravia’s other strategy focuses on purchases of transportation-infrastructure assets and majority stakes in related companies. Those holdings could go into one or two separate vehicles, one for investments in China and another for deals in other nations.

Either way, the firm plans to give limited partners an early look at its transportation-infrastructure portfolio by lining up one or two deals before holding an initial close with perhaps $200 million. It would then arrange more investments ahead of a second close with $600 million or so. Should the effort result in the creation of two transportation funds, Bravia might eventually list the non-China assets individually on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The deals could involve businesses like airlines, facilities like shipyards or vehicle-maintenance centers, or actual aircraft and ships.

Expectations are that with each fund, Bravia will charge management fees below the standard 2% of assets while pocketing more than the typical 20% of profits.

Bravia was founded in 2000 by Bharat Bhise, who until then ran aircraft-related investments for Soros Fund Management. Initially, the shop focused on aiding a Soros-backed group in arranging structured-finance packages used to create airlines, and worked to a lesser extent on equity deals. However, it switched its concentration to equity investments with the onset of the global financial crisis.

Bravia closed its largest such deal in January, purchasing bankrupt Allco Aviation of Sydney. Bravia is now managing the airline as Hong Kong Aviation Capital. Robin Yan plays a key role in many of Bravia’s investments.

Separately, Bravia is planning to co-invest in a Ghana-based airline and airport alongside the China-Africa Development Fund. The firm is in the process of moving its headquarters from New York to Hong Kong.