Analysis
Investcorp: Into Asia
Investcorp entered the region last year through a fund commitment in China and the acquisition of an alternative investment platform in India. The firm’s top executives explain the rationale
GP profile: IMM Private Equity
As one of oldest GPs in South Korea, IMM Private Equity has helped to show both domestic and global investors that the PE community can bring major benefits to the country’s corporate sector
China AI: Deep questions
Concerns around valuations, commercialization timelines, deal targeting, and brand perceptions are coming into focus as China’s AI ecosystem catapults to global prominence
Fund focus: Old heads, new firm
Just over two years after its founders spun out from KKR, DCP Capital has raised China’s joint-largest first-time fund on record. The firm sees opportunities emerging in a changing commercial environment
Grab vs Go-Jek: Hitting the gas
As Grab and Go-Jek accumulate war chests to finance their battle for leadership in Indonesia’s online services space, the greatest benefit could go to the next generation of local technology entrepreneurs
China fintech in Indonesia: Uncertainty bites
Indonesia’s fintech space represents an attractive market for Chinese start-ups looking to go cross-border. However, their reputation has been soured by misbehaving P2P lending platforms
Indonesia exits: Unmet expectations?
Indonesia has become a source of frustration for LPs that want to see more exits. A weak currency, slower growth and rising competition aren’t helping GPs as they seek to deliver the required returns
Indonesia infrastructure: Forging frameworks
Indonesia has set the stage for more private sector involvement in a government-dominated and desperately underdeveloped infrastructure space. A range of intangibles could impede the integration
1Q analysis: China malaise
First quarter analysis: China uncertainty hits PE investment; public market instability holds back IPOs; distress strategies underpin India fundraising as commitments to China-focused managers plummet
China tech valuations: Unnatural acts
China’s tech sector is gripped by uncertainty, but some GPs will do anything to avoid marking down their portfolios. LPs are entitled to ask whether unicorns are still worthy of a billion-dollar valuation
China's foreign investment law: A level playing field?
China’s new foreign investment law appears to make life easier for overseas investors in some areas, but uncertainty remains in others. Industry participants are waiting for more details to emerge in 2020
Asia's lower-tier cities: New horizons
PE and VC players are slowly discovering the investment and business expansion opportunities in the lower-tier cities of developing Asia. Risk-reward calculations are becoming more complex in the process
Southeast Asia manufacturing: Back in the game
Contract manufacturers are reconsidering their exposure to China in the light of trade tensions with the US. Southeast Asia stands to benefit, but companies will have to navigate an increasingly complicated landscape
Indian agtech: Technology harvest
Indian investors are excited about a growing wave of agricultural technology start-ups focused on solving practical problems faced by farmers, but achieving scale with a limited scope will be a challenge
GP profile: Allegro Funds
The first 15 years of Australia’s Allegro Funds have been marked by a series of changes both to the firm and its market. Adapting to meet them has proven to be one of the turnaround specialist’s greatest strengths
Preferred equity: Last in, first out
Issuing preferred equity to secondary investors is a short-cut to liquidity for China VCs with valuable portfolios but few exits. The strategy isn’t universally popular, but what will it take for GPs to make the leap?
Japan VC: Positive energy
Japan’s quiet venture capital space is booming within its own borders. Signs of a stronger exit market and an exuberant influx of corporate involvement are encouraging themes, but they will play out slowly
China ESG: Societal shift
China’s ESG compliance drive reflects a long structural change for financial markets and an evolutionary process for local business culture. Many investment variables are unique
China B2B trading platforms: Business friendly
Online B2B trading platforms have the potential to bring efficiency and pricing transparency to the more fragmented segments of China’s industrial economy. It’s all about picking the right vertical at the right time
China investment: Looking up in a downturn
Private equity firms that held back from investing in 2018 as uncertainty gripped China’s economy now see reasons to get busy again. With few macro tailwinds, GPs will be judged on their ability to pick winners
China distress: Dining on defaults
GPs expect a wave of non-performing loan sales in China as the slowing economy leaves banks with more bad debts to resolve, but could the distress investment opportunity be even broader than they envisage?
Chinese e-commerce: Community counts
A host of Chinese community e-commerce start-ups want to replicate the group-buying might of Meituan-Dianping and the social media savvy of Pinduoduo. They are getting capital, but can they achieve scale?
Development finance: The great game
As the US overhauls its development finance institution in response to China’s growing infrastructure investment, the PE industry is preparing for a world in which politics goes hand-in-hand with capital
Australia cross-border: Fool me once
Asian markets continue to represent an attractive destination for Australian PE-backed companies, but investors will need to show increasingly skeptical buyers that their cross-border plans have borne fruit