China
Sequoia backs Chinese vegetable producer MBO
Sequoia Capital has teamed up with the chairman and CEO of Chinese vegetable producer Le Gaga Holdings to submit a buyout offer that values the NASDAQ-listed company at around $183 million. Le Gaga has seen its net profit increase fourfold over the last...
CDH to make distributions of $1b for the year
CDH Investments has distributed $500 million to LPs in the last seven months and is on course to return a similar amount by September. The China GP has made full exits from real estate developer Sunac and auto parts firm Nanjing Aotecar during the period,...
China's Cathay resumes pursuit of Discovery Metals
Chinese private equity firm Cathay Fortune Corporation (CFC) has made a renewed takeover bid for Australia-listed mining company Discovery Metals. The offer is the latest development in ongoing spat between CFC and Discovery Metals, whose principal asset...
China’s Fosun nears first close on $1b outbound fund
Fosun International is targeting $1 billion for its Chinese Momentum Fund that will invest in foreign companies seeking to expand in China, with a particular focus on Europe. The fund is approaching a first close in excess of $300 million, AVCJ has been...
Chinese PE regulation: Tug-of-war
The National Development and Reform Commission and China Securities Regulatory Commission have yet to resolve their dispute over private equity oversight. Uncertainty isn't helpful to industry participants
NDRC private equity executive moves to CSRC
Liu Jianjun, a senor official at the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) who oversaw the private equity division, has been handed a leading role within the China Securities Regulatory Commission's (CSRC) fund department. The move comes amid...
China GP differentiation: Plain vanilla no more
Independent funds have dominated Chinese private equity, but now princeling and affiliate funds have entered the market, offering their own competitive edge. GPs are realizing the merits of differentiation
Oceanic Iron gets backing from Sino-Canada resources fund
Canada's Oceanic Iron Ore has received non-brokered financing of $3 million from Sino-Canada Natural Resources Fund, which will be issued convertible debentures.
China value-add: Empty promises?
Pulled by a desire to buy and build or pushed by a need to address restricted exit options, PE firms in China are placing greater emphasis on operational value-add. LPs must decide who’s all talk and who is action
Internal tensions
Henpecked husband versus nagging wives - this was the description attached to the china GP-LP relationship in a recent paper. It makes one think of the times fund managers have remarked on getting phone calls from some of their, erm, keener fund-of-funds...
Q&A: CDH Investments' Shangzhi Wu
CDH Investments is one of China’s longest-standing private equity operators. Shangzhi Wu, chairman and managing partner of the firm, reflects on how the investment environment has evolved
Japan restructuring opportunities on the rise – PE survey
Japan is expected to emerge as a hotspot for restructuring over the next 12 months as domestic industries consolidate and foreign multinationals reassess their activities in a weak and demographically challenged consumer market. South Korea and Japan...
Blackstone tables $660m take-private bid for China’s Pactera
The Blackstone Group has joined the flood of private equity firms targeting China take-privates, backing a management buyout of US-listed tech outsourcing firm Pactera Technology International. It takes the number of private equity-supported transactions...
Goldman completes exit from ICBC
Goldman Sachs has sold its remaining stake in Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the nation's largest lender, for around $1.1 billion - seven years after its first investment.
China’s SAFE sets up in New York, targets PE – report
China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), which overseas $3.2 trillion in foreign currency reserves, is said to set up a New York operation to invest in private equity, real estate and other US assets. The move is seen as part of the...
Advent adds operating partners for China chemicals sector
Advent International has made the first additions to its global operating partner program in China, with Michael Ming-Yue Zhu and William Tsao recruited to advise on investment opportunities in the chemicals sector.
Survival of the fittest: China's internet giants go toe to toe
China's internet giants are on an acquisition spree as they seek to diversify their product platforms and carve out competitive positions in a battle that is likely to see valuations rise and rise
Four VCs invest in China Bama Tea Series A round
IDG Capital Partners, Tiantu Capital, Shenzhen-based Cowin Capital and Tianjixing Capital have jointly invested in a Series A round of funding for Anxi Bama Tea worth RMB150 million ($24 million).
KKR, CDH near end of dairy value-add story
After months of conjecture, and even a regulatory disclosure outlining its intent, China Mengniu Dairy has finally built up a commanding stake in its long-standing milk supplier China Modern Dairy. Mengniu already owned 1% of the company and has now added...
Structured solutions: GPs consider equity alternatives
Mainstream GPs in Asia are becoming more open to investments based on debt rather than equity, addressing entrepreneurs' reluctance to give up stakes in their businesses. How significant is the opportunity?
UK drug developer Vectura partners PE on China JV
Vectura, a UK-based drug company, has teamed up with Hong Kong-based PE investor Zendex Bio Strategy and Tianjin KingYork Group to form a joint venture that will develop respiratory products in China and other Asian markets.
Adveq hires first China head
Swiss fund-of-funds Adveq has appointed Ron Li as head of China, in a bid to develop its private equity and real assets offering in the country.
AsiaInfo-Linkage finally accepts CITIC-backed MBO offer
Chinese telecom software provider AsiaInfo-Linkage has accepted a take-private offer from CITIC Capital Partners that values the company at approximately $890 million. The initial offer was made last January but has taken the AsiaInfo board about 16 months...
Alibaba invests $294m in Chinese digital mapping firm
Alibaba Group has agreed to pay $294 million for a 28% stake in AutoNavi Holdings, a Chinese digital mapping company listed in the US. The deal is further evidence of cash-rich Chinese internet companies’ increasing acquisitiveness as they seek to diversify...