Distress
Warburg sues Titan Petrochemicals in Hong Kong
Warburg Pincus has sued portfolio company Titan Petrochemicals Group and some of its executives in Hong Kong’s High Court, citing misrepresentation and breaches of contract. This comes as the debt-laden shipping and oil storage firm continues talks...
Zhenrong Energy makes offer for Warburg-invested Titan
Guangdong Zhenrong Energy has offered to pay HK$150-200 million ($19.3-25.8 million) for at least 51% of Titan Petrochemicals, the debt-laden shipping and oil storage firm against which Warburg Pincus has asked a court to launch liquidation proceedings....
Titan considers stake sale as Warburg takes legal action
Titan Petrochemicals, the Hong Kong-listed shipping and oil storage firm, is in talks to sell a controlling stake to an unnamed third-party investor. The announcement comes as the company faces a winding up lawsuit filed by Warburg Pincus.
Billabong poised for takeover as share price tumbles
Australian surfwear retailer Billabong International saw its stock slump 36% when it resumed trading on Monday following a heavily discounted $225 million rights issue. The company is now worth less than one third of the value of TPG Capital’s A$841...
Australia’s old media: Where did it all go wrong?
Traditional media in Australia has been colonized by buyout houses since 2006, but a number of these assets are now in distress. Can private equity use this situation to its advantage?
SK Group raises fund to support struggling firms
Korea’s SK Group has created a KRW100 billion ($85 million) private equity fund intended to promote shared growth with smaller partner companies. Rather than offer loans to suppliers, the fund will invest directly in competitive firms that are struggling...
Kumho Industrial sells $812m in assets to Korean PE fund
Kumho Industrial, the struggling South Korean conglomerate, has sold KRW946.5 billion ($811.9 million) worth of assets to a private equity fund operated by Korea Finance Corp. in order to boost liquidity. The jettisoned assets include a stake in Daewoo...
Qantas appoints Macquarie to defend against PE bids
Qantas Airways has hired Macquarie Group to set up an internal team “to advise on the defense against potential private equity bids,” a company spokesman has confirmed. The news prompted an 11% spike in the airline’s share price to A$1.08 during...
Blackstone, Morgan Stanley buy Lloyds Australia loans for $621m - report
Blackstone and Morgan Stanley have bought 34% of a A$1.9 billion portfolio of distressed property loans for A$640 million ($621 million), from a unit of Lloyds Banking Group in Australia.
China property firms turn to PE as lender of last resort
Tightening policies imposed on Chinese real estate developers in recent years have accelerated the appetite for alternative financing channels. It represents a massive opportunity for private equity
Lazard-backed Hastie Group enters administration
Hastie Group, the Australian engineering company backed by Lazard, has entered into voluntary administration after recapitalization talks failed. It comes after recapitalization talks failed due to “accounting irregularities” led to a profits charge...
L Capital pulls out of deal to buy India’s Lilliput Kidswear
L Capital, the private equity arm of luxury group LVMH, has pulled out of the running to buy Lilliput Kidswear, according to the Indian clothing manufacturer's founder. The deal was expected to value the company at INR11 billion ($197 million), with L...
Hony to sell Elpida plant to SMIC if bid succeeds – report
Hony Capital plans to sell or outsource the operations at Elpida Memory's Hiroshima plant to China-based Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) if it wins the bid for the bankrupt Japanese chipmaker.
Hony, TPG consider bid for Japan’s Elpida Memory
Hony Capital and TPG Capital are preparing a bid for Elpida Memory, the Japanese chipmaker that filed for bankruptcy protection in February. The private equity firms are expected to face significant competition from strategic investors, with South Korea’s...
Sino-Forest’s major shareholder proposes restructuring plan
The largest shareholder in Sino-Forest has proposed a restructuring plan for the Chinese forestry company following last week’s board announcement that a Canadian court had granted protection from creditors as it looked into sale options.
Grady leaves Mount Kellett Capital – report
Mount Kellett Capital, the private equity firm started by former Goldman Sachs executive Mark McGoldrick, has reportedly lost real estate specialist Timothy Grady. He joined Mount Kellett in 2010 as a managing director, having previously worked at Merrill...
Temasek-backed Eircom applies for court protection over $4.8b debt
Eircom, the telecoms operator owned by Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek, has applied for court protection to allow it to restructure its EUR3.75 billion ($4.8 billion) debt pile.
Helmsman Capital seeks $211m for third fund - update
Helmsman Capital is currently seeking A$200 million ($211 million) for its third vehicle, Helmsman Capital Fund III.
Australia Music Group gets private equity lifeline
Revere Capital has injected funding into Australia Music Group (AMG) as part of internal restructuring efforts. Like many retailers in Australia, the company is struggling during a period of poor consumer sentiment.
China’s silent auctions
Numbers alone don't really do justice to China’s post-global financial crisis credit boom, but they are impressive nonetheless. A RMB4 trillion ($633 billion) stimulus package was announced at the end of 2008, bank lending rose nearly 130% over the...
China tipped to see more NPL deal flow
Bad debts accumulated by China’s state banks have been targeted by distressed asset investors for about a decade, with mixed results. The high-profile auctions of the mid-2000s that attracted the likes of Avenue Capital and Mellon are no more. Foreign...
Shenzhen PE firm reaches first close on debut property fund
PTiFund, a Shenzhen-based private equity firm backed by Hong Kong-listed property developer Top Spring International Holdings, has announced a first close of RMB125 million ($19.6 million) on its debut fund. The full target is RMB500 million.
Kingfisher closes in on $370m injection
Debt-ridden Indian airline Kingfisher is nearing the close of a $370 million recapitalization deal with an Indian private investor and a group of banks that should prevent it from collapsing.
Kumho Industrial to sell assets to private equity
South Korean construction and transportation firm Kumho Industrial is reportedly looking to divest KRW1 trillion ($884.5 billion) worth of assets to approximately 10 private equity funds.