Articles by Tim Burroughs
FountainVest leads $100m round for China's Ushopal
FountainVest Partners has led a $100 million funding round for Ushopal, a China-focused e-commerce platform that sources global luxury brands for the high-end consumer market.
TA backs Australia ETF manager BetaShares
TA Associates has added to its Australia and New Zealand financial services portfolio with an investment in BetaShares, an Australia-based exchange-traded fund (ETF) manager.
Odyssey backs Australia mountain bike business
Odyssey Private Equity has acquired a significant stake in MTB Direct (MTBD), an Australia-based online retailer specializing in mountain bikes, replacement parts, and cycling clothing and accessories.
My Food Bag completes largest New Zealand IPO in seven years
My Food Bag, a cook-your-own meal kit delivery service backed by Waterman Capital, has raised NZ$342.2 million ($245.5 million) in New Zealand’s largest IPO since 2014.
Buyout funds: Growth paradigm
Most traditional large-cap buyout funds have become hybrids in Asia, taking minority stakes in businesses to generate deal flow in certain markets and to harness regional growth trends
Addor raises $241m for second China healthcare fund
Addor Capital – a Chinese VC firm backed by Jiangsu High-Tech Investment Group, also known as Govtor Capital – has raised RMB1.56 billion ($241 million) for its second renminbi-denominated healthcare fund.
Founder of China's Zhencheng Capital launches SPAC
Jianwei Li, founding and managing partner of Chinese venture capital firm Zhencheng Capital and previously CIO at ZhenFund, has launched a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).
PE-backed SciClone achieves $1.6b market cap on HK re-listing
SciClone Pharmaceuticals, a Chinese drug developer privatized by a PE consortium at a valuation of $605 million in 2017, has relisted in Hong Kong and ended its first day of trading with a market capitalization of HK$12.7 billion ($1.64 billion).
Baring Asia to make $1.1b partial exit from Lumenis
Baring Private Equity Asia has agreed to sell the surgical devices business of Lumenis, an Israel-headquartered company that counts Asia as its largest market, to Boston Scientific for $1.07 billion in cash.
KIC appoints new private equity head
Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) has appointed Sungjun Song as head of its private equity division.
Affinity adds to China team
Affinity Equity Partners has recruited Sam Sun, previously a partner at Sequoia Capital, as a managing director based in Beijing.
Rocket Lab to go public via SPAC merger
Rocket Lab, a US-based space technology company that operates primarily in New Zealand, as agreed to merge with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) at an enterprise valuation of $4.1 billion.
GPs & SPACs: Filthy lucre?
The global SPAC craze is percolating into Asia, with private equity firms among the sponsors. LPs aren’t necessarily comfortable with the development, but there’s only so much they can do about it
VCs commit $50m to China's Medilink Therapeutics
Suzhou Medilink Therapeutics, a Chinese biotech company specializing in antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) commonly used as targeted therapies for treating cancer, has raised $50 million in Series A funding across two tranches.
OrbiMed raises $800m for Asia life sciences fund
OrbiMed has closed its latest Asia life sciences fund, which primarily invests in China and India, with $800 million in commitments.
Australia's Employment Hero gets $35m Series D
Australian online human resources services start-up Employment Hero has raised A$45 million ($35 million) in Series D funding led by domestic recruitment business Seek.
ESG & operations: Compliance corner
Few mid-market private equity firms in Asia have dedicated ESG personnel and this is not necessarily an obstacle to progress. As compliance and reporting burdens increase, the status quo may change
Lunar buys majority stake in Hong Kong IVF business
Chinese middle-market buyout firm Lunar has agreed to acquire a women’s health and IVF business from Mason Group, a Hong Kong conglomerate with interests in financial services and healthcare, for HK$268 million ($34.5 million).
Malaysia's EPF awards co-investment SMAs to global firms
BlackRock, HarbourVest Partners, and Partners Group have been awarded co-investment mandates by Malaysia’s Employees Provident Fund (EPF) totaling $600 million.
FountainVest buys China logistics business
FountainVest Partners has agreed to acquire a majority stake in China-based CJ Rokin Logistics from Korea’s CJ Logistics for KRW733.8 billion ($661.3 million).
New Frontier Japan targets $94m for second fund
New Frontier Japan Investment (NFJI), a lower middle-market Japanese private equity firm, is looking to raise JPY10 billion ($94.4 million) for its second fund.
Q&A: Affirma Capital's Ivo Philipps
Affirma Capital came into being 18 months ago as Standard Chartered’s private equity team spun out with most of the remaining balance sheet assets. COO Ivo Philipps explains the middle and back office transition
TPG takes majority stake in NewQuest
TPG has agreed to take a majority interest in Asia secondaries specialist NewQuest Capital Partners, nearly three years after acquiring a minority stake in the manager.
Fund focus: LPs endorse Ocean Link's China tourism, tech thesis
Ocean Link has raised $580 million for a second fund targeting China travel, tourism and consumer technology assets, but the firm believes co-investment could take aggregate deployment to $1.4 billion