Australasia

TPG abandons Billabong buyout

TPG Capital has withdrawn its A$694 million ($709 million) buyout offer for Billabong, sending the Australian surfwear company’s stock plunging more than 16%. The announcement comes days after Billabong insisted that negotiations were continuing despite...

CVC-backed Nine makes new restructuring proposal

The management of Nine Entertainment, the beleaguered Australian media company owned by CVC Capital Partners, has put forward a new proposal for restructuring its A$3.8 billion ($3.9 billion) in debt. Adrian McKenzie, CVC’s Australian managing partner...

Founder of Australia’s Seek plans PE platform

Paul Bassat, co-founder of Australian job search site Seek, is looking to set up a private equity platform with Tony Holt, who recently left his position as a senior managing director with Macquarie Group in Hong Kong.

VIDEO: CHAMP Private Equity's John Haddock

The rise of Asian strategic buyers is creating a new exit channel for Australian private equity firms, according to John Haddock, managing director at CHAMP Private Equity. The GP has direct exposure to this trend, having exited Manassen Foods to China’s...

Anchorage buys Dick Smith Electronics from Woolworths

Anchorage Capital Partners will buy Australian supermarket chain Woolworths’ Dick Smith Electronics unit for an initial A$20 million ($18 million) plus a share of any upside resulting from the private equity firm exiting the asset. The divestment comes...

Australian Super CEO hits out at PE fees

The chief executive of Australia’s largest industry superannuation fund has criticized the level of fees charged by private equity fund managers and argues that their compensation model needs to change.

TPG’s Billabong rival abandons bid

TPG Capital’s rival bidder for Australian surfwear company Billabong International has dropped out of the running. Billabong only identified the group that offered to match TPG’s A$694 million ($709 million) buyout bid as a private equity firm. According...

CVC’s Australia head resigns

CVC Capital Partners’ Adrian MacKenzie, the managing partner responsible for investments in Australia, has resigned. The move comes as the private equity firm prepares to write off almost the entire A$1.9 billion ($1.97 billion) in equity that was pumped...

NBC Capital reaps 20% IRR from Fenix Fitness

When it comes to assisting the growth of their portfolio companies, some PE firms are more hands-on than others. At the more pro-active end of the scale sit the likes of NBC Capital, which during its four-and-a-half-year ownership of local health club...

Blue Sky makes new executive appointment

Blue Sky Alternative Investments has hired Lachlan McMurdo from Bain & Company as investment manager of the private equity division. He will be responsible for the company’s existing portfolio, as well as covering rapidly growing SMEs across sectors...

Quay poaches Reed from Pantheon for US

Australian private equity fund-of-funds and advisory firm Quay Partners has hired Jeffrey Reed from Pantheon Ventures, the UK fund-of-funds, to help manage its US operations in San Francisco.

  • LPs
Carlyle-backed Haier offers $705m for Fisher & Paykel

Carlyle-backed Haier Group has put in a NZ$869 million ($705 million) buyout offer for Fisher & Paykel Appliances (F&P), the New Zealand-based kitchen and appliance manufacturer. The Chinese company is willing to pay NZ$1.20 per share in cash - a 15.4%...

Lazard extends Australia corporate advisory reach

Lazard Australia has agreed to purchase independent corporate advisory firm O’Sullivan Partners. The Sydney-based player is an acknowledged media specialist and can also claim to have won several notable private equity mandates, including three from...

Goldman tables Nine Entertainment debt proposal – report

Goldman Sachs has reportedly put together a restructuring proposal for Nine Entertainment that would see the Australian company’s A$3.8 billion ($3.9 billion) in debt convert to equity, writing off the vast majority of CVC Capital Partners’ investment.