Australasia
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
Australia's Healthscope agrees $3.17b Brookfield bid
Australia-listed hospital operator Healthscope has agreed to a take-private offer by Brookfield Asset Management that values the company at A$4.38 billion ($3.17 billion) on an equity basis, rejecting a competing offer from a consortium led by BGH Capital.
Portfolio: QIC and North Australian Pastoral
Addressing Chinese demand was central to QIC’s acquisition of cattle breeder North Australian Pastoral, but the company has repositioned itself in response to changing patterns of consumption in global beef markets
Australian courier services player Sendle gets Series B
Federation Asset Management – a group headed by the former head of Macquarie Capital’s principal investment division in Australia and New Zealand – has led a A$20 million ($14.5 million) Series B for Australian courier services player Sendle.
Accel-KKR invests $16m in Australia's Humanforce
Accel-KKR, a US-based private equity firm created by Accel Partners and KKR, has invested A$22.5 million ($16.1 million) in Australian workforce management solutions provider Humanforce.
Corsair exits DP World Australia
Corsair Capital has agreed to exit most of its controlling stake in DP World Australia to the shipping services provider’s original corporate parent.
Australia's Funds SA hires Cameron Sinclair from Future Fund
Funds SA, which is responsible for investing on behalf of South Australia’s public-sector superannuation funds, has recruited Cameron Sinclair (pictured) from Future Fund to lead private equity and infrastructure activity.
Adrian Kerley leaves Australia's CSC for IFM
Adrian Kerley (pictured), the investment manager responsible for private markets at Australia’s Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation (CSC) will join the private equity team at IFM Investors in February.
Australia's BGH wins board approval for Navitas deal
BGH Capital is close to announcing its first deal after a revised offer of A$2.1 billion ($1.5 billion) for Australian education services provider Navitas won backing from the company’s board.
AVCJ Awards 2018: Exit of the Year - Mid Cap: Novotech
Mercury Capital secured a 15.7x return by helping Australian clinical trials specialist Novotech upgrade its marketing and personnel as well as pursue Asian expansion
Sequoia, Blackbird join Series A for Australia's Baraja
Baraja, an Australia-based start-up developing guidance technology for autonomous vehicles, has raised a $32 million Series A round from investors including Sequoia China and Blackbird Ventures.
Australia's Next Capital to buy NZ Bus from Infratil
Australian mid-market buyout firm Next Capital has agreed to buy NZ Bus, a local bus service operator in New Zealand, from infrastructure investment manager Infratil.
KKR wins board support for $1.4b MYOB buyout
The board of Australian accounting software provider MYOB has agreed to back a buyout offer from KKR that values the company at approximately A$2 billion ($1.43 billion).
Brookfield nears $3.16b bid for Australia's Healthscope
Brookfield Asset Management expects to proceed with a A$4.49 billion ($3.16 billion) take-private offer for Australia-listed hospital operator Healthscope, although BGH Capital – which began its pursuit of the company eight months ago – has indicated...
Axiom Asia completes $1.6b fundraise
Axiom Asia has closed its fifth regional fund-of-funds at $1.39 billion - beating the target of $1.01 billion - and also raised $210 million for its first dedicated co-investment vehicle.
KKR reduces offer for Australia's MYOB
KKR has reduced its offer for Australian accounting software provider MYOB and is now willing to buy all the shares it doesn’t already own at a valuation of A$2 billion ($1.43 billion).
Strattam buys majority stake in Australian software specialist
US-based private equity firm Strattam Capital has acquired a majority stake in Australian workforce management software-as-a-service provider Acendre Partners for an undisclosed sum.
