Articles by Tim Burroughs
Indonesia's Eureka AI gets $20m Series B
Eureka AI, an Indonesia-based artificial intelligence-enabled enterprise software platform, has received $20 million in Series B funding led by Apis Partners, Gobi Partners, Riyad Capital’s Riyad Taqina Fund, and MEC Ventures.
Affirma backs Vietnam recruitment business
Affirma Capital, a PE firm launched last year as a spin-out of Standard Chartered’s private equity business, has agreed to invest $34 million in Transcendental Human Resources, a Vietnam-focused online recruitment platform.
Poor relations: Endowments and foundations in Asia
With a few exceptions, Asia’s endowments and foundations lack the scale, sophistication and appetite for alternatives of their US brethren. Structural and cultural barriers maintain the status quo
Tata Opportunities Fund team targets spin-out
The Tata Opportunities Fund (TOF) team is poised to spin-out after Tata Capital – a wholly-owned unit of India’s Tata Group – decided it did not want to continue sponsoring the franchise for a second fund.
General Atlantic leads round for China's CANbridge Pharma
General Atlantic and WuXi AppTec, China’s leading contract research organization (CRO) WuXi AppTec, have led a $98 million Series D round for local drug developer CANbridge Pharmaceuticals.
Japan's Endeavor United secures two industrials deals
Endeavour United, a Japanese private equity firm established by the team behind turnaround investor Phoenix Capital, has completed two acquisitions in the packaging and chemicals industries.
Rise Fund buys Bangladesh hospital operator
Evercare, a South Asia and Africa-focused healthcare delivery platform controlled by The Rise Fund, TPG Capital’s impact investment unit, has acquired Bangladesh-based Apollo Hospitals Dhaka.
Carlyle Asia secures exit as Permira buys Golden Goose for $1.4b
Golden Goose, an Italian luxury footwear brand acquired three years ago by The Carlyle Group’s Europe and Asia funds, has been sold to Permira for around EUR1.3 billion ($1.4 billion).
Portfolio: Unison Capital and CHCP
Through its Community Healthcare Coordination Platform, Unison Capital wants to bring efficiencies and economies of scale to parts of Japan’s healthcare sector that have been isolated from private markets
Hamilton Lane backs Legend Capital fund restructuring
Hamilton Lane has led a $200 million restructuring of a VC fund managed by China-based Legend Capital, transferring 12 investments into a new vehicle as a means of extending the holding period.
Deal focus: Counterintuition pays off for NSSK
Japanese mid-market buyout firm NSSK has executed a partial exit of Vati, a small but strong performer in the country’s competitive nursing care space
Sequoia seeks up to $1.35b for India, Southeast Asia
Sequoia Capital is looking to raise between $1.28 billion and $1.35 billion for its latest set of funds – comprising separate venture and growth vehicles – for deployment in India and Southeast Asia.
Warburg Pincus backs Singapore's Circles.Life
Warburg Pincus has invested an undisclosed sum in Circles.Life, a Singapore-based digital-only telecom operator.
1955 Capital wins case against Chinese anchor LP
Cross-border technology investor 1955 Capital has emerged victorious in a legal battle with its Chinese anchor LP after a US court upheld an earlier arbitration ruling that the LP had no grounds for withdrawing from the fund.
Japanese advisor matching network set for $54m IPO
VisasQ, a Japanese matchmaking platform that connects companies with relevant advisors, is looking to raise approximately JPY5.97 billion ($54 million) through a Tokyo IPO that will provide partial exits for several VC backers.
Private credit: Untapped market
Recent industry feedback suggests middle-market companies across Asia will increasingly look to private credit to support future growth. Europe may offer clues as to how the expected uptake will unfold
Australian online book retailer gets $13m
Booktopia, an Australian online retailer specializing in books, has closed a Series A round of A$20 million ($13.4 million), after 16 years of self-funding.
Polaris pursues take-private of Japan's Sogo Medical
Polaris Capital Group has made an offer to privatize Sogo Medical Holdings, a Japanese pharmacy chain operator and B2B healthcare management platform, at a valuation of JPY76.3 billion ($694 million).
Hahn & Co agrees $322m acquisition of SK Chemicals unit
Hahn & Company has agreed to buy the biofuels division of South Korea-based SK Chemicals for KRW382.5 billion ($322 million). It is the private equity firm’s fourth carve-out of an SK Group-owned business.
Capital Dynamics loses Asia primaries head
Kazushige Kobayashi (pictured), a Tokyo-based managing director at Capital Dynamics and head of primaries coverage in Asia, is departing the firm after nearly 10 years.
NSSK sells Japan nursing care business
Japanese mid-market buyout firm NSSK has secured a partial exit from nursing care provider Vati through a sale of the business to an investor group that includes Neuberger Berman.
Australia's IFM poaches Future Fund CEO
David Neal, who has spent the last six years as CEO of Australia’s Future Fund, will succeed Brett Himbury as head of IFM Investors.
Portfolio level HR: Human traffic
Private equity firms in Asia are paying more attention to recruitment at the portfolio level, in some cases allocating dedicated in-house resources. How is it impacting attitudes towards leadership change?
Northstar's Bert Kwan launches PE business with BDA
Bert Kwan (pictured) has left his role as a managing director with Southeast Asia-focused Northstar Group to launch an investment platform with M&A advisory firm BDA Partners that will initially concentrate on Vietnam.