North Asia

Alvarez & Marsal opens Korea office

Turnaround management and business advisory specialist Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) has opened an office in Seoul and appointed Jay Kim as managing director to lead its business activities in South Korea.

Five trends worth watching

When we look back at 2013 it will probably be described as a slow year for Asian private equity. Statistics on all major PE activities in the region have fallen substantially.

SMBC, NEC-backed VC fund backs US semiconductor firm

Innovative Venture Fund, an early stage investment fund set up by Japan's NEC Capital and SMBC Venture Capital, has a led a round of investment in SiTime Corp, a US-based semiconductor company. Additional participants in the round included Hercules Technology...

Taiwan's Chinatrust to buy Tokyo Star Bank for $530m

CTBC Financial, the parent company of Taiwan's Chinatrust Commercial Bank, is to buy a 98.16% stake in Tokyo Star Bank for JPY52 billion ($530 million) from US private equity firm Lone Star and other creditors-turned-shareholders. It will be the first...

Bamboo Finance sees 2x return on Mongolia XacBank exit

Emerging markets-focused private equity firm Bamboo Finance has exited its stake in TenGer Financial Group (TFG), the holding company of Mongolia's XacBank, to Japan's Orix Corp. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed, but it is said...

J-Star makes sweet exit from Tokachi

Gifts are a big part of Japanese tradition. Whether you are making an introduction, expressing thanks or simply marking a change in the seasons, an exchange of gifts is usually required. A large section of the country’s consumer sector relies on providing...

Asia real assets: Need returns, will travel

Interest in Asian real assets has surged as investors look to higher growth emerging markets for income and upside. Opportunities run from real estate to infrastructure, and in some cases offer a bit of both

J-Star completes $6.6m exit of sweets maker Tokachi

J-Star has completed its exit of a 100% stake Japanese sweet maker Tokachi to Tokyo-listed Mediaflag in deal valued at JPY644 million ($6.6 million). According to sources familiar with the matter, the GP has generated a 1.3x return on its investment.

Lead Capital invests $2m in Japan's Talknote

Lead Capital Management has invested JPY200 million ($2 million) in Talknote, the Japanese start-up behind the corporate social networking platform of the same name. This is the second round of funding the company has received, following an undisclosed...

Intel Capital unveils seven new Asia investments

Intel Capital, a corporate VC arm of chipmaker Intel Corporation, has invested in seven Asia-based companies as part of a batch of 16 global commitments totaling $65 million. The Asian firms, coming from China, India, Singapore, Japan and Taiwan, account...

All about Korea

More than 10 years and a host of bank turnarounds and corporate restructurings ago, South Korea was Asia’s most active private equity market. According to AVCJ Research, $3.1 billion was deployed in the country in 2000, comfortably ahead of second-placed...

PE firms bid for South Korea’s Woori assets

Several private equity firms have submitted bids for parts of Woori Finance Holdings in the second of three separate auctions intended to finally dispose of the Korean government’s interest in the business.

MSPEA set for partial exit as Hyundai Rotem IPO raises $585m

Hyundai Rotem, a train manufacturer backed by Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia (MSPEA), will complete the fourth-largest IPO ever executed on the Korea Exchange and the biggest in more than three years. The offering will generate proceeds of KRW622.4...