Australasia
KKR-owned AVC backs Coles' Australia liquor retail business
KKR-owned hospitality venue operator AVC has agreed to invest A$200 million ($141 million) in a joint venture with the liquor business of Australia supermarket Coles.
Salesforce launches $50m Australia VC fund
US-based enterprise software giant Salesforce has launched a $50 million venture capital fund focused on Australian technology start-ups.
Australia cross-border: Fool me once
Asian markets continue to represent an attractive destination for Australian PE-backed companies, but investors will need to show increasingly skeptical buyers that their cross-border plans have borne fruit
Australia financial regulation: Compliance conundrum
Proposed reforms could redraw Australia’s financial services landscape as tougher regulatory requirements see banks back away from certain areas. PE investors want to pick up the pieces
Japanese strategic to buy Australia's Allied Pinnacle from PEP
Pacific Equity Partners (PEP) has exited Allied Pinnacle, an Australia-based roll-up of multiple bakery supply investments, to Japanese strategic Nisshin Foods.
Australia VC: Debutantes’ ball
Long timeframes of incremental growth from a shallow base will test the staying power of a new generation of Australian venture capital funds. But confidence is running high
Q&A: Allegro Funds' Chester Moynihan
Chester Moynihan, founding partner of Australia-based turnaround specialist Allegro Funds, discusses deal sourcing, the impact of credit funds, and developing a coherent approach to operations
Australia co-investment: Too close for comfort?
Most Australian institutional investors want to participate in deals alongside private equity managers, but few have the bandwidth to do it effectively. Recruitment and risk controls are the key obstacles
Australia's Quadrant plans $215m growth fund
Quadrant Private Equity is planning to raise a A$300 million ($215 million) fund focused on growth equity investments in small and medium-sized enterprises in Australia.
Australia's Brambles offloads crates business to ADIA, Triton
Australian container supplier Brambles has agreed to sell its global reusable plastic crates (RPC) business to Europe-based GP Trion and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) for $2.5 billion.
Australia's Artesian launches $36m agtech fund
Australia’s Artesian Venture Partners and government-backed Grains Research & Development Corporation (GRDC) have launched a A$50 million ($36 million) agriculture technology VC fund.
Fund focus: EVP mines Australia’s budding VC space
Driven by an existing portfolio that includes workforce management platform Deputy, Australia's EVP successfully tapped high net worth investors for its $25 million second fund
Direct Capital backs New Zealand engineering firm
New Zealand’s Direct Capital has made an investment of undisclosed size in local engineering consultancy Beca.
Ardian buys Australia's Study Group from Providence
Study Group, an Australia-headquartered group that prepares international students for university degree programs, will have its third consecutive private equity owner after Ardian agreed to buy the business from Providence Equity Partners.
Partners Group hires Ravi Jeyaraj for Australia direct deals
Partners Group has recruited Ravi Jeyaraj, formerly of Navis Capital Partners, as head of private equity direct investments in Australia.
TPG-backed Pathology Asia invests Australia's Safe Work
TPG Capital Asia’s Pathology Asia platform has continued a regional roll-up strategy with an investment of undisclosed size in a minority stake in Australian drug testing specialist Safe Work Laboratories.
MBK to buy Asia retail assets from chocolate maker Godiva
MBK Partners has agreed to buy Belgian chocolate maker Godiva’s distribution operations in Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand in a deal reportedly worth more than $1 billion.
Australia's Anacacia completes final exit from debut fund
Australia’s Anacacia Capital has realized the final exit from its debut fund with the sale of its majority stake in workplace equipment provider RIS Safety to domestic investor Bricktop Group.
New Zealand’s Direct Capital invests retirement village operator
New Zealand’s Direct Capital has acquired a minority stake in local retirement village operator Qestral Corporation for an undisclosed sum.
Q&A: MLC's Jonathan Armitage
Jonathan Armitage, CIO of MLC, operator of Australia's largest retail superannuation fund, discusses the importance of a VC allocation, accessing overseas GPs, and increasing LP appetite for co-investment
Australia's EVP closes second VC fund at $25m
Australia’s Equity Venture Partners (EVP) has closed its second VC fund at A$35 million ($25 million). It will make early-stage investments in local B2B software companies.
Australia's Future Fund credits performance to private markets exposure
Australia’s Future Fund expanded its PE exposure by more than one third over the course of 2018, with the sovereign wealth fund citing carefully cultivated private markets exposure as one of the reasons it has comfortably outperformed superannuation...
New Zealand's Enterprise Angels launches third fund
Enterprise Angels, a New Zealand angel investor network that focuses on domestic IT, agriculture, food, horticulture, life science and biotech companies, has launched its third early-stage VC fund.
Australia take-privates: Logical targets
Private equity firms will large pools of capital to deploy are finding plenty of targets among listed - and potentially undervalued - companies in Australia and New Zealand
