Official Record
Deal focus: Lightspeed targets solid-state LiDAR
Having assessed some 40 autonomous driving companies globally, Lightspeed China Partners decided that Hesai - a business born in the US and raised in China - is best-placed to take the technology forwards
Deal focus: Navegar dips its toe in e-commerce
Navegar sees Great Deals E-commerce, a provider of delivery and digital services to traditional retailers in the Philippines, as a proxy for growth in online shopping
AVCJ Awards 2019: Deal of the Year - Small Cap: AffaMed Therapeutics
CBC Group established biosimilars specialist AffaMed Therapeutics to remove uncertainties in the development process and to tap Chinese demand for affordable treatments
AVCJ Awards 2019: Fundraising of the Year - Mid Cap: ChrysCapital Partners
ChrysCapital Partners completed a quickfire fundraise with the support of a handful of big-ticket LPs. The India-focused firm is now eyeing up bigger-ticket deals
AVCJ Awards 2019: Exit of the Year - Mid Cap: Manuka Health
Pacific Equity Partners set up Manuka Health for an Asia-focused chapter of growth with a three-year overhaul that contributed significantly to the transformation of an industry
AVCJ Awards 2019: Firm of the Year - Mid Cap: Centurium Capital
China-focused Centurium Capital has enjoyed a productive 12 months, closing its debut US dollar fund, deploying most of the capital, and securing an early liquidity event
AVCJ Awards 2019: Responsible Investment: Organica
SEAF’s commitment to a farm-to-shop natural foods retailer highlights the idea that even sustainability-focused businesses may have room for improvement beneath the surface
AVCJ Awards 2019: Fundraising of the Year - Venture Capital: A91 Partners
A91 Partners’ spinout from Sequoia Capital showcases the deepening networks of the Indian VC space and hints that more ecosystem growth is yet to come
Fund focus: Baring sees stability in scale
Jean Eric Salata, CEO of Baring Private Equity Asia, argues that a $6.5 billion fund is not too large for Asia – he wishes he’d raised more – and explains why size increasingly represents a competitive advantage
Deal focus: Australia's SiteMinder plans international expansion
Australia-based SiteMinder benefited from being an early mover in the global hotel software space. It has joined a select group of local B2B players endowed with international scale and strong cashflow
Fund focus: Lexington targets growing Asia secondaries market
Having closed its ninth fund at $14 billion, Lexington Partners is hunting for assets in a secondary market that is becoming ever larger and diverse. Asia is on the agenda, whether it’s GP-led restructurings or LP portfolios
AVCJ Awards 2019: Deal of the Year - Mid Cap: Hangzhou UCO Cosmetics
CITIC Capital’s acquisition of Hangzhou UCO Cosmetics was predicated on the rise of China’s beauty industry, but it is also part of a broader ecosystem play
AVCJ Awards 2019: Exit of the Year - IPO: Innovent Biologics
Innovent Biologics has set a new standard for Chinese biotech, securing an innovative drug development tie-up with Eli Lilly and then completing a successful Hong Kong listing
AVCJ Awards 2019: Exit of the Year - Small Cap: Gong Cha
Unison Capital took a Korean game plan global with the Gong Cha bubble tea chain. Attention to local tastes, however, was the key to the enterprise
Fund focus: Korea’s midcap buyout space comes into focus
VIG Partners believes its recent $810 million fundraise validates the firm's middle-market strategy and spur the emergence of new domestic GPs in this area
AVCJ Awards 2019: Firm of the Year - Large Cap: PAG
China’s private consumption story continues to be a driving force for PAG Asia Capital. The GP also won prizes for Deal of the Year - Large Cap and Fundraising of the Year - Large Cap
Fund focus: Unicorn prepares for turbulence in China's VC space
China-focused venture capital fund-of-funds Unicorn Capital Partners, which has raised $350 million for its latest vehicle, expects consolidation in the tech investment space as underperforming GPs flounder
To pastures new: Asia PE people moves
A selection of the transfers, promotions, arrivals and departures in the private equity community in 2019
Talking points: 2019 in quotes
What industry participants had to say at AVCJ events on co-investment, technology opportunities in Vietnam, what LPs want to hear from GPs, Indian buyouts, long-dated funds, and late-stage deals in China deployment during times of uncertainty, responding...
Timeline: 2019 by numbers
A selection of the key fundraising, investment and exit events - presented in chronological order - from the past 12 months
Deal focus: China's Benlai takes a different approach to group buying
Community group buying businesses are beginning to struggle in China despite considerable VC investment. Fresh produce retailer Benlai believes its online-to-offline hybrid model is more sustainable
Deal focus: 2C2P brings enterprise to SE Asia fintech
Cento Ventures picked 2C2P as the first investment under its late-stage strategy, having been one over by the company's B2B approach to digital payments
Fund focus: Azalea embraces equity with fund-of-funds offering
Temasek Holdings-owned Azalea Asset Management previously used debt structures to give high net worth investors PE exposure. Its $650 million fund-of-funds is the firm’s first direct equity offering
Deal focus: EQT fulfills Laobaixing's prescription
EQT spent 11 years helping Chinese pharmacy chain Laobaixing evolve from large-format laggard into a focused and efficient operator that meets the needs of modern customers. It has now exited with a 7.7x return