Southeast Asia
CVC in talks to buy Philippines BPO asset – report
CVC Capital Partners is reportedly in exclusive talks to buy a majority stake in SPi Global Holdings from Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT). The deal is worth about $320 million including debt.
KKR boosts Masan Consumer stake with $200m investment
KKR has more than doubled its investment in Vietnam’s Masan Consumer Corp. (Masan), committing $200 million on top of the $159 million it paid for a 10% stake in the company two years ago. It is the largest ever private equity investment in Vietnam, breaking...
Blackstone appoints ex-PwC executive as Singapore chairman
The Blackstone Group has named Gautam Banerjee as Singapore chairman and appointed him to its international advisory board. He was previously executive chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers Singapore and also served as the accounting firm’s COO for China,...
GIC appoints Lim Chow Kiat as CIO
Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) has named Lim Chow Kiat as its new group chief investment officer, effective February 1. Lim, currently the sovereign wealth fund’s deputy CIO, will replace Ng Kok Song, who is retiring after 42 years...
Indonesia's Berrybenka gets funding from Gree Ventures
Gree Ventures, the VC arm of social Japanese social networking giant Gree, has completed its third investment in Indonesia, providing a Series A round of funding to fashion-focused e-commerce start-up Berrybenka. The size of the investment was not disclosed....
CapAsia to launch $350m infrastructure fund
Singapore-based Capital Advisors Partners Asia (CapAsia) is in the process of launching a new infrastructure fund to invest in projects across Southeast Asia. The fund - CapAsia ASEAN Infrastructure III - will start out with $100 million and eventually...
LPs on Asia: The risk factor
Proximity is reassuring. It shouldn't be surprising that a corporate governance scandal in Asia triggers concerns among institutional investors in North America who are far removed from the information flow and first hear the news via newspaper headlines...
Summit invests $26m in Southeast Asia online retailer
Summit Partners has invested EUR20 million ($26.4 million) in the German holding company of Southeast Asian online retailer Lazada. The capital will be used to expand the company’s product offering.
Templeton fully divests second emerging markets fund
Franklin Templeton has exited all the investments held in its second emerging markets fund, which was established in 2005 and had a corpus of $132.5 million. The vehicle has generated a net IRR of 34.3% and a money multiple of 2.1x.
Abraaj exits Thai restaurant chain Hot Pot after IPO
The Abraaj Group has exited restaurant chain Hot Pot after taking the company public on the Stock Exchange of Thailand in September. Hot Pot sold 101.9 million shares at THB2.80 apiece, raising THB285.3 million ($9.3 million), in an offering that was...
2012: That was the year that was
The broad trends and particular highlights of private equity fundraising, investment and exit activity in Asia
Singapore travel website gets seed funding from TNF, SingTel Innov8
Singapore-based online travel booking site Flocations has raised $570,000 seed funding round led by TNF Ventures and including SingTel Innov8, the corporate venture arm of SingTel – and angel investor Ben Ball.
Sinagpore's Ventrillion invests $15m in Clean Coal
Singapore’s Ventrillion Management has agreed to invest up to $15 million in US-listed Clean Coal Technologies. The company, which holds patents for technology that converts raw coal into a cleaner burning fuel, will use the proceeds to complete its pilot...
Northstar buys 49% stake in Trimegah Securities
Northstar Pacific Partners has acquired a 49% stake in Indonesian brokerage Trimegah Securities for IDR200 billion ($20.8 million). The investment was channeled through Northstar Equity Partners III, which closed last year at $820 million.
Asia Awards: Exit of the Year – King's Safetywear
Navis Capital Partners' acquisition of King’s Safetywear in 2008 didn’t happen at an opportune time. One week after the firm completed its $62 million take-private deal and de-listed King’s from the Singapore Stock Exchange, Lehman Brothers collapsed...
Cleantech: Moving beyond subsidies
With its reputation for lackluster returns and dependence of government support, investors have shied away from cleantech, but GPs are bullish about its ability to stand on its own feet
CHAMP-backed Shelf Drilling completes $1b acquisition
Shelf Drilling, the Dubai-based shallow water drilling services company backed by Australia’s CHAMP Private Equity, its US affiliate Castle Harlan, and Lime Rock Partners, has completed the acquisition of assets worth $1.05 billion. The PE investment,...
Lombard sells 10% stake in Thai department store chain
Lombard Investments has exited its 10% holding in Robinson Department Store, a mid-market retailer in Thailand, for approximately $219 million.
Aureos, GSB exit Thai hospital interest to Malaysia's KPJ
Aureos Capital and GSB Private Funds – a vehicle set up by Thailand’s Government Savings Bank and managed by ING – have agreed to exit their holdings in Vejthani Hospital to KPJ Healthcare, a hospital chain with assets in Malaysia and Indonesia for THB605.6...
Ex-Carlyle Southeast Asia head joins CIMB
The former Southeast Asia head of The Carlyle Group, Anand Balasubrahmanyan, has joined Malaysia's CIMB Group, where he will have responsibility for the firm's private equity products.
Malaysia's Ekuinas wants Icon Offshore to list by 2014
Ekuinas, the Malaysia sovereign wealth fund, plans to list its oil and gas services unit, Icon Offshore, within three years. Abdul Rahman Ahmad, the Icon’s CEO, said the company was already eligible for an IPO but they want to wait until earnings justify...
Auctions: The new normal
Private equity firms love selling assets via auction but hate buying them through such channels. As Asian company owners become more sophisticated, bidding contests for large assets are becoming more frequent.
Dymon targets Singapore mid-market PE
Dymon Asia Private Equity (DAPE) sees a gap in the Singapore mid-market. With the likes of Baring Private Equity Asia and Navis Capital Partners having scaled up their fund corpuses to $1 billion or more in the last six years, ticket sizes have passed...
Everstone tables buyout offer for Singapore's Harry's Holdings
Everstone Capital has launched a takeover bid for Singapore-listed bar and restaurant operator Harry’s Holdings worth up to S$21.8 million ($17.8 million). The company founder, Mohan Mulani, and his wife Rita – who between them have a 45.9% stake in the...