AVCJ

Weekly digest - March 29 2023

avcj-230329cvr-72
  • AVCJ
  • LinkedIn  
  • Google plus  
  • Save this article  

 

29 March 2023
FUND FINANCE: FILLING ASIA'S SVB VOID
COVER STORY
Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse has prompted Asia-based GPs to seek new lender relationships. Smaller managers may find the process challenging.
GP PROFILE
AUSTRALIA'S SQUARE PEG CAPITAL
AUSTRALIA'S SQUARE PEG CAPITALSquare Peg Capital came of age at the same time as the Australian and Southeast Asian VC ecosystems, straddling the two with a toehold in Israel. The idea was to think big, not get big. It’s doing both.
DEAL FOCUS
CHINA SAAS GETS SPECIFIC
CHINA SAAS GETS SPECIFICInvestors are gradually returning to China’s software-as-a-service space with an appetite for industry specialists rather than generalists. The CDH Investments-led Series B for 1Data is a case in point.
DEAL FOCUS
KREDIVO CUTS THROUGH GROWTH-STAGE GLOOM
KREDIVO CUTS THROUGH GROWTH-STAGE GLOOMIndonesian consumer credit operator Kredivo has punctuated the VC doldrums with an ecosystem- encouraging pre-IPO round. Investors point to low customer acquisition costs as key to the success.
By the Numbers
AVCJ RESEARCH
A TOUCH OF TOSHIBA
Toshiba Corporation, as a consequence of its strategic missteps and questionable governance, is responsible for Asia’s two largest PE buyouts. Assuming the Japan Industrial Partners-led tender offer for Toshiba proceeds, it will sit alongside Toshiba Memory Corporation – a Bain Capital led carve-out in 2018 – at the top of the list.
Both deals are worth JPY 2trn (USD 15.1bn), but the yen has depreciated in value since 2018, so Toshiba will occupy second place. Some of the deals listed below, including Toshiba Memory – are sized smaller than their enterprise value because AVCJ Research subtracts any rollover equity. Hence Toshiba is at the summit.
Each of the top 12 was announced less than six years ago. However, only four were announced in 2020 or later, which means most predate the acme of Asia’s private equity boom. There of the region’s four USD 10bn-plus infrastructure and utilities deals – listed separately – were transacted during this period. Australia is inevitably the dominant geography in that space.
For private equity, Japan is well-represented, given the rise of carve-outs as an investment theme. Privatisations of US-listed Chinese companies – executed with a view to re-listing in Hong Kong or Shanghai – also feature, but alongside more idiosyncratic China plays like the Tsinghua Unigroup semiconductor restructuring and Belle International’s succession-driven Hong Kong privatisation.
It seems unlikely there will be further additions to this list in the coming months as economic uncertainty, higher financing costs, and expectations of a deeper correction in valuations are preventing deal groundwork from turning into deal announcements.
A total of USD 36.3bn has been deployed in the first quarter of 2023 – down from USD 53.9bn in the final three months of 2022 – and Toshiba accounts for nearly half of that. It is one of only eight investments of USD 500m or more. contribute to the stream of liquidity emanating from one of Asia’s more reliable markets.
CHART
All of the trends featured here were sourced from AVCJ's proprietary database, AVCJ Research, featuring comprehensive information on private equity deals, fundraises and exits.
The rest of the week
DEALS
OTHER
For your calendar
UPCOMING EVENTS

 

  • LinkedIn  
  • Google plus  
  • Save this article  

More on Region

Latest News

world-hands-globe-climate-esg
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey

Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...

  • GPs