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KKR appoints turnaround specialist as Japan CEO
KKR has hired Hirofumi Hirano, who led the AlixPartners team that advised on the turnaround of Japan Airlines, as managing director and CEO for its Japan operations. Current CEO Shusaku Minoda has been promoted to chairman.
Lunar Capital boosts operating partner team
Lunar Capital has appointed Eric Yiming, a long-serving China and Asia executive with Sampoerna Tobacco Group, Heineken and Tropicana, as a sector partner. Yiming will focus on the food, beverage and fast-moving consumer goods industries, and although...
Q&A: Baring Private Equity Asia's Jean Eric Salata
Baring Private Equity Asia closed its fifth fund at $2.46 billion in early 2011. CEO Jean Eric Salata tells AVCJ why the firm has taken its time investing the capital and where he now sees value emerging in the market
LGT opens Beijing office as part of differentiation drive
LGT Capital Partners has chosen Beijing as the location for its fourth investment office globally as the firm looks to differentiate its exposure to Asia’s largest private equity market in an increasingly competitive fund-of-funds space.
VIDEO: Edward Epstein of Troutman Sanders
Private equity investment in China’s real estate sector will become more specialized as it matures, with healthcare and old age care among the key segments to watch, says Edward Epstein, managing partner of Troutman Sanders’ Shanghai office
Lunar hires ex-Parker Pens China executive as sector partner
Lunar Capital has appointed Vincent Sun as sector partner for high-end branded consumer goods, with the expectation that he will be seconded to children’s clothing retailer I Pinco Pallino Asia as general manager. This follows the China-focused GP’s...
AVCJ at 25: Patrick Walujo of Northstar Pacific Partners
Patrick Walujo, co-founder and managing partner of Northstar Pacific Partners, leveraged local knowledge and relationships at TPG Capital to create Indonesia’s largest domestic private equity platform
AVCJ at 25: Sandiaga Uno & Kay Mock of Saratoga Capital
Sandiaga Uno and Kay Mock, founding partners of Saratoga Capital, transformed a family office into a private equity firm on the back of strong growth and sound investments in Indonesia
AVCJ at 25: Michael Chae of The Blackstone Group
Michael Chae, head of international private equity at The Blackstone Group, arrived in Asia after the global financial crisis and as the pre-IPO fever was about to turn. Changing times require changing strategies
AVCJ at 25: Nick Bloy of Navis Capital Partners
Nick Bloy, co-managing partner at Navis Capital Partners, saw Lehman Brothers collapse within days of a launching his sixth fund. LPs had to be reassured or replaced, and the strength of Navis’ existing portfolio was pushed to the fore
AVCJ at 25: David Gross-Loh & Jim Hildebrandt of Bain Capital
David Gross-Loh and Jim Hildebrandt, managing directors at Bain Capital, guided the firm’s Japan-heavy Asia portfolio through the global financial crisis. Acting fast without overreacting was central to their approach
AVCJ at 25: Tim Sims of Pacific Equity Partners
Tim Sims, a founder and managing director at Pacific Equity Partners, was part of the team responsible for Australia’s first-ever leveraged buyout in 1998. Fourteen years on, Australia is the regional hub for these deals
AVCJ at 25: Bill Ferris & Joe Skrzynski of CHAMP Private Equity
Bill Ferris and Joe Skrzynski set up Australian Mezzanine Investments in 1987. Now known as CHAMP Private Equity, the firm was responsible for some of Australia’s first buyouts and then saw the market rise and rise during the 2000s
AVCJ at 25: Luis Miranda of IDFC Private Equity
Luis Miranda became CEO of a fledgling IDFC Private Equity in 2002, raised India’s first infrastructure fund, and helped prove that the sector can make money. A flood of new capital arrived and the country is still adjusting to it
AVCJ at 25: Renuka Ramnath of Multiples Alternative Asset Management
Renuka Ramnath, founder and CEO of Multiples Alternative Asset Management, helped kick-start India VC as ICICI Venture grew from a small-scale backer of internet start-ups into the country’s leading private equity firm
AVCJ at 25: Yichen Zhang of CITIC Capital
Yichen Zhang, CEO of CITIC Capital, watched as pre-IPO strategies took Chinese private equity to unthinkable highs in the mid- to late-2000s. As the market returns to more sustainable levels, he sees control opportunities amid the chaos
AVCJ at 25: John Zhao of Hony Capital
John Zhao, founder and CEO of Hony Capital, teamed up with Legend Holdings to create China’s first buyout fund in 2003. Nearly 10 years on, he is still restructuring state-owned enterprises but also looking to go overseas
AVCJ at 25: X.D. Yang of The Carlyle Group
X.D. Yang, managing director and co-head of Carlyle Asia Partners, joined the buyout firm as it sought to up its game in China. A hugely successful insurance investment remains the landmark deal, but he expects to see more
AVCJ at 25: Joe Bae of KKR
Joe Bae, partner and head of Asia at KKR, set up the private equity firm’s regional operation seven years ago with two principal goals: being as local as possible and building a franchise that is sustainable in the long term
AVCJ at 25: Michael B. Kim of MBK Partners
Michael B. Kim, founding partner of MBK Partners, left The Carlyle Group in 2005 to set up his own private equity firm. The time was right, the capital was available, and there was a desire to become more local
AVCJ at 25: Finian Tan of Vickers Capital
Finian Tan, founder and chairman of Vickers Capital Group, identified Baidu as a start-up and guided the search engine provider all the way to IPO. It was the first in a string of post-tech bubble investments in Chinese internet companies
AVCJ at 25: Lip-Bu Tan of Walden International
Lip-Bu Tan, founder and chairman of Walden International, plotted the route by which foreign venture capital entered China’s internet sector, as well as guiding dozens of Asian companies from start-up to listing
AVCJ at 25: Roy Kuan of CVC Capital Partners
Roy Kuan, managing partner at CVC Capital Partners, witnessed a transformation in private equity in the wake of the Asian financial crisis. Suddenly he was in the buyout business, carving out assets from distressed conglomerates
AVCJ at 25: Weijian Shan of PAG
Weijian Shan, chairman and CEO of PAG, made his name in private equity turning around troubled companies for Newbridge Capital. Two bank deals helped open international investors’ eyes to the Asia buyout opportunity