Articles by Tim Burroughs
Baring Asia completes Korea parcel delivery buyout
Baring Private Equity Asia has announced the acquisition of South Korean courier firm Logen. Details of the deal, said to be worth around KRW160 billion ($140 million), emerged last month prior to closing. The seller is Mirae Asset Private Equity.
Founder of VC-backed ShopClues faces US charges
Sandeep Aggarwal, founder of VC-backed Indian e-commerce site ShopClues, has been arrested in the US in connection with the SAC Capital Advisors insider trading investigation. He is charged with passing confidential information to a trader concerning...
DBS abandons takeover bid for Indonesia’s Bank Danamon
Singapore’s DBS Group has abandoned its $7.3 billion takeover bid for Indonesia’s Bank Danamon after deciding the regulatory hurdles were insurmountable.
Microsoft consolidates India start-up programs
Microsoft India has brought its start-up offerings under a single platform – known as Microsoft Ventures – following a similar restructuring at group level. Existing VC investment programs including BizSpark, Bing Fund and Accelerator will now operate...
Australia’s Gresham Private Equity to lose co-head
Mark Yoens, joint head of Australian GP Gresham Private Equity, is leaving the firm in September. Mark Rimmer will continue as sole head of the team.
Deal focus: Affinity agrees chaebol restructuring carve-out
Apple iTunes store has a library of more than 26 million songs, a presence in 119 countries and revenues of $12.9 billion in 2012. Its US market share is around 63%.
PE and China's financial sector flaws
The liquidity squeeze engineered by China's central bank in June, which temporarily made it more expensive for commercial banks to lend money to one another, was generally regarded as an effort to remind said banks about the importance of solid asset...
Portfolio: CLSA Capital Partners and Indonesia's Sari Wangi
Sari Wangi is Indonesia's largest private tea player. CLSA Capital Partners invested not so much for exposure to the crop as what the company offers as a platform for distributing agricultural technology.
PE-backed OzForex considers IPO - report
OzForex, an Australian online foreign exchange platform backed by The Carlyle Group, Accel Partners and Macquarie Group, is said to be considering an IPO that could raise around A$500 million ($643 million).
Malaysia's Khazanah in Turkish insurance buyout, Abraaj exits
Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional has agreed to pay $252 million for a 90% stake in Turkish health insurer Acibadem Sigorta. The investment facilitates the exit of The Abraaj Group, which held a 50% stake in the business.
Japan's Meiji Yasuda beats PE to Thai Life stake
Japan’s Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance has agreed to buy a 15% stake in Thai Life Insurance for an undisclosed sum, thought to be in the region of $750 million. Other participants in the auction reportedly included the Carlyle Group, KKR and CVC Capital...
Kroll boosts China investigations practice
Kroll Advisory Solutions has hired Peter Glanville as an associate managing director in its Greater China investigations and disputes practice. He joins from Deloitte where he was a senior member of the forensic accounting team.
Affinity reaches $2.5b second close on Fund IV
Affinity Equity Partners has reached a second close of $2.5 billion on its fourth Asia buyout fund. The private equity firm has been on the road for about nine months in what is a challenging fundraising market for Asian GPs, with just $17.3 billion raised...
Creador set for $105m first close on Fund II
India and Southeast Asia-focused GP Creador is expected to reach a first close of $105 million on its second fund by mid to late August. The full target is $250 million.
Singapore’s GIC announces name change
Singapore sovereign wealth fund Government of Singapore Investment Corporation Private Limited has changed its legal name to GIC Private Limited.
Taiwan’s Chinatrust buys Tokyo Star Bank – report
Chinatrust Commercial Bank, one of Taiwan’s largest commercial lenders, has reportedly agreed to buy Tokyo Star Bank for JPY52 billion ($519 million) from Lone Star and other creditors-turned-shareholders. It would be the first full buyout of a Japanese...
Strategics buy Singapore start-ups Techsailor, YFind
Two Singapore-based start-ups – Techsailor and YFind – have been snapped up by strategic investors. This follows last week’s acquisition of VC-backed travel website TravelMob by NASDAQ-listed vacation rental portal HomeAway.
Affinity pays $239m for majority stake in Korean music platform
Affinity Equity Partners will pay KRW265.9 billion ($239 million) for a 52.6% stake in Loen Entertainment, a South Korean record label and digital music platform. The holding is being divested by SK Planet, a subsidiary of SK Telecom, the country's largest...
Rich man’s game: The cost of fundraising in Asia
Asian GPs and fund lawyers are struggling with a demand-supply imbalance. LPs are negotiating more and conceding less - but for all that managers say fundraising costs are going up, lawyers say fees are going down
The problem with Southeast Asian VC
Ahead of last week's AVCJ Singapore Forum, this column was dedicated to the less-loved investment stories in Southeast Asia. VC made the list because, despite offering a similar fundamentals to China and India – rising disposable incomes and mobile...
Singapore’s Temasek appoints new chairman
Temasek Holdings has appointed Lim Boon Heng as its fourth chairman, succeeding Suppiah Dhanabalan who is retiring after leading the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund for 17 years.
MBK considers IPO for Taiwan’s CNS – report
MBK Partners is reportedly considering an IPO for China Network Systems (CNS), Taiwan’s largest cable TV and broadband provider, in place of a longstanding trade sale agreement that has yet to materialize amid regulatory concerns.
First Reserve-backed KrisEnergy jumps 5% on Singapore debut
KrisEnergy, the Southeast Asia-focused oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) company which counts First Reserve among its investors, rose 5% on its trading debut in Singapore on Friday. The stock closed at S$1.155 after reaching an intra-day high...
KKR seals debut Indonesia deal
KKR will become the second-largest shareholder in Indonesia’s Tiga Pilar Sejahtera Food (TPSF) after agreeing to buy an approximately 9.5% stake for an undisclosed sum. The investment, which is being made through funds advised by KKR Asset Management,...