Articles by Susannah Birkwood
IPO of the Year – Yonghui Superstores
William Shen, Head of Greater China for Headland Capital Partners, speaks to AVCJ about working on Asia’s most exciting IPO of the year.
VC Professional of the Year – Sandeep Singhal
Sandeep Singhal, co-founder of Nexus Venture Partners, discusses job satisfaction, the secrets of his venture firm’s success and the outlook for India’s early-stage sector.
PE Deal of the Year – Hyva
UNITAS CAPITAL’S BUYOUT OF DUTCH cylinder-maker Hyva earlier this year was a landmark private equity deal in that it was the first in Asia to be backed by a high-yield bond. Not only did the company’s $375 million bond issue set a precedent for other...
PE sees rise in post-deal disputes
Post-closing claims against PE firms have shot up since the global financial crisis, causing cash to be held back from exits and IRRs to suffer. What does it mean for Asia?
Polaris buys Kanto-Unyu for $64m - report
Mid-market private equity house Polaris Capital Group has reportedly purchased Japanese trucking company Kanto-Unyu Co. for an estimated JPY5 billion yen ($64 million).
KKR, Sequoia, Everbright subscribe $110m to China Outfitters IPO
Private equity firms KKR, Sequoia Capital China and Everbright Private Equity have each become cornerstone investors in the Hong Kong IPO of China Outfitters. Between them the funds have committed $110 million, or three-quarters of the $145 million the...
J.P. Morgan gets green light for $1b RMB fund
J.P. Morgan Asset Management has reportedly won approval from the Beijing government to launch a $1 billion renminbi-denominated fund.
Chinese investors ask Terra Firma to create sovereign fund pool
Terra Firma Capital Partners has been approached by several large investors from China and the Middle East to set up a sovereign fund pool.
Aloe 'to count IFC among LPs' in third fund
International Finance Corp. (IFC), the investment arm of the World Bank, is reportedly poised to join the LP roster for Aloe Private Equity's its third fund, Aloe Environment Fund III.
KKR, TPG in talks for Nomura's real estate arm
KKR and TPG are among the PE firms said to be engaged in preliminary talks with Japan’s Nomura over a possible buyout of the investment bank’s real estate arm.
KKR-led consortium bags Samson for $7.2b
A KKR-led consortium, which includes Japan's Itochu Corp, has agreed to buy Samson Investment Co. for $7.2bn in the second largest private equity deal globally this year.
Maybank sees SE Asia cleantech potential
China and India's near monopoly over the Asian cleantech space may have come to an end if the first close last week of Maybank’s Southeast Asia-focused fund is anything to go by.
Australian LPs miss out on Neuberger Berman fund-of-funds
Neuberger Berman announced a final close of $720 million for its NB Crossroads 2010 fund-of-funds last week, but Australian investors were conspicuous by their absence. Not one Australian LP subscribed to the latest vehicle, which Neuberger attributes...
Indian tech VC: Where's the exit?
MakeMyTrip’s stellar IPO on NASDAQ last year has a host of other companies preparing to follow suit. The implications for VC are unclear
KKR offer spurned by Transpacific
Private equity giant KKR has been rejected in its eleventh-hour attempt to subscribe to Australian waste manager Transpacific Industries Group's capital-raising initiative.
GE boosts CHAMP-backed Accolade with $234m loan
European lender GE Capital has provided Australia’s Accolade Wines, owned by CHAMP Private Equity, with a GBP150 million ($234 million) cross-border financing facility.
New Hope to establish $200m food fund
New Hope Group, the largest animal feed producer in China, has announced plans to establish a $200 million overseas fund to invest in food-related businesses.
Tata Capital, IFC form cleantech investment JV
Tata Capital and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have established Tata Cleantech Capital Ltd (TCCL), which will provide capital to Indian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
CHAMP-backed Blue Star hires Unitas' Philip Bower
Blue Star, the New Zealand printing firm owned by CHAMP Private Equity, has hired Unitas Capital's Phillip Bower as its new managing director.
Lenders 'will reject debt plan' for CVC-backed Nine
CVC Asia Pacific's proposed debt restructuring plan for its portfolio company Nine Entertainment is expected to be rejected, following talks between the private equity firm and lenders on Friday.
Babson Capital hires Vik Thadani for Asia Pacific
Babson Capital has hired Vik Thadani to assist with the firm's Asia Pacific strategy as a managing director in its mezzanine and private equity group.
SAIF Partners backs iStream.com with $5m
Private equity firm SAIF Partners has backed A2 Media, the publisher of online video site iStream.com, with $5 million in equity financing.
Carlyle and New York Life in talks for $100m Everonn PIPE
The Carlyle Group and New York Life Capital Partners are in talks to buy a stake in India's largest technology-enabled education firm, Everonn Education, for $100 million.
People power: PE and management
Private equity firms must move quickly after an acquisition to encourage and incentivize the existing management team or bring in new people