Sectors
Primavera supports $1.9b Shanda Games take-private
Primavera Capital is supporting a buyout of NASDAQ-listed Chinese online game developer and operator Shanda Games that values the company at $1.9 billion. The PE firm is backing controlling shareholder Shanda Interactive Entertainment in the deal.
CHAMP Ventures plans IPO for SG Fleet
CHAMP Ventures is seeking to exit its 42% stake in Australian vehicle leasing and fleet management business SG Fleet Holdings by way of an IPO on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
TAL Education invests $25m in VC-backed Babytree
TAL Education, a China-based after-school tutoring services provider, has acquired a minority stake in childcare website Babytree for RMB150 million ($25 million). The online baby nursing information provider secured previous investments from Matrix Partners,...
Suning acquires VC-backed group buying site Manzuo
Suning Commerce, a Chinese home appliance retailer, has acquired group buying site Manzuo.com. Transaction terms were not disclosed but the investment was said to facilitate a full exit for VC backer KPCB China.
PricePanda gets $3m from Tengelmann for SE Asia expansion
Rocket Internet’s price comparison platform, PricePanda, has raised $3 million from German retailer Tengelmann Group to expand its Southeast Asia footprint. It currently operates in Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia and Singapore.
Hong Kong-listed A8 commits to tech-focused Qingsong Fund
A8 Digital Music Holdings, a Hong Kong-listed media corporation, has committed RMB20 million ($3 million) to acquire an approximately 6% interest in Qingsong Fund II.
Legend re-ups in US sports tech manufacturer Zepp
Legend Capital has re-upped in athlete training technology developer Zepp Labs, participating in a $15 million Series B round of funding led by GGV Capital. Bertelsmann and Cherubic Ventures also committed capital.
ASA calls for Billabong delay over Oaktree, Centerbridge deal
The Australian Shareholders Association (ASA) has called on Australian surf wear company Billabong International to delay a shareholder vote on a decision that could give PE creditors Oaktree Capital Management and Centerbridge Partners as much as 40.8%...
Blume Ventures leads seed round for India's Turtle Yogi
Blume Ventures has led a seed round of funding for Bangalore-based Turtle Yogi Technologies, which runs cloud-based video calling service 1Click.io. Chennai Angels member R. Narayanan and Shead Holdings are also investors in the round.
China's Alibaba Group makes $15 million investment in 1stdibs
Alibaba Group has backed New York-based luxury e-commerce site 1stdibs with a $15 million Series C investment.
PE firms to bid for China Huarong stake – report
A group of around 20 investors are said to be preparing to submit first-round offers for a minority stake worth $2 billion in China Huarong Asset Management ahead of the non-performing loan (NPL) manager’s IPO.
Japan's Venture United raises $11m fund
Venture United - the corporate investment arm of Japanese media group United - has raised a new JPY1.26 billion yen ($11 million) fund focusing on internet-related start-ups.
CyberAgent Ventures backs Japan language learning site
CyberAgent Ventures, the corporate VC arm of the company behind Japanese blogging site Ameba, has invested an undisclosed amount in language learning platform Lang-8.
Singapore's Luminor Capital invests $6.1m Swiss NGFI
Luminor Capital, a Singapore-based private equity firm, has invested CHF5.5 million ($6.1 million)in Switzerland's Next Generation Finance Invest (NGFI).
Fosun, Prudential to launch China real estate venture
Chinese financial conglomerate Fosun Group and Prudential Financial plan to launch a real estate joint venture aimed at investing in mixed-use development projects in urban centers in China.
Vertex, IDG, SAIF invest $15m in India's FirstCry
Temasek Holdings subsidiary Vertex Venture Management has led a $15 million Series C round of funding in Brainbees Solutions, which runs Indian baby and kids focused e-commerce site FirstCry.com. Existing investors IDG Ventures India and SAIF Partners...
Singapore online grocer RedMart raises $5.4m funding round
RedMart, an online grocery service based in Singapore, has raised a $5.4 million round of funding led by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin. Other investors in the bridge round included JFDI.Asia co-founder Meng Weng Wong, The Lo & Behold Group founder...
Japanese VCs invest $4m in social retail app developer
Mitsubishi UFJ Capital and DBJ Capital have joined existing investors DCM Japan, Itochu Technology Ventures and Jafco Ventures, in a JPY400 million ($3.8 million) round of funding for Tokyo-based Tab, the start-up behind the location-based retail recommendation...
CITIC Capital finally bags AsiaInfo take-private
Private equity firms have supported 11 management buyouts of Chinese firms listed in the US since mid-2011. Until last week, only two of these successful transactions - Funtalk China and Focus Media - were control buyouts, where one or more PE backers...
KKR, Affinity in Asia's largest-ever trade sale
Anheuser-Busch InBev's $5.8 billion buyback of South Korea's Oriental Brewery from KKR and Affinity Equity Partners is best viewed in the context of extenuating circumstances in which the original investment was made in July 2009.
Unitas completes Edwards reorientation
When Unitas Capital and CCMP Capital came across specialist vacuum products developer Edwards Group, the business was hamstrung by geography. Asia was responsible for 60% of revenues but only 30% of manufacturing activity; in Europe these figures were...
Bitcoin: VC firms eye Asia opportunities
Bitcoin’s emergence as a currency in Asia has attracted mixed reactions from regulators. For VC investors there is a chance to disrupt the exisitng payment hierarchy, but they must also work with it
Japan Industrial Partners eyes $666m Biglobe deal - report
Japan Industrial Partners (JIP) could acquire Biglobe, Japan's fourth-largest internet service provider (ISP) by number of customers, from IT giant NEC in a deal worth JPY70 billion ($666 million).
Saif invests $30m in China fashion platform
Saif Partners China has committed $30 million in a Series C round of funding for Yoho, an online fashion magazine and e-commerce platform.