GPs
Blue Sky founder Mark Sowerby to step back
Mark Sowerby, founder and managing director of Australia-based Blue Sky Alternative Investments, will retire from the firm.
Bridgeport takes full ownership of fellow Australia GP Hawkesbridge
Bridgeport Capital has taken full ownership of Hawkesbridge Private Equity and will integrate the latter’s portfolio into its own. This follows a management buyout of Hawkesbridge’s property unit at the end of last year.
Profile: Blackbird Ventures' Rick Baker
Blackbird Ventures’ Rick Baker sees his unplanned career path as essential to helping build the strengths needed to help revive Australia’s venture capital scene
Venture philanthropy: Change agenda
Well-established in developed and some developing markets, venture philanthropy is still only taking hold in much of Asia. PE firms are figuring out whether they should participate and in what way
Fund T&C: Carrot and stick
Fee discounts and co-investment often dominate GP-LP discourse, but longer-term issues surrounding economics and governance are increasingly important to negotiations over some Asian GPs’ fund terms
HTC VR accelerator adds 8 VC funds, backs 33 companies
Vive X, the accelerator program for virtual reality (VR) start-ups backed by Taiwan-based hardware developer HTC, has added eight VC funds to its backers, and announced the first 33 companies to receive its support.
Apollo, ICICI to form India distressed asset JV
Apollo Global Management and ICICI Bank have agreed to launch a joint venture for investments in distressed assets in India.
China venture capital: Contrarian view
While capital is widely available in China's VC scene, investors continue to worry worry that the market is not developing as it should
PE must define itself to take advantage of Asia buyout opportunities - AVCJ Forum
Asia continues to offer buyout opportunities, but funds looking to take advantage of them must define their benefits to company leaders, industry leaders told the AVCJ Singapore Forum.
Brookfield, State Bank of India plan $1b distress fund
Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management has signed a preliminary agreement with the State Bank of India (SBI) to invest about INR70 billion ($1 billion) in stressed assets in India.
KKR's Kravis sees Asia promise amid global macro volatility
Henry Kravis, co-founder of KKR, emphasized the importance of Asia’s rising middle class and the diversification of his firm’s investment approach as continued volatility globally is likely to deliver both uncertainty and opportunity.
Volatility drives opportunities in Southeast Asia - AVCJ Forum
Southeast Asia is expected to maintain a strong level of private equity investment opportunities thanks to continued regional volatility, leading industry players told the AVCJ Singapore Forum.
Asia more attractive due to Western dysfunction - AVCJ Forum
The Asia opportunity for private equity has become all the more compelling for the political uncertainty blighting Western markets, investors told the AVCJ USA Forum.
Vietnam redux
Vietnam's private equity sector is coming into its own; future success will require GPs to maintain consistent performance levels
Fragmentation factor: Deal-by-deal draws interest in Southeast Asia
Deal-by-deal investment is gaining traction in Southeast Asia due to a reluctance to back blind pool funds in the region and highly localized deal-sourcing. It is unclear whether the dynamic could, or should, remain
Partners Group to open office in Manila
Switzerland-based global private markets investment manager Partners Group will open an office in Manila as part of its Asia expansion.
Not-so private equity: An industry responds to US regulation
As regulatory pressure to increase fee transparency among US private equity funds ramps up, the industry will have to learn how to follow new rules, even as they’re being formed
Goldman's Vishal Bakshi departs to set up PE firm
Vishal Bakshi, a managing director at Goldman Sachs in India, has left the firm to found his own private equity firm Avatar Growth Capital Partners.
SoftBank names successor to Nikesh Arora
Japanese technology conglomerate SoftBank has named a successor to COO and President Nikesh Arora, who stepped down earlier this week.
Japan's SBI partners with Filipino VC
Japanese financial services company SBI Holdings has acquired a 35% stake in the venture arm of Investment & Capital Corporation of the Philippines (ICCP) with an aim to co-manage a VC fund.
Temasek unit raises $510m through PE-backed bond issue
A unit of Singapore government-backed investment group Temasek has raised $510 million through its issuance of bonds backed by 34 private equity funds.
Portfolio: New Horizon Capital and Tachikichi
New Horizon Capital has turned around ceramics maker Tachikichi by emphasizing its unique connections to Japanese culture. Now the GP hopes that strategy can take the company beyond its old restraints
China SOE reform: No change?
The mixed ownership model that features in China’s latest push on state-owned enterprise reform sounds exciting in theory but some private equity investors must revise their expectations in practice
Micro VC: Small is beautiful
Asia's micro VC segment is gaining appeal as diversity among fund managers grows