Regions
Deal focus: Digital marketing piggybacks e-commerce boom
Malaysian digital marketing specialist Involve Asia is making hay as regional e-commerce shows no signs of slowing. Fresh VC support will guide inorganic expansion amidst erratically trendy user behaviour
Hong Kong: Action on innovation
Efforts to turn Hong Kong into a technology ecosystem are still at an early stage. Investors and start-up founders believe many of the ingredients are there, but the recipe can be flawed or ignored
China VCs back semiconductor start-up InventChip
InventChip Technology, a semiconductor start-up focused on silicon carbide design and fabrication, has raised hundreds of millions of renminbi in Series B funding from several local VC investors.
TPG targets $1.2b Australia funeral services take-private
TPG Capital has submitted a buyout offer for Invocare, a listed Australian provider of funeral services and operator of memorial parks and crematoria, that values the company at approximately AUD 1.8bn (USD 1.2bn).
CDB leads $72m round for China RPA provider Kingsware
CDB Capital has led a CNY 500m (USD 72m) Series C round for Zhuhai-based robotic process automation (RPA) services provider Kingsware Information Technology.
AVCJ Awards 2022: Special Achievement – Kok Peng Teh
Kok Peng Teh spent most of his career at GIC, helping build out what has become one of the world’s largest private equity programmes and nurturing the careers of numerous industry participants
Japan construction software supplier gets $8.5m
Japan’s Ballas, a software provider focused on metals procurement for the construction industry, has raised an approximately JPY 1.2bn (USD 8.5m) round led by Global Brain.
NIC buys Japan dental consultancy, Jafco exits
Japanese private equity firm Nippon Investment Corporation (NIC) has acquired 100% of local dental industry services provider Medical Support Consulting, facilitating an exit for Jafco.
Qiming, Matrix back Chinese AI start-up Frontis
Chinese artificial intelligence generated content (AIGC) start-up Frontis.ai has raised a round of hundreds of millions of renminbi led by Qiming Venture Partners with support from Matrix Partners China.
Mekong backs $50m round for Vietnam microlending player
Vietnam’s Mekong Capital has backed a USD 50m Series C round for local financial microfinance provider F88 Investment, contributing USD 20m.
KKR exits Malaysia's Weststar Aviation after 10-year hold
KKR has exited Weststar Aviation Services (WAS), which primarily provides helicopter transportation services to the offshore oil and gas industry, after a holding period of nearly 10 years.
EQT buys Korean security services provider
EQT has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Korea-based security monitoring business SK Shieldus from an affiliate of SK Group and Macquarie Asset Management, through an investment under its core-plus infrastructure strategy.
BGH, Sixth Street's PushPay buyout bid set to fall short
New Zealand and Australia-listed payments business PushPay has announced that its NZD 1.54bn (USD 933m) acquisition by BGH Capital and Sixth Street Partners will not proceed based on proxy votes already received.
Premji Invest leads $26m round for India's SpotDraft
India’s Premji Invest has led a USD 26m Series A round for local contract lifecycle management and legal work automation supplier SpotDraft.
Multiples leads $146m for Indian EV maker
India’s Multiples Alternate Asset Management has led a INR 12bn (USD 145.7m) investment in TI Clean Mobility, an electric vehicle (EV) subsidiary of engineering conglomerate Murugappa Group.
Hong Kong PE stalwart John Levack dies aged 64
John Levack, who spent over two decades with Electra Partners Asia and was a long-serving board member at the Hong Kong Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (HKVCA), has died aged 64.
Q&A: Aware Super’s Damien Webb
Damien Webb, deputy CIO and head of international at Australia’s Aware Super, on opening offices overseas, internalising asset management, and opportunities at the nexus of PE and infrastructure
AVCJ Awards 2022: Exit of the Year – Small Cap: CosmoLife
When selling CosmoLife, Advantage Partners prioritised strategics with existing customer bases that could help the Japanese drinking water company in its next chapter. This coincided with a healthy valuation
B Capital closes US-Asia healthcare fund on $500m
US and Asia-focused VC firm B Capital has closed its first dedicated sector fund, collecting USD 500m for investments in healthcare.
Investcorp opens Japan office
Investcorp has opened a Tokyo office to serve as a staging post for direct private equity and real estate investments Japan.
China vaccine developer Immorna raises $100m
Immorna, a China-based biotech start-up focused on RNA-based therapeutics and vaccines, has raised about USD 100m across two Series A extensions.
China VCs back local automotive chip developer
SiEngine Technology, a China-based developer of chips for smart cars, has raised CNY 500m (USD 73m) in an extended Series A round featuring several local VC firms.
Northstar leads pre-Series C for Singapore's Una Brands
Northstar Group had led a USD 30m pre-Series C round for Una Brands, a Singapore-based brand agglomeration platform that operates across Asia.