Region
Contrarians bullish on India investment opportunities
Private equity players are upbeat on investment prospects in India, arguing that those looking to commit capital now will benefit when the country's weak economy eventually rebounds.
CITIC Capital consortium completes $887m AsiaInfo take-private
CITIC Capital Partners has completed the privatization of US-listed Chinese telecom software provider AsiaInfo-Linkage in a deal that values the company at $887 million. CITIC Private Equity and China Broadband Capital were also part of the buyer consortium....
Matrix leads Series B round for China menstruation app
Matrix Partners China has led a $15 million Series B round of funding for Meet You, a menstruation cycle-tracking mobile app. Founder Fangyi Chen and existing investor China Renaissance K2 Ventures has reportedly participated.
Technology Crossover Ventures leads Series B for Australia's Siteminder
Australian hotel booking start-up SiteMinder has raised $30 million in funding led by Palo Alto-based Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV).
Helion backs India language localization firm
Pune-based LinguaNext has raised a Series A round of funding from Helion Venture Partners to expand its international business. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
CDH chairman eyes China cross-border opportunities
Cross-border transactions will become increasingly prominent in China private equity deal flow as the country’s economy matures and domestic companies seek to expand overseas, according to Shangzhi Wu, chairman and managing director of CDH Investments....
Boston Scientific leads round for VC-backed Amaranth Medical
Amaranth Medical, a medical device manufacturer backed by Singapore’s Bio*One Capital and Phillip Private Equity, has received a Series C round of funding from US-listed Boston Scientific.
SoftBank leads $120m round for Chinese app platform Wandoujia
SoftBank Corp. has led a $120 million Series B round of funding for Wandoujia, a Chinese Android mobile app platform. Existing investors DCM and Innovation Works Development Fund (IWDF) also participated in the round.
India's ASK Group reaches first close on offshore real estate fund
ASK Group has reached a first close of $50 million on its debut offshore real estate fund. The full target for the vehicle, which will invest in middle income residential projects in Mumbai, Bangalore, the Delhi National Capital Region (NCR), Pune and...
Cerberus set for exit as Japan's Seibu agrees to Tokyo listing
Seibu Holdings, the Japanese conglomerate that had a bitter falling out with leading shareholder Cerberus Capital Management over a planned IPO three years ago, is finally expected to list in Tokyo in the first half of 2014.
India Awards: Firm of the Year - Baring PE Asia
Baring Private Equity Asia’s efforts in India paid off last year with $650 million invested in Lafarge India and Hexaware Technologies. Jimmy Mahtani, the firm’s country head, tells AVCJ how it was done
India Awards: Exit of the Year – Apollo Hospitals
When Apax Partners first invested in Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, in 2007, “healthcare was a relatively undiscovered space for PE in India, even for the public markets for that matter,” says Shashank Singh, who heads the PE firm’s India office.
India Awards: PE Deal of the Year – Alliance Tire Group
Sanjay Nayar, head of India at KKR, is cautiously optimistic about the prospects for private equity in the country. On one hand, there is belief in a long-term story driven by solid demographics and a clear need for strategic growth capital in key areas....
India Awards: Venture Capital Deal of the Year – Snapdeal
Having brought in eBay as a financial and a strategic partner for its Series C round, online marketplace Snapdeal continues to invest in its technology with one eye on profitability and ultimately a US IPO
India Awards: PE Professional of the Year – Ravi Adusumalli
SAIF India defied a challenging exit market by taking Just Dial public and selling CSS Corp via a trade sale in 2013. Ravi Adusumalli, the firm’s managing partner, sees the weak IPO market as a mixed blessing for PE
India Awards: Fundraising of the Year – Kedaara Capital
In India's challenging fundraising environment, GPs – especially first-time fund managers – should expect the marketing process to be difficult and protracted. In 2013, LPs committed just $2.2 billion to domestic managers, down from $2.4 billion the previous...
Facebook buys VC-backed Little Eye Labs
Within 19 months of starting-up, Bangalore-based Little Eye Labs was snapped up by Facebook to take the social network’s mobile development to the next level. Little Eye Labs was also in talks with Twitter, but Facebook ended up offering a better deal....
BVCF supports anti-viral drug innovation
Since the discovery of RNA interference (RNAi), a natural mechanism for regulating gene expression, in the 1990s, billions of dollars have been invested by the world’s pharmaceutical giants in using this technology to develop therapeutic drugs. A particular...
Toshiba partners with IVFA-owned UEM Group
After expanding its water supply and treatment business into markets such as China and Indonesia, Toshiba Corporation went looking for a strategic partner in India. It zeroed in on UEM Group, one of the top three domestic players in the sector. UEM needed...
IMM to support T-Broad in cable TV battle
Thanks to the rapid emergence of internet protocol TV (IPTV), South Korea’s cable TV operators are expected to broadcast across the country regardless of regulatory hurdles.
Q&A: Wolseley Private Equity's Richard Burrows
While other Australian GPs have moved on to larger transactions, Wolseley Private Equity remains resolutely lower mid-market. Richard Burrows, a director at the firm, explains why
Big brother: Japan's government LPs
The government is becoming an increasingly significant LP in Japanese private equity funds. Smaller GPs can’t live without it but there are wider concerns about sustainability and long-term economic impact
PE-backed Chinese firms delay IPOs as CSRC tightens oversight
At least five Chinese companies – three of which have PE backers – have postponed their IPOs as the Chinese Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) released measures to strengthen supervision of public offerings.
NewQuest agrees $190m China Hydroelectric take-private
NewQuest Capital Partners has agreed to buy China Hydroelectric in a deal that values the US-listed hydropower operator at approximately $190 million.

