Australasia
Advantage Partners to acquire GTAGuam
Tokyo-based private equity firm Advantage Partners has received the green light to acquire Guam’s leading telecom operator GTA TeleGuam from owner Shamrock Capital Advisors. The deal has been approved by the country’s Public Utilities Commission following...
What is really happening in the Australian private equity market?
It sure doesn’t feel like it, but AVCJ has been holding its annual Australia conference for the eight consecutive years now. And what a spectacular eight years they have been, not only for our conference but also for the private equity industry Down Under,...
Opportunity knocks, but cautiously so
Twelve months ago, it was all sunshine and roses in Australia. The market has since rationalized and it seems GPs are still remarkably positive, while on the LP side, there are question marks around the market dynamics down under.
Super funds and private equity
Historically, Aussie superannuation funds have been fairly consistent in the way they manage private equity programs, which is also why talk about pulling back from the asset class is making waves.
The alternative perspective
Thanks to the global financial crisis, finding desirable special situation investments in Australia has been a less than arduous task. However, with economic conditions continuously improving down under, those closest to the asset class maintain that...
(In)famous in Australia: Tax
Foreign investors as LPs and GPs in the Australian private equity industry remain anxious the Australian Tax Office’s recent reversal of years of precedent with two taxation determinations relating to investments in Australian assets by foreign investors....
KKR-backed Seven Media bought for $4.2b
KKR-backed Australian media major Seven Media Group has been bought by West Australian Newspapers Holdings (WAN) for A$4.1 billion ($4.2 billion) in cash, shares and an assumption of debt. The deal sees the return of double-digit valuations, this one...
SCPEL buys into Australian agribusiness
Standard Chartered Private Equity Limited (SCPEL) will take a minority stake via convertible notes in Australia-based international agribusiness leader Wellard for $83 million. The exact stake size was not disclosed, but the private equity firm will be...
Carlyle, Macquarie gets green light for Oz traffic systems firm
The Carlyle Group and Macquarie Group have jointly bought Australian traffic light and road safety firm Redflex Traffic Systems for approximately A$300 million ($302 million), paying a 21% premium for the asset.
PE firms vie for meat producer - reports
Affinity Equity Partners is reportedly in competition with the likes of Archer Capital, Pacific Equity Partners (PEP) and CHAMP Private Equity to buy Australian meat producer Primo Smallgoods, Reuters reported, suggesting the company could fetch up to...
KKR-backed Seven Media bought for $4.2b
KKR-backed Australian media major Seven Media Group has been bought by West Australian Newspapers Holdings (WAN) for A$4.1 billion ($4.2 billion) in cash and shares – a deal that creates the largest diversified media entity in the country.
PEP investee goes into receivership
Private Equity Partners controlled REDgroup Retail, which owns bookstore chains Borders and Angus & Robertson has collapsed and been handed over to administrator Ferrier Hodgson.
SCPEL invests in Australian agribusiness
Standard Chartered Private Equity Limited (SCPEL) will take minority stake via convertible notes in Australia-based international agribusiness leader Wellard for $83 million.
Blackstone names ING's Martin Donnelly MD in Sydney
The Blackstone Group has hired ING Investment Management Australia's Deputy CEO Martin Donnelly as a Managing Director in its Sydney office, charged with heading business development and client relations in Australia and the Pacific Rim for Blackstone...
KKR appoints ex-Clinton staff to public affairs and comms
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. has appointed Steven R. Okun, once an administrator under former US President Bill Clinton, as Director of Public Affairs in Asia Pacific, affective on February 13, 2011.
Centro shortlists Blackstone, Morgan Stanley and NRDC - reports
Australian shopping mall owner Centro Properties Group has shortlisted three investors to bid for its 600 properties in the US: the Blackstone Group, Morgan Stanley and NRDC Equity.
Unitas and OTPP wave good-bye to stake in Yellow Pages
LESS THAN FOUR YEARS AFTER UNITAS Capital and the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (OTPP) completed New Zealand’s largest leveraged buyout – paying a whopping NZ$2.1 billion ($1.57 billion) for the country’s Yellow Pages franchise – the private equity funds’...
Next Capital's investee Onsite completes acquisition
Next Capital-owned contracting and recruitment services firm Onsite Rental Group has acquired Statewide Equipment Hire, a supplier of for-hire construction equipment, for A$70 million ($69.7 million).
Unitas, Ontario Teachers may bow out in NZ Yellow Pages restructure
New Zealand’s encumbered Yellow Pages may overhaul its debt structure in a move that would minimize the company’s debt burden but would render its private equity owners Unitas Capital and Ontario Teachers Pension Plan completely void.
Temasek continues exit streak with Fortescue divestment
Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings raised $877 million through the sale of its entire 4.1% stake in Australia’s third-largest iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group to a group of overseas institutions.
AMP Capital makes first Chinese acquisition
The AMP Capital Asian Giants Infrastructure Fund (AGIF), operated by Australian investment manager AMP Capital, has take a 19.11% stake in China’s Qujing Gas. The deal is AMP’s first acquisition in China.
A glimpse into the future
With 2011 upon us, industry players offer thoughts on the major themes for the year ahead, and for the first time in years, the forecast is largely for blue skies and sunshine.
Global directives and PE
Private equity investing can be thwarted, stalled or propelled into action in certain countries based on legal and tax structures. AVCJ looks at what may affect the industry in 2011.
The evolution of Australian private equity
Recently, there has been a lot of discussion in the AVCJ office about the Australian private equity market (naturally, as we are preparing for our Sydney event scheduled for March 2011) and the ongoing evolution of the asset class down under.