Expansion
India’s Ascent invests in women’s pharma producer
Indian private equity firm Ascent Capital has invested INR1.25 billion ($17.5 million) in Naari Pharma, a women's health pharmaceutical business focused on hormonal generics.
Deal focus: Navegar dips its toe in e-commerce
Navegar sees Great Deals E-commerce, a provider of delivery and digital services to traditional retailers in the Philippines, as a proxy for growth in online shopping
AVCJ Awards 2019: Deal of the Year - Small Cap: AffaMed Therapeutics
CBC Group established biosimilars specialist AffaMed Therapeutics to remove uncertainties in the development process and to tap Chinese demand for affordable treatments
MSPEA backs Indian affordable housing financier
Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia (MSPEA) has invested INR1.9 billion ($26.6 million) in Centrum Housing Finance (CHF), an Indian non-banking financial company (NBFC) that offers loans for affordable housing projects.
Joy Capital leads $88m round for China's Shihuituan
Joy Capital has announced its participation - as the lead investor - in an $88.3m funding round for Chinese community group buying platform Shihuituan, which is also known as Nice Tuan.
GIC, Norfund invest Myanmar's Yoma Bank
Singapore’s GIC Private and Norway’s Norfund have acquired a combined 30% stake in Myanmar-based Yoma Bank for MMK130 billion ($88.7 million).
AVCJ Awards 2019: Firm of the Year - Mid Cap: Centurium Capital
China-focused Centurium Capital has enjoyed a productive 12 months, closing its debut US dollar fund, deploying most of the capital, and securing an early liquidity event
MasterCard invests India payments player Pine Labs
MasterCard has invested an undisclosed sum in Pine Labs, an Indian payments technology provider backed by PayPal, Temasek Holdings, and Sequoia Capital India.
Navegar backs Philippines e-commerce enabler
Philippines private equity firm Navegar has invested $12 million in local online retail industry services provider Great Deals E-commerce.
AVCJ Awards 2019: Responsible Investment: Organica
SEAF’s commitment to a farm-to-shop natural foods retailer highlights the idea that even sustainability-focused businesses may have room for improvement beneath the surface
Accel, B Capital ride Series D for India's Bounce
Indian scooter rental platform Bounce has raised $105 million in a Series D round led by Accel Partners and B Capital Group.
Centurium leads $100m Series D for China's Yunxuetang
Yunxuetang, an online corporate training services provider focused on China, has raised $100 million in Series D funding led by Centurium Capital. Existing investors Yunfeng Capital and SIG both re-upped.
Deal focus: Australia's SiteMinder plans international expansion
Australia-based SiteMinder benefited from being an early mover in the global hotel software space. It has joined a select group of local B2B players endowed with international scale and strong cashflow
Sony Innovation Fund leads Series D for India’s Zoomcar
Indian self-driving rental platform Zoomcar has raised $30 million in Series D funding with a contribution from a Sony-branded fund managed by Innovation Growth Ventures.
Japanese professional services marketplace raises $36m
Japanese start-up Minma, which operates P2P jobs and services marketplace Curama, has raised a JPY4 billion ($36.5 million) Series C round led by Nissay Capital, the VC unit of Nippon Life Insurance.
CITIC Capital seeks to increase McDonald's China stake
CITIC Capital is bidding for a 22% stake in the McDonald’s China and Hong Kong business held by CITIC Group, formerly its parent and now one of several shareholders.
4Q analysis: On trend
The last three months of 2019 were consistent with the preceding nine as pan-regional fundraising remained weak and exits continued to disappoint. Only investment rebelled against the status quo
Centurium backs China logistics player
Centurium Capital has invested $300 million in ANE Logistics, one of the largest LTL (Less-than-truckload) operators in China.
LPs want to see how GPs learn from mistakes in Asia
GPs should be open and transparent with LPs about their previous difficulties in order to demonstrate an ability to learn from past mistakes, the Hong Kong Venture Capital & Private Equity Association’s (HKVCA) Asia Forum heard.
Asia PE fundraising falls 28% in 2019
Capital committed to Asia-focused private equity managers fell 28% year-on-year to $104.4 billion in 2019, largely due to a drop-off in activity in the pan-regional buyout and venture capital segments. Investments and exits were also down on the previous...
BlackRock backs Australia hotel booking platform SiteMinder
BlackRock has made an equity investment in Australia-based hotel booking platform SiteMinder that values the company at about A$1.1 billion ($760 million).
Deal focus: Baibu broadens its fabric scope
VC-backed Chinese B2B fabrics trading platform Baibu is making the transition from online marketplace to cloud-based consolidator of the country's fragmented factories
Discipline, operations key to PE success in China - DCP's Liu
Private equity investors in China should prioritize discipline on valuations and operational capabilities rather than spend their time worrying about macroeconomic risks, according to David Liu, chairman and founder of DCP Capital.
Accel-KKR invests Australia workforce software player
Accel-KKR, a US-based private equity firm created by Accel Partners and KKR, has invested A$28 million ($19.3 million) in Australian workforce management software provider Pegasus.