Sectors
SCPE backs Vietnam's Golden Gate, Mekong secures 9x exit
Standard Chartered Private Equity (SCPE) has acquired a significant minority stake in Golden Gate, a Vietnam-based restaurant operator, for $35 million. The investment has allowed existing backer Mekong Capital to make a full exit with a net multiple...
Permira-owned Arysta LifeScience files for US IPO
Arysta LifeScience, the Permira-owned Japanese agricultural chemical maker, has filed for its US IPO with a view to raising as much as $500 million.
Baidu backs China online learning site SmartStudy
Chinese internet giant Baidu has invested $10.6 million in a Series A round of funding for Smart SmartStudy.com, an online education platform.
Xiaomi, Shunwei lead $37m round for China P2P lending site Jimubox
Chinese smart phone maker Xiaomi and Shunwei Capital Partners, both founded by Chinese angel investor Lei Jun, have jointly led a $37.2 million Series B round of funding for Jimubox, a peer-to-peer (P2P) lending start-up in China.
Clearwater exits India's Dolphin Offshore
Clearwater Capital Partners has exited its 6.53% stake in Indian marine operation and construction company Dolphin Offshore Enterprises via an open market transaction.
VCs back Zai Lab drug development model
Few VC firms are keen to invest in China's early-stage drug discovery space because the development cycle is long and risky. Taking a new drug from clinical testing to commercialization often takes 7-10 years and the success rate in China is less than...
Navis returns for Dome Coffees refill
Having built a strong relationship with the management team at Dome Coffees Australia, Navis Capital Partners was comfortable with the notion of buying the specialty coffee and dining restaurant chain for a second time, 11 years after the first acquisition....
Portfolio: YPX and China casual dining
YPX Cayman was born out of an idea for a tech-style start-up in China's casual dining space. Backed by a string of investors, the firm is making headway with Cloud 9 and preparing to launch new concepts
GenNext Ventures, Microsoft India launch tech accelerator
GenNext Ventures, the VC arm of Reliance Industries, has tied up with Microsoft Ventures India to launch an accelerator program, with a view to catalyzing the Indian technology start-up ecosystem.
LeapFrog reaches $400m close on second microfinance fund
LeapFrog Investments - the specialist microfinance investor backed by George Soros and JP Morgan Chase - has reached a $400 million close on its second fund targeting financial services investments in emerging Asia and Africa.
Japan's Relux raises $3.1m from Recruit Holdings, others
Japanese luxury hotel booking site Relux has raised JPY330 million ($3.1 million) from Recruit Holdings and other undisclosed investors.
Gobi invests in China second-hand car trading site Mychebao
Gobi Partners has invested in a Series A round of funding for Mychebao.com, a Chinese online trading platform for second-hand cars.
PE investors set for partial exits as Alibaba targets $24b IPO
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group is seeking to raise as much as $24 million through a US IPO that could be the largest tech offering in history.
PE-backed China Auto Rental to raise $467m in HK IPO
China Auto Rental, a car hire firm backed by Warburg Pincus, has set terms for a Hong Kong IPO that will raise up to HK$3.62 billion ($467 million).
Foxconn invests $2m in Taiwan's AirSig
Electronics manufacturer Foxconn Technology Group has invested $2 million for a 10% stake in AirSig, a Taiwan-based mobile authentication start-up.
Providence makes partial exit from India's Idea Cellular
Providence Equity has made a partial exit from Idea Celluar, a Indian mobile network operator promoted by Aditya Birla Group, selling a 2.3% stake - or a quarter of its previous holding - for around INR14.1 billion ($234 million) via an open market transaction....
Rocket, Kinnevik to form emerging market fashion e-commerce giant
German start-up incubator Rocket Internet and Investment AB Kinnevik, Rocket's biggest backer, are to consolidate five emerging market fashion e-commerce brands into a single global company with a combined valuation of EUR2.7 billion ($3.5 billion).
VCs take part in $2.1m round for Japan's Innova
Nippon Venture Capital, Draper Nexus and strategic investor Salesforce.com have together invested JPY220 million ($2.1 million) on Tokyo-based search engine optimization (SEO) and content marketing agency Innova.
Singapore Red Dot Payment complete Series A round
Wavemaker Pacific and GMO Global Payment Fund have taken part in a Series A round of funding for Singapore's Red Dot Payment, an online payment solutions provider. The financial details were not disclosed.
Carlyle, FountainVest pull out of China Shanda Games take-private
The Carlyle Group and FountainVest Partners have pulled out of the consortium backing a $1.9 billion bid to acquire US-listed Chinese games developer Shanda Games.
Asian media giants form China-focused film and TV fund
Taiwan’s Fubon Group, Hong Kong's Media Asia and South Korean music giant SM Entertainment have established a media-focused fund to jointly invest in Chinese film and TV production.
IFC invests $27.5m in Indian food additives producer
World Bank investment arm International Finance Corporation (IFC) has invested $27.5 million in Lucid Colloids, one of the top four producers of food additive guar gum.
H&Q leads $16.7m round for cloud insurance software firm
H&Q Asia Pacific has led a $16.7 million Series A round for US cloud insurance software provider One Inc.; Camp One Ventures and AGI Partners also took part in the round.
Japanese mobility firm Whill closes $11m Series A round
The government-backed Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ) has led an $11 million Series A round for Whill, a Japanese startup which has designed a type of electronic mobility chair.

