Sectors
Shanghai Sinopharm PE invests in chemical firm Anhui Fulltime
Sinopharm Capital, a private equity arm of Chinese drug distributing conglomerate Sinopharm, has made a pre-IPO investment in chemical products manufacturer Anhui Fulltime Specialized Solvent & Reagent.
Innovation Works' Kai-Fu Lee diagnosed with cancer
Kai-Fu Lee, founder and CEO of Innovation Works and former head of Google Greater China, has been diagnosed with lymphoma, a type of blood cancer.
ADB to invest $245m in Pakistan's power sector
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will invest $245 million to improve Pakistan’s power distribution systems. The capital, structured as a loan, is the third tranche of the bank's Power Distribution Enhancement Investment Program.
ADIA buys Australia hotel portfolio
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) has bought Tourism Asset Holdings (TAHL), Australia’s largest hotel owner. The deal will see the Middle East sovereign wealth fund assume control of 31 Accor-operated properties in major cities.
Orion Partners to launch $250m Japan care homes fund
Hong Kong-headquartered Orion Partners, formerly known as Ajia Partners, is looking to raise as much as JPY25 billion ($250 million) for its third Japan care homes investment fund.
LeapFrog in $204m first close on emerging markets microfinance fund
Specialist microfinance investor LeapFrog Investments has reached a first close of $204 million for its second fund after just eight months in the market. The vehicle, which has a full target of $400 million, will back companies in South Asia, Southeast...
Nissay Capital invests $1.9m in towel company
Nissay Capital has invested JPY199 million ($1.9 million) in Japanese towel maker, Ikeuchi Towel. The size of the stake acquired was not disclosed.
Meridian Capital invests in China fashion app Ichuanyi
Meridian Capital has committed a Series A round of funding for Chinese fashion and clothing mobile app Ichuanyi.com. The investment size was not disclosed.
Battle of the strategics
We have grown accustomed to China’s incumbent internet giants engaging in M&A. Since 2010, the BATS – Baidu, Alibaba Group, Tencent Holdings and Sina – have deployed around $6.5 billion (and that’s just disclosed transactions), eight times the amount...
SmartPay joins Ping An's e-payment push
Ping An Insurance Group has taken the fight to Alibaba Group once before. In 2010 it bought an 80% stake in online grocery retailer Yihaodian and helped build the business into one of China’s leading B2C e-commerce players, finding space in the corner...
Navis in Australia demographics play
Australian politicians have long debated ways to enlarge the country’s tax base as they prepare for the economic ramifications of a spiraling dependency ratio. By 2050 there will be just 2.7 people of working age for each person aged 65 and over, compared...
Sequoia invests $10m in China personal finance site
Sequoia Capital has committed a total of $10 million across two rounds of funding for Feidee.com, a Beijing-based personal finance management website.
Indonesia flight booking service gets Series A round from Samwer brothers
Global Founders Capital (GFC) a VC firm co-founded by Rocket Internet’s Samwer brothers, has made its first Asia investment - committing an undisclosed sum to Indonesian flight search engine Traveloka.
COFCO PE unit to back Huishan Dairy IPO – report
The PE unit of Chinese food conglomerate COFCO will be among the cornerstone investors in milk producer China Huishan Dairy Holdings, which plans to list in Hong Kong in September.
Australia's BlueChilli targets $10m for angel fund
Australian venture firm BlueChilli is looking to raise a $10 million angel fund for early-stage tech investments.
Morgan Stanley PE Asia makes partial exit from Sihuan Pharma
Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia (MSPEA) will make a partial exit from Hong Kong-listed Sihuan Pharmaceutical Holdings, joining company management in selling a 6.8% stake via a block trade agreement.
CHAMP, Headland seek full acquisition of Miclyn Express Offshore
CHAMP Private Equity and Hong Kong's Headland Capital Partners have offered to buy the 24.8% of oil and gas services group Miclyn Express Offshore (MEO) they do not own for around A$150 million ($137 million).
CFIUS approves Shuanghui acquisition of Smithfield Foods
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has cleared the way for PE-backed Chinese pork producer Shuanghui International to buy US counterpart Smithfield Foods, overcoming one of the biggest hurdles to the $4.7 billion deal.
Navis buys Australian childcare business from Wolseley
Navis Capital Partners has acquired Australian childcare services provider Guardian Early Learning Group from Wolseley Private Equity with a view to helping the 69-center chain double in size. The transaction value was not disclosed but sources indicate...
Standard Chartered PE raises stake in Fortis Healthcare
Standard Chartered Private Equity (SCPE) has invested a further INR370.3 million ($5.7 million) to buy preferential shares in India’s Fortis Healthcare. It brings SCPE’s total investment into the company to approximately INR2.5 billion.
KKR leads race for Panasonic healthcare unit - report
KKR is said to have taken the lead in the bidding for a majority stake in Panasonic's healthcare unit - a potential $1.5 billion deal that would represent the firm's largest Japanese buyout to date.
Shenzhen Capital invests in China mobile app start-up ShareSDK
Shenzhen Capital Group has committed a Series A round of funding to ShareSDK, a Guangzhou-based mobile app service provider. Details of the investment were undisclosed.
Patni Brothers set up incubator for India big data start-ups
The co-founders of Nirvana Venture Advisors, brothers Arihant and Amit Patni, have set up Hive Technologies to help launch and fund Indian big data start-ups.
Lunar Capital exits China mobile payment business to Ping An
Lunar Capital and co-investors RRE Ventures and Icon have exited SmartPay, one of China’s leading third-party online payment providers, to an affiliate of Ping An Insurance Group. The insurer, which also has bank and asset management interests, is said...