Analysis
PE targets deep distress
As Asian economic development becomes increasingly interlocked, regionally and globally, contractual arrangements are getting more complex. This is pointedly clear when problems, such as non-payment of large sums owed, occur. One prominent Asian distress...
Should private equity investors trust IRR?
Since the early days of private equity, the internal rate of return (IRR) has served as the industry’s prime metric. It is perhaps best known as the gauge which underpins fund managers’ claims that they deliver better returns than the public equity markets....
Secondaries in Asia: Small beginnings
The global secondary investments industry announced its arrival in Asia not with a bang, but with a spate of office rentals. HarbourVest Partners’ moved first, relocating Tim Flower, a London-based vice president, to Hong Kong in October of last year....
Secondaries: The direct approach
Working for a fund held captive or semi-captive within an investment bank is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it promises access to deal flow and resources that independent funds can only wish for. On the other, it is hard to raise money from third...
PE firms clean China's water
The availability of water to feed China’s citizens and its growing industries has become a top priority for the government in recent years. It is now well known that the country’s per capita water resources are one quarter of the global average. Greenpeace...
PE and the debt crisis: Coping with chaos
Private equity investors, accustomed to 5-7 year horizons, shouldn’t be overly concerned by short-term fluctuations in the public markets. It is a reassuring boilerplate statement, but given the volatility of the last fortnight, perhaps it is easier said...
Japanese property plays
Distressed investment in Japan is very much a real estate game and the opportunities are considerable – provided you can get a seat at the table. Long-term market participants are eying office buildings in major cities such as Tokyo and Osaka, aware that...
Turnarounds in Thailand
Any discussion of private equity opportunities in Southeast Asia seems to hone in on Indonesia. Rich in commodities and with high household consumption levels, the country is perceived as large and lucrative enough for big ticket transactions. Thailand...
CITIC's mezzanine initiative still veiled in secrecy
The news was brief yet had potentially far-reaching consequences: the private equity arm of Chinese financial behemoth CITIC Group would launch a RMB5 billion ($777 million) renminbi-denominated mezzanine fund.
Indonesia's GPs: Subscriptions wanted
Around 15 Fund-of-Funds LPs descended on Jakarta earlier this year to conduct due diligence on Northstar Pacific Partners’ third buyout fund. The Indonesian private equity firm set an initial target of $500 million but the final close is believed to be...
India regulation: SEBI takes a stand
The Uniqueness of India's private equity sector is a product of its own unsystematic development – a process that has been largely hands-off from a regulatory standpoint, cultivated by the professionals, emerging investors and the spinoff funds within...
Asia distressed assets: Off the radar
A decade ago, in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis, the region’s distressed assets were all the rage as investors moved in for opportunities to turnaround businesses that were underfinanced or failing. With emerging economies now flourishing,...
INCJ: Collaborator or competitor?
The Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ) has always divided opinion. The government-run entity, which operates with the support of local corporations, is intended to support new growth businesses.
Funds dine out in China
Private equity is banking on all-you-can-eat opportunities in China. Last week, Apax Partners became the latest fund to enter the low-to-mid-priced food market, with the acquisition of Golden Jaguar, a buffet-style restaurant chain specializing in Western...
Women in private equity: Minority report
When asked to name most difficult aspect of being a woman in private equity, Lisa Suennen, co-founder and managing member of California-based venture capital healthcare investor Psilos Group, cites the adage that women need to work twice as hard to get...
Is China pushing VCs out of third-party payment?
Jack Ma is every bite the internet pioneer. In Alibaba.com, he created China’s leading business-to-business trading platform; Taobao swept aside eBay to become the number-one auction website; and the launch of Alipay, a third-party payment service, plugged...
Funds monetize Japan's aging demographic
Japan may be the world second-largest economies but, by Asian standards, it is also one of the most mature. GDP growth is lackluster and the consumer market is pedestrian compared to those of the region’s emerging nations, which are still driven by urbanization,...
China's brokerages get the green light to launch funds
The flood of entrants into China's domestic private equity market has largely been driven by cash-rich companies, local government entities and high net worth individuals all chasing pre-IPO deals. Formal financial institutions have found themselves held...
China's farms show growth potential
Got milk? Olympus Capital Holdings Asia certainly has – more than 72,000 tons of it, in fact. The private equity firm, with co-investors Mueller Milch Management and unnamed existing investors, last week took an undisclosed significant minority stake...
China funds: Cult of personality
Wang Gongquan's apparent departure from China’s private equity industry was nothing if not dramatic. An early-stage investment pioneer with IDG Venture Partners, Wang went on to found CDH Venture Capital, notably guiding Qihoo 360 to the US markets in...
PE advisers prepare for US registration requirements
The US has adopted registration and disclosure provisions for investment advisers, leaving the private equity industry to fret about the costs and hassles of compliance
Vietnam's road to reform
A strong consumer market is one of Vietnam’s most appealing qualities, but long-term economic stability is still required
India's lower-tier urban opportunities
As demand for consumer goods rises among India’s 1.2 billion population, private equity has been scouring the cities for a windfall. Yet, this growth – and the competition for deals that has arisen from it – has also prompted a handful of private equity...
Islamic finance: From Middle East to Far East
Shari’Ah-compliant private equity investing is all about being ethical – so how exactly did one fund end up investing in a Malaysia-based company with ties to a brewery? Alcohol-related companies are, of course, strictly off limits for Islamic investing....