North Asia

KKR boosts Asia business by offering outbound deal access

Building relationships and generating deal flow in Asia doesn’t necessarily involve starting in Asia, according to Joe Bae, regional head of KKR. The private equity firm has made inroads in Japan, South Korea and China by providing local partners with...

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The debt deadline: Japans's SMEs at a crossroads

Japan’s Debt Moratorium Law, seen by some industry participants as an impediment to PE deal flow in the last three year, is set to expire at the end of March. Does this spell new opportunities for the industry?

Carlyle sees return on capsule innovation

Gelatin has been used to produce two-piece drug capsules for nearly 100 years, largely thanks to its ability to dissolve easily and be manufactured to a uniform thickness. The problem is that the manufacturing technique has never been all that kosher,...

Positive vibes spread on Korea

As I noted in a viewpoint piece last September, private equity in South Korea is seeing a revival internationally. The market has steadily worked its way back from one populated almost exclusively by local GPs – most of them subsidiaries of securities...

Cerberus begins Aozora exit with $1.8b sell down

Cerberus is to sell the bulk of its 58% holding in Japan's Aozora Bank through a public market sale that could generate up to JPY158.1 billion ($1.8 billion). The US firm's stake would fall to 8%.

Mizuho, JBIC to set up $183m SME private equity fund

The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Mizuho Corporate Bank (Mizuho CB) and Mizuho Bank will form the Mizuho ASEAN PE Fund to support the overseas expansion of Japanese mid-tier and small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Indonesia’s Berrybenka gets funding from Gree Ventures

Gree Ventures, the VC arm of social Japanese social networking giant Gree, has completed its third investment in Indonesia, providing a Series A round of funding to fashion-focused e-commerce start-up Berrybenka. The size of the investment was not disclosed.

Advantage Partners buys Sanyo’s camera business

Advantage Partners has acquired Sanyo Electric’s digital camera unit. Panasonic, which took control of its former competitor in 2009 in a JPY400 billion ($4.6 billion) acquisition, said it chose to do business with Advantage because of the private equity...

Carlyle relists Chimney, completes partial exit

The Carlyle Group has completed a partial exit from Japanese restaurant chain Chimney having relisted the company on the Tokyo Stock Exchange three years after taking it private. It is the private equity firm’s first IPO in Japan this year, having abandoned...

Templeton fully divests second emerging markets fund

Franklin Templeton has exited all the investments held in its second emerging markets fund, which was established in 2005 and had a corpus of $132.5 million. The vehicle has generated a net IRR of 34.3% and a money multiple of 2.1x.

Fortress closes second Japan distress fund at $1.6b

Fortress Investment Group has closed its second distress fund, Fortress Japan Opportunity Fund II, at its hard cap of JPY130 billion ($1.65 billion). It is the successor fund to Fortress Japan Opportunity Domestic Fund (FJOF) which closed in June 2010...

Japan’s Fuller gets $1.2m seed round

Japanese internet service provider ASAHI Net and m8 Capital, a London-based VC firm, are leading a JPY100 million ($1.2 million) round of seed funding for Japan-based start-up Fuller Inc.

Headland offers toymaker succession solution

Big eyed and rosy cheeked, Kong Suni the potty-training baby doll is the must-have toy in South Korea this year. Her ability to eat, fill her diaper and pass wind has attracted headlines both home and abroad. The doll is a creation of South Korean firm...