Funds
Former Lone Star head in Korea taken into custody
Paul Yoo, the former head of Lone Star in South Korea, has been detained after a Korean judge labeled him a flight risk amid allegations that he, Lone Star and the Korean Exchange Bank (KEB) manipulated KEB's stock prices.
Strategic Ventures sees 4x return on CBaySystems stake sale
Strategic Ventures Fund (SVF), a Mauritius-based private equity fund managed by Frontline Strategy Limited, has sold its stake in in Indian clinical-services outsourcing specialist CBaySystems, for a 4x return on its original investment, AltAssets reported.
Hermes GPE to open in Singapore this year
Hermes GPE, the European private equity and infrastructure investment firm, will reportedly extend its operation to Singapore and the US this year.
Lone Star to begins Tokyo Star divestment process - report
US-based buyout fund Lone Star has begun preparations to divest its 30% stake in Japanese lender Tokyo Star Bank, Reuters reported, adding that Lone Star has asked investment banks to submit proposals to advise on the potential sale.
China’s brokerages get the green light to launch funds
The introduction of more securities firms will ramp up competition in the domestic private equity market
Lone Star exits Tokyo retail property to Hulic
Lone Star's sale of YODOBASHI MULTI Media Kichijoji, a commercial complex building in a west Tokyo suburb, to real estate investment firm Hulic is no ordinary transaction. Hulic is paying an estimated JPY30 billion ($381 million) for the asset but is...
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...
China funds: Cult of personality
Star dealmakers are busy setting up their own funds in China. LPs need to separate the hype from the investment reality
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
Private equity and venture capital investors are beginning to look for openings in tier two and tier three cities in India
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...
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.