Investments
Billabong strikes $331m refinancing deal with Altamont, Blackstone
Australian surf wear company Billabong has a reached an agreement with US private equity firm Altamont Capital Partners and Blackstone Group's credit arm GSO Partners for a A$395 million ($331 million) refinancing package.
J-Star reaches $205m final close in Fund II
Japanese mid-market buyout firm J-Star has reached at JPY20.4billion ($205 million) final close on its second buyout fund.
Q&A: KKR's Joe Bae
KKR last week announced a final close of $6 billion on its second pan-Asia fund, the largest vehicle of its kind ever raised in the region. Joseph Bae, KKR's head of Asia, tells AVCJ how it will be deployed
IMM taps Korea’s coffee cravings
Statistics alone do not capture the role coffee has come to play in South Korean culture. Starbucks entered the country in 1999 and it is now the firm's sixth-largest market globally by store numbers, with 556 in operation as of March and plans to take...
India’s FlipKart shops a $200m round
Indian e-commerce is in a state flux. While penetration is still relatively low compared to developed nations - just one in 10 Indians has access to the internet - the industry was worth $14 billion last year and growing rapidly. Competition for wallet...
2Q analysis: China in the spotlight
All is not well for China PE investment with one big deal disguising a period of relative inactivity; China exits, on the other hand, are prospering; and Asia PE fundraising is, of course, struggling
Indian infrastructure: Bargain basement
Indian infrastructure has fallen out of favor with investors as the fallout from pre-2009 excesses lingers. However, new opportunities in old deals have some private equity players thinking twice about the sector
China’s PE-backed Cloudary withdraws US IPO
Cloudary, an online literacy platform controlled by Chinese internet company Shanda Interactive Entertainment, has withdrawn its US IPO, which expected to raise $200 million. The move came after the company raised $110 million from Goldman Sachs and Temasek...
Century Bridge makes first investment via China fund
Century Bridge Capital has invested $44.4 million in a joint venture with Coastal Greenland for the development of a residential project in Wuhan, Hubei province. It is the first investment from the firm's China fund.
Blue Sky invests $18m in Australian retirement home chain
Blue Sky Private Equity (BSPE) has invested more than A$20 million (US$18.3 million) for around 40% of retirement community operator and developer Oak Tree Group.
IL&FS exits machine tool manufacturer for 2.91x return
IL&FS Investment Managers' Leverage India Fund (LIF) has exited its 19.3% stake in Bharat Fritz Werner (BFW), a tool manufacturing company, for INR711.9 million ($11.8 million). It has generated an IRR of 15% and a multiple of 2.91x on its INR245 million...
EXS Capital leads $37m investment in Vietnam RE developer
EXS Capital has led a $37 million investment in Vietnamese real estate developer Son Kim Land (SKL). Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
L capital Asia invests in Chinese cosmetics firm
L Capital Asia, a private equity firm sponsored by LVMH Group, has invested in Guangdong Marubi Biological Technoloy Stock, becoming the second-largest shareholder in the cosmetics company. The deal is reportedly worth more than $100 million.
Spreadtrum accepts sweetened Tsinghua Unigroup buyout offer
Spreadtrum Communications, a Chinese mobile chip manufacturer backed by New Enterprise Associates (NEA), is to be acquired by Tsinghua Unigroup after the buyer increased its offer. The merger - which will now go to a shareholder vote having received board...
First Reserve-backed KrisEnergy to raise $213m in IPO
Southeast Asia oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) company KrisEnergy, which counts First Reserve among its investors, is expected to raise S$270.8 million ($213 million) through its Singapore IPO.
CNEI invests $9.7m in leading Chinese prawn player
China New Enterprise Investment (CNEI) has committed $9.7 million to Zhanjiang Newpro Food, a leading integrated operator in China's prawn farming industry.
J-Star, supply chain fund back Tokai Trim
Japanese mid-cap buyout firm J-Star has joined the Supply Chain Support Fund (SCSF) - a vehicle backed Japan Auto Parts Industries Association and Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) - in investing around JPY1-2billion ($10-20 million) in auto parts firm...
Riverside buys controlling stake in NZ animal drug delivery group
Riverside has acquired a controlling interest in Hamilton-based animal drug delivery company Simcro for a undisclosed sum.
ADIA to invest $200m in India’s Kotak Realty Fund – report
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) is reportedly planning to commit about $200 million to Indian real estate and has appointed Kotak Realty Fund, run by Kotak Mahindra Bank, to invest the money.
Investors commit another $26m to Australia fashion site The Iconic
Australian fashion online retailer The Iconic has picked up A$28 million ($26 million) through a new round of funding led by Verlinvest, a Belgium-based investment firm set up by the founding families of Anheuser-Busch InBev. Existing shareholders Investment...
Tata Capital backs Indian data security platform
Tata Capital has participated in a Series A round of funding for enterprise file sharing and sync (EFSS) and mobility vendor Vaultize. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the Tata Capital Innovations Fund aims to invest $4–10 million in companies...
Indonesia mining: Swimming with sharks
Indonesia is resource rich and its mining sector is coveted by many foreign investors. But regulatory and legal uncertainty, plus concerns about local partners, is compelling them to sit on the sidelines
Southeast Asia oil and gas: Going solo
The relative scarcity of independent oil and gas exploration and production firms in Southeast Asia doesn’t reflect the region’s wealth of natural resources opportunities. Private equity firms are catching on
Ex Indonesia: Investing at SE Asia's edges
Indonesia is the poster child of Southeast Asian private equity but competition is intense and valuations are rising. What can investors expect from less-tapped markets such as Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam?