Southeast Asia
Gobi makes lucrative early exit from CIB
Gobi Partners had big plans for CIB Development. The venture firm received the green light to invest in the Malaysia-based online games operator in 2010 and put together a strategy that would boost exposure in Indonesia, the region’s largest gaming market....
Templeton to roll out $300m emerging markets fund
Franklin Templeton is planning to raise $300 million for its fourth emerging markets private equity fund. The fund will provide growth capital to companies in global developing markets.
EQT Partners invests in China Healthcare
EQT Partners has teamed up with the founder of China Healthcare and put in a cash offer to take the Singapore-listed company private. The deal values China Healthcare at S$80.4 million ($64 million).
Carlyle loses Southeast Asia MD
The Carlyle Group’s Southeast Asia managing director, Anand Balasubrahmanyan, has left the firm after four-and-a-half years, having struggled to source deals in the region. This was conspicuously the case in Indonesia, a market popular with private equity...
An Australian-Asian story
Australia is the exception in Asian private equity: a market in which buyouts are routine, leveraged finance is readily available and entry and exit activity is relatively transparent. It is, one is tempted to say, Japan without the intrigue and inscrutability....
Profile: Batavia's Patrick Alexander
Patrick Alexander has been in Asia longer than the private equity industry itself. His experiences in Indonesia span Suharto, the Asian financial crisis and the country’s gradual rebirth
VIDEO: CLSA Capital Partners' Christopher Seaver
Why are you still captive? Christopher Seaver, CEO of CLSA Capital Partners, is asked this question by LPs all the time. And the answer is rooted in parent company CLSA’s history as an independent brokerage and research house, albeit with a few investment...
KKR-backed MMI plans $300m high-yield bond issue
MMI International, a KKR portfolio company, plans to issue a $300 million high-yield bond to refinance debts incurred through its 2007 buyout. The move indicates that non-traditional funding channels are opening up for private equity firms at a time when...
PE financing: Lagging leverage
Spooked by wider economic issues, European banks are pulling back from the leveraged buyout market. This presents a further challenge to private equity firms already adjusting to tighter financing conditions
Swire enters the bidding for Baring-backed Courts Asia
Hong Kong conglomerate Swire is reportedly among the bidders for Baring Private Equity Asia-invested electronics and furniture retailer Courts Asia. The sale could be worth close to $400 million.
Singapore Medical to receive $4.5m from Kendall Court
Singapore Medical Group (SMG) will receive a SGD$5.6 million ($4.5 million) investment from Kendall Court, representing the private equity’s first foray into the healthcare sector.
CLSA Capital Partners promotes Gary Ng to MD
CLSA Capital Partners has promoted Gary Ng to the position of managing director. He will remain in the firm’s Singapore office overseeing the India and Southeast Asia markets for ARIA Investment Partners.
Dunkin' Donuts exit reflects consumer appeal
Fast food is a popular commodity among private equity investors in Southeast Asia who are drawn to any asset that could be interpreted a play on rising regional consumption.
General Atlantic branches into Singapore
General Atlantic (GA) has opened an office in Singapore, adding to an Asian presence that already includes bases in Beijing, Mumbai and Hong Kong. Managing Director Abhay Havaldar will lead a team tasked with expanding the private equity firm’s reach...
Navis exits Dunkin' Donuts, Au Bon Pain in Thailand
Navis Capital Partners has completed the sale of its stake in Dunkin’ Donuts and Au Bon Pain in Thailand to local-listed Sub Sri Thai Public Company (SST) for THB1.32 billion ($41.6 million). It has secured an approximately 2.45x on its initial investment....
GIC backs Canada's Osum Oil Sands
Government of Singapore Investment Corp. (GIC) has participated in a $500 million investment in Osum Oil Sands Corp, which is looking to tap Canada’s oil sands and bitumen resources, through a private placement to a combination of new and existing investors....
CVC, Johor win board backing for Malaysian fast-food buyout
A takeover offer from CVC Capital Partners and Malaysian state investment arm Johor Corp. for fast-food chains QSR Brands and KFC Holdings has won approval from the companies’ respective boards. The consortium must now put their bid before shareholders,...
Gaming & Entertainment: PE places its bets?
Asia’s gaming culture – and casinos in particular - is a hotspot for growth. But with so much at stake, why aren’t more private equity investors placing their bets?
Michael Chae: Blackstone to focus on China, Southeast Asia in 2012
Senior Managing Director and Head of Private Equity of Blackstone in Asia Pacific Michael Chae said that China and Southeast Asia will be the firm’s investment focus in 2012, referencing the consumer growth that the geographies are expected to see next...
WI Harper, Matrix back game developer SNS Plus
WI Harper and Matrix Partners have co-led a $4 million round of funding for SNS Plus, an Asia-focused gaming company. SNS Plus has published more than 60 games on Facebook and a further 15 on other social networking platforms.
Maybank sees SE Asia cleantech potential
China and India's near monopoly over the Asian cleantech space may have come to an end if the first close last week of Maybank’s Southeast Asia-focused fund is anything to go by.
New Hope to establish $200m food fund
New Hope Group, the largest animal feed producer in China, has announced plans to establish a $200 million overseas fund to invest in food-related businesses.
Navis reaps 50% IRR on King's trade sale
Navis Capital Partners has given its investors reason for cheer. Not only did the firm exit its 2008 investment in King’s Safetywear last week for well above 50% IRR (4-5x money multiple), it also signed off the buyout of the field marketing and retail...
Southeast Asia takes on the neighbors
Southeast Asia is increasingly popular as an investment destination for private equity firms, but can it compete with China and India?