Buyouts
Lafarge in talks with PE to sell part of India business
Lafarge is in talks with private equity and financial firms to sell 20-25% of its India unit for about $300 million. The divestment is part of a wider effort from the French cement maker to divest non-core assets and reduce debt levels to below EUR10...
Focus Media agrees to $3.7b PE-backed buyout
Chinese advertising company Focus Media has agreed to a $3.7 billion management buyout backed by a consortium of private equity firms. It is by some distance China’s largest-ever buyout transaction and is only surpassed in the broader private equity...
Equity Partners buys majority stake in New Zealand’s AHM
Equity Partners has acquired a stake of around 70% in New Zealand camping and gardening product distributor Amalgamated Hardware Merchants (AHM).
KKR, Providence battle for Australia’s NextGen – report
KKR is said to have joined Providence Equity Partners and TPG Telecom in the bidding for NextGen, the fibre-optics business being sold by Australian contractor Leighton Holdings.
Billabong receives $555m buyout offer - UPDATE
Billabong International has received a A$527 million ($555 million) buyout offer from Paul Naude, a director at the firm, with US-based Sycamore Partners participating as a cornerstone equity investor.
Insurance Australia sells UK business to Aquiline Capital
Insurance Australia Group has agreed to sell its UK business – Equity Red Star – to Aquiline Capital Partners for GBP87 million ($140 million). The transaction is scheduled for completion before June 2013.
Advantage Partners in possible Sanyo acquisition - report
Panasonic may sell its Sanyo digital camera unit to Advantage Partners by the end of March.
GCS Capital finalizes Dexia asset management deal
GCS Capital has agreed to buy Dexia asset management (DAM) business shortly after entering into exclusive negotiations with the Belgo-French financial group. The Hong Kong-based private equity firm has also signed a strategic partnership agreement with...
Headland offers toymaker succession solution
Big eyed and rosy cheeked, Kong Suni the potty-training baby doll is the must-have toy in South Korea this year. Her ability to eat, fill her diaper and pass wind has attracted headlines both home and abroad. The doll is a creation of South Korean firm...
Primus co-founder in aircraft leasing club deal
During a week in which it emerged that Primus Financial Holdings was no more, two of its co-founders reemerged in new guises. First, Dexia announced that it was in exclusive negotiations with GCS Capital, a financial services-focused PE firm run by GuocangHuan,...
PE-backed Chinese consortium to buy AIG’s aircraft leasing business
A Chinese consortium including a fund run by Wing-fai Ng, one of the co-founders of now-defunct Primus Financial Holdings, has agreed to buy up to 90% of International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) from American International Group (AIG). It is the...
Headland completes $55m buyout of South Korea’s YoungToys
Headland Capital Partners has a acquired a 96.5% stake in South Korean toy manufacturer YoungToys for KRW60 billion ($55 million). It is the 10th investment from Headland Private Equity Fund 6.
Australia’s Harbart Private Equity buys Cardioscan
Harbert Australia Private Equity has bought an 85% stake in Melbourne-based cardiac testing service provider Cardioscan.
TA-owned SpeedCast buys Australian Satellite Communications
TA Associate Partners-backed SpeedCast has completed a buyout of Australian Satellite Communications (ASC). The company provides satellite-based communications solutions throughout Australia and surrounding regions.
CX Partners invests in TSI’s India ATM business
CX Partners has invested INR1.2 billion ($23 million) in India ATM business of Transaction Solutions International (TSN), an electronic transactions specialist listed in Australia.
Teutonic ambitions
Another week, another Chinese strategic acquisition of a German manufacturing asset. The most recent case involves Fusheng Industrial, Greater China's leading producer of industrial air compressors, buying its German rival ALMiG Kompresssoren.
MSPEA in convenience store carve-out
HI-24 is every bit the orphan subsidiary. Last year the Chinese convenience store chain's parent company changed its name to China Financial Services Holdings (CFSH), confirming a strategic rethink already apparent from its acquisitive activity. Once...
Asia Awards: Firm of the Year – Bain Capital
In the past 12 months, Bain Capital has raised its second Asia fund, closed sizeable deals in Japan and India, and completed a strong China exit. Jonathan Zhu, a managing director at the PE firm, looks back and forward
Asia Awards: PE Professional of the Year – Roy Kuan
CVC Capital Partners has completed five investments and two exits in the last 12 months. Managing Partner Roy Kuan, who leads the Asia team, and colleagues Francis Leung and SigitPrasetya, discuss market trends
GCS Capital in talks to buy Dexia asset management unit
GCS Capital, a Hong Kong-based private equity firm, is in exclusive talks to buy Dexia’s asset management arm. It is estimated that the deal could be worth EUR500 million, lower than the EUR750 million Dexia was reportedly seeking when it put the asset...
Samara Capital acquires NewsWire18 for $16.5m
Samara Capital has entered an agreement to purchase a majority stake in Indian news terminal business NewsWire18 for INR900 million ($16.5 million).
Chinese pork producer Zhongpin agrees PE-backed take-private
NASDAQ-listed Chinese pork producer Zhongpin has agreed to a private equity-backed management buyout by its chairman and CEO, Xianfu Zhu. The deal values the company at $502 million.
Oaktree-backed Fusheng buys German air compressor maker
Oaktree Capital Management-backed Fusheng Industrial, Greater China's biggest maker of industrial air compressors, has acquired its German rival ALMiG Kompressoren. ALMiG management has re-invested in the merged entity.
CITIC Captial to acquire Japan’s Polymatech
CITIC Capital Partners has agreed to acquire 100% of Polymatech, a manufacturer of polymer parts for the electronics industry, based in Fukushima.