Articles by Tim Burroughs
Q&A: Clearwater Capital Partners' Rob Petty
Clearwater Capital Partners is currently investing is $575 million fourth fund. CEO Rob Petty identifies the opportunities in Asia – offshore, onshore in China and India, and a generous helping of restructuring
Asia PE: Taking the temperature
AVCJ assembled a group of private equity industry leaders to share their views on the prospects for exits in Asia, changing expectations and approaches to China, and how to address LP interest in co-investment
Friend or foe? Chinese M&A in the US
Chinese companies are keen to acquire assets overseas and the US is a popular target. Success hinges on satisfying regulators, appeasing politicians and persuading sellers of their ability to execute transactions
Australia’s Advent raises $184m for Fund VI
Australian GP Advent Private Capital has reached a final close of approximately A$200 million ($184 million) on its sixth fund. The corpus is smaller than Fund V, which raised A$300 million in 2006, but the new fund will rely on co-investment from LPs...
Southern Capital raises $400m for Southeast Asia fund
Singapore-based Southern Capital Group (SCG) has raised approximately $400 million for its third buyout fund. Unlike SCG’s previous vehicles, which invested throughout the region, Southern Capital Fund III will focus on Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia....
Vogo-backed Tongyang Life chosen as preferred bidder ING Korea unit – report
A consortium led by Tongyang Life Insurance, which is majority-owned by Vogo Investment, has reportedly been chosen as the preferred bidder for ING Groep’s South Korean life insurance unit. The consortium is said to have offered around KRW2 trillion...
AVCJ daily bulletin returns July 2
There will be no AVCJ bulletin on Monday July 1 due to a public holiday marking the establishment of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Korean government tries again to offload Woori stake
The South Korean government will once again try to offload its majority stake in Woori Finance Holdings, this time breaking up the asset into three pieces to be auctioned separately. The plan is to sell two regional banks and a brokerage and related units...
PEP-owned American Stock Transfer refinances debt – report
Pacific Equity Partners (PEP) is said to have tapped the US markets to refinance $480 million in debt held by portfolio company American Stock Transfer (AST). This is the third time in less than two months that firms owned by the Australian GP have completed...
Success of Abenomics hinges on deregulation – Orix
The success of economic reforms introduced by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ultimately depend on his ability to deliver on structural reform, the third of his “three arrows” policy, according to Yoshihiko Miyauchi, CEO of Orix Corp. This observation...
Fosun, AXA sweeten buyout offer for Club Med, win board support
Chinese conglomerate Fosun International and Axa Private Equity have increased their takeover bid for France-based vacation resorts operator Club Méditerranée (Club Med). The new bid, worth EUR557 million ($729 million), has won favor with the company’s...
Reebonz receives $39m from MediaCorp, VCs
Southeast Asia-focused online retailer Reebonz has received a S$50 million ($39 million) round of funding led by Singapore multimedia group MediaCorp. Existing investors Vertex Ventures, GGV Capital, Intel Capital and Matrix Partners China also participated.
AVCJ China Awards: Firm of the Year – FountainVest Partners
FountainVest Partners took six months to raise its second fund, for which it also won the US dollar fundraising award, and then participated in China’s largest-ever PE buyout. CEO Frank Tang looks back and forward
Fund-of-funds: Bespoke solutions
Reports of the death of fund-of-funds in Asia are greatly exaggerated – but all industry participants are diversifying their product offerings to meet specific client demands. Is it still primarily a scale game?
TA invests $25m in India-based data analytics provider
TA Associates has acquired a minority stake in Mumbai-based data analytics provider Fractal Analytics for $25 million. It is the latest in a string of investments in India’s big data space, driven by the synergies between existing business process outsourcing...
TIAA-CREF merges property business with Henderson to boost Asia exposure
TIAA-CREF has merged its real estate business with that of London-based manager Henderson Global Investors in order to broaden its global portfolio and gain better Asia exposure in particular.
Investors commit $100m to another Rocket Internet Asia retail start-up
Southeast Asian online retailer Lazada has raised $100 million through a new round of funding led by Verlinvest, a Beglium-based investment firm set up by the founding families of Anheuser-Busch InBev. Existing investors Holtzbrinck Ventures, Kinnevik...
KKR-backed GenesisCare taps US debt markets
GenesisCare, a healthcare business controlled by KKR, has become the latest Australian PE-backed company to refinance its debt via the US high-yield market. A string of corporates are taking advantage of strong liquidity in the US leveraged market, where...
Tsinghua University investment arm makes buyout offer for Spreadtrum
Spreadtrum Communications, a Chinese mobile chip manufacturer backed by NEA, has received a buyout offer from a unit of Tsinghua Holdings, an investment entity controlled by Beijing-based Tsinghua University. The offer values Spreadtrum at $1.35 billion.
Carlyle, Seven to retain ownership of Australia's Coates Hire
The Carlyle Group and Seven Group Holdings have decided against pursuing an exit from Australian equipment-leasing business Coates Hire following a strategic review. The co-owners said they remain fully committed to growing the business.
Korea’s Castling gets first LP commitment, targets fund-of-funds
Castling Investment Group, a start-up alternatives investment advisory firm based in South Korea, has received its first external LP commitment – totaling $80 million – from a local museum foundation. The capital will be placed into a separate account...
Singapore’s Temasek establishes UK presence
Temasek Holdings has set up a unit in the UK that will focus on investments in Europe. It is the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund’s 10th overseas office or affiliate.
Australia's M.H. Carnegie, Vivant Ventures launch accelerator
M.H. Carnegie & Co, the venture capital firm set up by Australian investor Mark Carnegie, has launched an A$80 million ($76 million) accelerator fund for emerging technology companies. It will be run in collaboration with Vivant Ventures, an Australia-based...
All smiles in Tokyo?
The timing of last year's AVCJ Japan Forum was perhaps fortuitous - a matter of days before the event Unison Capital announced that it agreed to sell sushi chain Akindo Sushiro to Permira for $1 billion.