Articles by Tim Burroughs
CITIC rides China’s LNG wave
Two weeks ago China National Offshore Oil Corp. received the first cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) at the Tianjin floating storage regasification unit. The company now has the capacity to handle 24.4 million metric tons of LNG per year at six offshore...
Onward bound: Asia PE people moves
A selection of the transfers, promotions, arrivals and departures in the private equity community in 2013
2013 in review: Mixed fortunes
Bifurcation in the fundraising market as LPs play it safe with managers they know; South Korea and India emerge as buyout bright spots; positive signs for IPOs after a difficult 12 months
Finding a voice
“When AIFMD came out in draft form a couple of years ago we engaged the Hong Kong government to participate in the process of seeking comment,” David Pierce, a partner at FLAG Squadron Asia and until recently non-executive chairman of the Hong Kong...
PE firms in the hunt for Tyco's Korea business - report
KKR, Bain Capital and CVC Capital Partners are reportedly among the preliminary bidders for the South Korean unit of US-based security systems specialist Tyco International. The unit is known as ADT Caps.
MSPEA in take private bid for Sino Gas
Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia (MSPEA) is supporting a management buyout of Sino Gas International Holdings that values the US-listed Chinese gas distributor at approximately $15.9 million. This would be the third investment from the PE firm's fourth...
LPs expect Asia to underperform North American, European buyouts – Coller Barometer
Global institutional investors expect returns from Asia-focused GPs to trail those of their North American and European counterparts over the next 3-5 years, according to the latest edition of Coller Capital’s Global Private Equity Barometer.
Matrix provides Series A for India traffic information portal
Matrix Partners India has provided a Series A round of funding for real-time traffic and travel information platform Birds Eye Systems. The size of the investment was not disclosed but the capital will be used to expand the company’s coverage from Mumbai,...
Standard Chartered PE re-ups in Indonesia’s Navigat
Standard Chartered Private Equity (SCPE) has invested an additional $25 million in Navigat, an Indonesian company that develops independent power systems for off-grid locations. The equity commitment came in conjunction with a $279 million debt refinancing...
Southern Capital offers $111m for Malaysian university operator
Southern Capital Group (SCG) has made a buyout offer for HELP International Corp, a listed Malaysian university operator, valuing the company at MYR359.3 million ($111.4 million). Should the offer be successful, HELP would be taken private.
APN agrees to exit advertising JV to Quadrant
APN News & Media has agreed to exit its interest in advertising business APN Outdoor to joint venture partner Quadrant Private Equity for A$69 million ($66.5 million).
Alastair Morrison to retire from Standard Chartered PE
Alastair Morrison, who was co-head of Standard Chartered Private Equity (SCPE) until earlier this year, will retire from the firm at the end of the month. The move is said to be independent of the restructuring taking place within SCPE that will reduce...
PE-backed China Cinda prices HK IPO at top of range - report
China Cinda Asset Management, a company originally set up to absorb non-performing loans (NPLs) from China’s Big Four state-owned banks, has priced its IPO at the top end of the indicative range and is on course to raise $2.5 billion. It will be Asia’s...
CITIC Capital, Windjammer buy US valve manufacturer
CITIC Capital Partners has teamed up with US-based Windjammer Capital Investors to buy Engineered Controls International (ECI), a manufacturer of valves used in the transportation and storage of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and liquefied natural gas...
Korea to broaden retail exposure to domestic private equity
South Korean regulators will make it easier for domestic retail investors to participate in private equity as part of a series of reforms designed to boost the country’s capital markets.
Anchorage-backed Dick Smith closes flat after $311m IPO
Shares in Australian electronics retailer Dick Smith Holdings, which is backed by Anchorage Capital Partners, gained 3.6% on their trading debut on Wednesday before settling back to A$2.20, the same as the IPO price. The offering earlier raised A$344.5...
Chinese investment in North America jumps in 2013 – study
Chinese outbound direct investment (ODI) reached $73 billion during the first three quarters of 2013, with the amount of capital deployed in North America rising nearly three-fold on a year-on-year basis, according to A Capital, a private equity firm...
VCs to take Kingsoft across borders, platforms
Hong Kong-listed software developer Kingsoft is not in desperate need of capital. It posted a net profit of RMB466.4 million ($76.6 million) in 2012, up 39% year-on-year, and its cash reserves stood at RMB2.4 billion for the year. Furthermore, in July...
KKR agrees capital injection
Before agreeing to invest $200 million in India's Gland Pharma, KKR looked at a couple of opportunities in the injectable drugs space in the US and another in India over a period of several years. The PE firm has a long-standing interest in the industry...
Asia Awards: VC Professional of the Year – Richard Liu
Richard Liu has spent 14 years investing in tech, media and telecom for Morningside Technologies. He has witnessed increasing competition, ups and downs in e-commerce, and the rise of the domestic super angel
Asia Awards: VC Deal of the Year – Tujia
Lightspeed China likes disruptive business models that build up traction online and then use the momentum to gain a foothold offline as well. This has worked to good effect with Meilele, an online furniture retailer that now has a network of 200 offline...
Asia Awards: AVCJ Special Achievement – Shangzhi Wu
CDH Investments started out in 2002 with four LPs and $100 million in capital. The team had been together for six years as the private equity unit of China International Capital Corp. (CICC), but the asset class was relatively unknown and unproven in...
Asia Awards: Exit of the Year – Matahari Department Store
Two substantial partial exits that can be seen to justify the Indonesia investment thesis for global PE firms were among those nominated for Exit of the Year: TPG Capital and Northstar Group’s agreed sale of more than 30% of Bank Tabungan PensiunanNasional...
Asia Awards: PE Professional of the Year - Michael Kim
MBK Partners closed its North Asia-focused fund in September and also completed four of Asia’s largest buyouts of 2013. Michael B. Kim, the firm’s founding partner, looks back on a busy 12 months