Investments
Deal focus: India e-sports early-mover makes waves
Loco is positioned to take a leadership role in India’s up-for-grabs game streaming industry following a sizeable Series A round and promising early traction in community building
BNPL: Voodoo economics?
Credit-driven e-commerce is coming to developing Asia with an attractive supply-demand equation and a mix of macro and business-level risks. Start-ups are courting incumbents, not disrupting them
Deal focus: Jade Invest rides pest control M&A boom
Having offered a blueprint for pest control consolidation globally in Anticimex, EQT wants to repeat the trick in China with Guardian Hygiene Service. It meant a 3.3x return for previous owner Jade Invest
Deal focus: Apis targets modes of engagement
Through investments in Giift and Xoxoday, Apis Partners is betting on the emergence of personalised, data-driven loyalty and incentives programs and Asian corporates doing more to retain staff and customers
EQT and Baring Asia: Size matters
The significance of EQT’s acquisition of Baring Private Equity Asia is in the strategic machinations of global GPs as much as in the implications for on-the-ground dealmaking
Philippines MSME service provider secures $77m Series C
GrowSari, a Philippines-based start-up that helps micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) take retail operations online, has seen its Series C swell to USD 77.5m with the addition of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Temasek Holdings-owned...
China's JD Property closes $800m Series B
Warburg Pincus and Hillhouse Investment have re-upped in JD Property, the infrastructure property asset management arm of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, as part of a USD 800m Series B round.
India cricket metaverse start-up raises $100m
Insight Partners has led USD 100m Series A round for FanCraze, an Indian digital assets start-up that earlier this year launched a range of cricket-themed non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Diageo divests Korean whisky brand to local PE consortium
Global beverage giant Diageo has agreed to sell Windsor, Korea’s best-selling whisky brand, to Bayside Private Equity and Metis Private Equity for KRW 200bn (USD 163.2m).
Goldman leads $900m stapled secondary for Baring Asia
Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA) has completed a stapled secondary of nearly USD 900m, which saw an investor consortium commit capital to its eighth fund and take out positions in two earlier vehicles.
CBC strikes China's first royalty-based biomedicine deal
R-Bridge Fund, a credit vehicle established by healthcare-focused private equity firm CBC Group, has completed what it claims is the first royalty-backed investment in China’s biomedicine space.
Liverpool Partners buys Australian fertility business
Australian healthcare player Healius has agreed to divest another asset to private equity, with the sale of its fertility business to Liverpool Partners for AUD 30.5m (USD 23m).
A91 leads $35m Series C for India beauty brand
A91 Partners has led a USD 35m Series C round for Plum, an India-based direct-to-consumer (D2C) personal care brand. Existing investors Unilever Ventures and Faering Capital also participated.
China enterprise AR specialist Rokid raises $160m
Rokid, a China-based company specialising in augmented reality (AR) technology applications, has raised USD 160m in Series C funding across two tranches.
India's Ofbusiness secures $200m round for lending unit
OfBusiness, an India-based B2B platform focused on industrial supply chain and procurement services, has raised USD 200m in Series A funding for its lending unit.
India's EverSource acquires local EV fleet operator
India’s EverSource Capital has acquired a majority stake in Lithium Urban Technologies, a local electric vehicle (EV) fleet and charging infrastructure operator, for an undisclosed sum.
China AI start-up Aibee joins unicorn club
China-based artificial intelligence start-up Aibee has achieved a valuation of more than USD 1bn on closing a new funding round led by smartphone brand Xiaomi and featuring China Merchants Capital.
EQT buys China pest control business
EQT Private Equity Asia has acquired majority stake in Guardian Hygiene Service, China’s largest domestic pest control company, for an undisclosed sum. It facilitates a full exit for Jade Invest.
Deal focus: Zeller makes its presence felt
Less than a year after launching its digital payments-led product suite, Australia-based Zeller has accumulated 11,000 merchant customers, raised over USD 100m, and achieved a USD 750m valuation
Leveraged finance: ESG sells
Private equity firms in Asia are increasingly willing to consider sustainability-linked credit facilities, and banks are generally happy to provide them. Speed is currently delaying standardisation
Deal focus: Bazaar, Zayn encapsulate Pakistan’s breakout moment
Bazaar, a B2B logistics and financial services start-up, is putting Pakistan on the map for brand-name global VC investors for the first time. One of its key local backers, Zayn Capital, is doing the same
Deal focus: Medilink chases global ADC opportunity
The Medilink Therapeutics team spun out from Kelun-Biotech to develop antibody drug conjugates capable of competing with the world’s best. Its USD 70m Series B will support the pursuit of this goal
Trustar buys China condiments supplier
Trustar Capital, formerly known as CITIC Capital Partners, has acquired China-based food condiments supplier Beijing Salion Foods for an undisclosed sum.
Brookfield buys Australia non-bank lender for $1.1b
Brookfield Asset Management has agreed to acquire Australian non-bank lender and asset manager La Trobe Financial for about USD 1.1bn, facilitating an exit for The Blackstone Group.