South Asia
LPs on Asia: The risk factor
Proximity is reassuring. It shouldn't be surprising that a corporate governance scandal in Asia triggers concerns among institutional investors in North America who are far removed from the information flow and first hear the news via newspaper headlines...
India's Essel Group to launch private equity fund
Essel Group, the Indian conglomerate headed by media mogul Subhash Chandra, has set up a new investment arm - Essel Financial Services - that will target private equity, infrastructure, real estate and financial services.
Rabo targets $250m for second India agribusiness fund
Rabo Equity Advisors is targeting $250 million for its second India agribusiness fund, more than double the $120 million raised for its debut vehicle in 2008. The larger corpus means Rabo’s typical transaction size will increase to $25 million from the...
Lafarge in talks with PE to sell part of India business
Lafarge is in talks with private equity and financial firms to sell 20-25% of its India unit for about $300 million. The divestment is part of a wider effort from the French cement maker to divest non-core assets and reduce debt levels to below EUR10...
Blackstone appoints new senior managing director for India real estate
The Blackstone Group has promoted India-based Tuhin Parikh to senior managing director in its real estate division. He was previously a managing director.
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.
PE-backed Bharti Infratel completes $763m IPO
Bharti Infratel, the Indian telecoms infrastructure subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, has raised around INR4.17 billion ($763 million) in India’s biggest IPO in two years.
Nexus Ventures-backed Vdopia raises $3.4m Series B round
Video advertising network Vdopia has secured $3.4 million in Series B funding in a private offering from a single unnamed investor.
Temasek invests $104m in Godrej's agribusiness unit
Temasek Holdings has paid INR5.72 billion ($104.5 million) for a 19.99% stake in Godrej Agrovet, an agribusiness subsidiary of Godrej Industries. The deal comprises primary and secondary tranches, with the former earmarked to support Godrej Agrovet’s...
Baird teams up with Axis Capital for cross-border investment banking
International asset manager Baird is forming a strategic alliance with Axis Capital, the investment banking subsidiary of India’s Axis Bank, to focus on cross-border M&A between India, Europe and the US.
IFC to provide $25m to General Atlantic-backed Fourcee
International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private investment arm of the World Bank, will provide a loan of $25 million to Fourcee Infrastructure Equipments, an Indian logistics firm backed by General Atlantic (GA) and India Equity Partners.
IFC exits India's Kanoria Chemicals
International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank's private investment arm, has sold its 10.88% stake in India’s Kanoria Chemicals, exiting at a small profit.
Ticketgoose plans second round funding from VCs
One of India's leading online bus tickets firms, Ticketgoose.com, is looking to raise INR250 million ($4.6 million) in a second round of VC funding, CEO Arun Athiappan said.
PE-backed Bharti Infratel IPO oversubscribed
The $830 million IPO of Bharti Infratel, the Indian telecoms infrastructure subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, was oversubscribed by investors on Thursday. The intended flotation – which has been mooted for more than a year – will be the country’s largest in...
Sequoia leads $9.2m Series B in iCreate
Sequoia Capital is leading a INR500 milion ($9.2 million) round of investment in data analytics start-up iCreate Software. Sequoia’s Gautam Mago will join the board.
2012: That was the year that was
The broad trends and particular highlights of private equity fundraising, investment and exit activity in Asia
Olympus-backed DM Healthcare targets IPO by 2015
Olympus Capital-backed DM Healthcare, a Dubai-based healthcare services provider which gets a majority of its business in the Middle East, aims to go public by 2015.
Sutherland Global Services to acquire Apollo's PE-backed BPO arm
Sutherland Global Services, a US-based business process and technology management services, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Apollo Health Street (AHS), Apollo Hospitals’ healthcare business process outsourcing (BPO) arm. The company is part-owned...
Norwest Venture Partners invests $6m in Indian IT firm Attune
Norwest Venture Partners has invested INR326 million ($6 million) in cloud-based IT product company Attune.
General Atlantic appoints Apax's Sandeep Naik as India head
General Atlantic (GA) has appointed Sandeep Naik as managing director and head of its India office in Mumbai. Naik will lead GA’s investment advisory activity in the country, focusing on growth companies.
Piramal's IndiaVenture Adviors to raise $185m fund
IndiaVenture Advisors, the PE arm of Indian pharmaceuticals company Piramal Enterprises, plans to raise a fund of up to INR10 billion ($185 million) that will target healthcare and education.
US, India-focused Naya reaches first close on VC fund
Naya Ventures, a US-based VC firm that also invests in India, has reached a first close of $50 million on a fund targeting the mobile and cloud markets. Its approach involves providing capital and industry expertise to early-stage companies with a view...
Blume, First Light invest $500k in India's MadRat Games
Blume Ventures and First Light Ventures have invested $500,000 in Bangalore-based gaming start-up MadRat Games.
Standard Chartered PE commits $37m to India's Sparkle Ocean
Standard Cartered Private Equity (SCPE) has purchased a minority stake in Hyderabad-based port and operations and management company Ocean Sparkle for INR2 billion ($37 million).