Funds
Collins rescues Angus & Robertson
Book, Entertainment and Stationary vender REDGroup Retail is a blot on Australia’s private equity landscape. With Collins Booksellers agreeing to buy a number of its bankrupt rival’s Angus & Robertson (A&R) franchises, perhaps the blot can finally be...
China funds: Cult of personality
Wang Gongquan's apparent departure from China’s private equity industry was nothing if not dramatic. An early-stage investment pioneer with IDG Venture Partners, Wang went on to found CDH Venture Capital, notably guiding Qihoo 360 to the US markets in...
LaSalle boosts Australia assets to $1.8b with acquisition of Trinity Funds Management
LaSalle Investment Management has agreed to acquire Trinity Funds Management(TFM) from Australian property groups Trinity Group and Clarence Property Corp for A$9.25 million ($9.9 million) plus the net assets of the business.
Sequoia leads $10m investment in MoboTap
Sequoia Capital led a $10 million Series A round of financing into US- and China-based mobile browser developer MoboTap, marking the venture capital firm’s first investment in a mobile browser. Matrix Partners also participated in the funding.
Trinity Capital sells stake in Indian property project back to Keystone
Trinity Capital has sold its 16% stake in Kapstone Constructions, a subsidiary of Mumbai-based developer Keystone Realtors, back to the parent company for about £12.6million ($20.2million). The sale comes five years after the UK-based real estate fund...
India's Globals ITes receives first round of strategic funding
Globals ITeS, a Hyderabad based company that develops technology solutions for the education industry, has received funding from Mauritius-based Encore Operating Partners and 1886 Investments, an investment unit of the UK's Commonwealth Education Trust....
Carlyle registers RMB fund with China's NDRC
A renminbi-denominated fund launched by The Carlyle Group has been registered with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), becoming the first vehicle backed by a foreign firm to receive such approval. Beijing Carlyle Investment Center was...
Legend Fighting gets VC funding for martial arts events
Legend Fighting Championship, a producer of mixed martial arts (MMA) fighting shows in Hong Kong and Macau, has received an undisclosed capital commitment from investors CA Media, which is the Asian division of US-based The Chernin Group, and Diamond...
Nestle tables $1.7b offer for Hsu Fu Chi
A fund advised by Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA) stands to make a substantial gain on its investment in Chinese confectionary company Hsu Fu Chi after Nestle tabled an offer of $1.7 billion for a 60% stake in the company. The size of the deal, which...
India's lower-tier urban opportunities
As demand for consumer goods rises among India’s 1.2 billion population, private equity has been scouring the cities for a windfall. Yet, this growth – and the competition for deals that has arisen from it – has also prompted a handful of private equity...
SCPE seals Korean forklift partnership
Private equity opportunities in South Korea often come out of corporate restructurings by the country’s conglomerates. Samsung, Daewoo, Hyundai, SK and Lotte have in recent years all jettisoned non-core assets or problem units to lower their debt ratios,...
Japan's CyberAgent takes stake in smartphone game developer
CyberAgent Ventures, a Japanese venture capital firm based in Beijing, has taken 25% stake in a Hong Kong smart phone game developer Epicforce Entertainment. The investment - the size of which has not been disclosed - was made through a joint fund set...
Accel targets $125m India venture fund
Accel Partners is targeting a $125 million fund that will be dedicated to India, The Business Standard reported. The California-based venture capital firm is understood to have sounded out various large fund-of-funds about its plans.
Intel Capital leads funding round in Skyrockit
Intel Capital, with Tokyo-based Asuka DBJ Partners and an individual investor, has led a $2.6 million round of financing in mobile entertainment firm Skyrockit, to be used for the company’s product, services and personnel expansion.
Orchid closes fifth China fund at $650m
Orchid Asia has reached a final close on its fifth China private equity fund, imposing a hard cap of $650 million despite subscriptions amounting to 35% over the target size.
Chinese securities firms cleared to participate in private equity
Chinese regulators have formalized a five-year-old pilot program under which securities firms can participate in private equity, Reuters reported.
Temasek sees portfolio reach $158b for 2010-2011 fiscal year
Temasek Holdings, Singapore’s second-largest sovereign wealth fund, said that its portfolio was worth a record S$193 billion ($158 million) at the end of its last financial year in March, up from S$186 billion ($152 billion) in 2010. Net profit came to...
Pegatron, Mitsui invest in Israel's Valens Semiconductor
Taiwan-based Pegatron and Japan's Mitsui & Co. Global Investment have participated in a $14 million Series B financing round for Israeli firm Valens Semiconductor.
SingTel's Innov8 leads Series A investment in Dealised
Singapore-based group buying start-up Dealised has received $5.35 million in a Series A funding round led by SingTel Group’s corporate venture fund SingTel Innov8. The financing tranche also includes Australian-based venture investor Yuuwa Capital.
IDG invests in Hong Kong's App Annie
IDG Capital Partners has participated in the first round of private equity financing round for App Annie, a Hong Kong-based analytics and marketing intelligence provider. The size of the investment has not been revealed.
Blackstone's new fund tipped to reach $16b
Blackstone Group is set to raise a higher-than-expected $16 billion for its latest fund due to strong investor interest, primarily from sovereign wealth funds, Reuters reported, citing a source familiar with the matter. Last year, Blackstone COO Tony...
Korean financial plays are not for foreigners
The Woori and Mirae Asset Life Insurance deals are cause for hope, but foreign PE may still find life difficult
Corporates lead India VC into the light
Early-stage funding has been hard to come by in India. Corporate funds plugged the gap but competition is now rising as venture capital matures
In the market for Asia financials
Robert Morse quit his role CEO of Citigroup’s Asia Institutional Clients Group in 2008 to become managing director, chairman and co-CEO of Primus Financial Holdings. He discusses the perks and pitfalls of investing in the financial sector.