Official Record
Scaling up in financial comparison
Moneysupermarket.com started out in 1993 as an offline provider of mortgage information to financial intermediaries. It went online six years later as a retail business, allowing UK consumers to search and compare different mortgage products. Credit cards,...
Singapore’s TradeGecko seals Series A round
When brothers Cameron and Bradley Priest, and Carl Thompson, arrived in Singapore from New Zealand to join start-up accelerator JFDI.Asia in 2012, the idea was to create a mobile app that would connect e-commerce companies with third-party platforms through...
LPs remain loyal to Asia Alternatives
New York State Common Retirement Fund (NYSCRF) made its first direct China commitment in 2011, investing $100 million in Hony Capital’s fifth fund. Over the preceding years, the LP fashioned a more targeted Asia strategy, complementing its participation...
Investors pay big for India grocery exposure
The last year has seen an explosion of interest in India’s grocery delivery apps. Customers order food and other goods on their smart phones; the order goes to a buyer, who purchases the goods and then delivers them to the customer’s home. The approach...
Deal focus: Ninebot’s innovation keeps it rolling
China's legendary traffic jams are a source of frustration to countless tourists and locals, not to mention a major cause of pollution. With studies putting the average speed of traffic in Beijing at 7.5 miles per hour, there is a clear opportunity for...
Steady return on SE Asia infrastructure
Most of the commuters who take Malaysia’s Cheras-Kajang Highway each day likely don’t spare a thought for its operators unless they are paying a toll. It might be a source of national pride as one of the first four-lane dual carriageways in the nation,...
PE agrees $2.1b Australia energy carve-out
In the past 18 months, Apache has sold off more than $11 billion worth of assets, ranging from oil and gas interests in the Gulf of Mexico, Egypt and Argentina to liquefied natural gas projects in Canada and Australia. To this can be added the company’s...
Dianping secures $850m pre-IPO round
Having raised $850 million - the largest disclosed round for a Chinese tech start-up so far this year – in a matter of months, Dianping is now thought to be nearing an IPO. The investment values the 12-year-old company, described as a Chinese version...
Go Scale’s China angle wins Philips deal
The auction of Dutch electronics giant Philips’ LED components and automotive lighting unit that began in June of last year drew bids from a host of global buyout firms. Bain Capital and a KKR-CVC Capital Partners consortium are among those said to...
Catapult steers through new waters
When employees at Australian Reef Pilots (ARP), which provides pilotage services through the Great Barrier Reef and Torres Straits, wanted to engineer a management buyout (MBO), they found help from a newcomer to the private equity industry: Catapult...
PEs seek a harvest in rural India
A tractor is one of the most versatile tools on a farm, but it is out of reach for many in rural India because they have no access to credit.
Baring branches into real estate
BPE Asia Real Estate, the property-focused affiliate of Baring Private Equity Asia, picks its markets based on entry price per square foot. When investing in property developments, this is inextricably tied to land costs.
TA sees promise in YeePay's offline offering
China's third-party online market hit RMB8.08 trillion ($1.3 trillion) by gross merchandise volume (GMV) last year. Alipay, Alibaba Group's payment platform, is the dominant player with a 49.6% share, according to consultancy iResearch. Tencent Holdings'...
CDH bets on Aver Asia's diversity
Southeast Asia-based equipment leasing business Aver Asia Corporation has no revenues or supplier relationships in China there is no desire to expand into the country. Yet when the company required capital, it turned to CDH Investments, a long-standing...
Vivo boosts fund for cross-border play
Healthcare-focused Vivo Capital has attracted increasing attention from LPs for its hybrid focus on the US and China. As testament to this, its latest fund - Vivo Capital Fund VIII - closed at $750 million after nine months in the market, with demand...
Ola and TaxiForSure share a ride
Car ownership in India is very low; according to the country’s 2011 census, passenger vehicle penetration is just 4.9% overall and a mere 9% for urban areas. For a country of 1.3 billion, suffering from poor public transport, it means the demand for...
KV driven by more than a sweet tooth
With incomes rising and tastes becoming more refined, Asia represents a growing market for luxury goods. Chocolate is no exception. While supply problems are partly responsible for a 30% increase in global cocoa prices over the last two years, the 60%...
The C2B segue: China used-car trading platforms
While private equity capital is pouring into China’s B2B online car-trading platforms, some investors claim to see more value in smaller scale but less-penetrated and higher-margin C2B space
Baring scales up for Fund VI
By the time Baring Private Equity Asia reached a first close on its sixth pan-regional fund it was clear that LP demand would not easily be met. Only four months earlier the fund was launched with a $3 billion target, but by October logged commitments...
Shunwei goes local with RMB fund
It is a classic China dilemma: over the past three years, Shunwei Capital Partners has been forced to pass up on a string of a good deals because the companies wanted renminbi-denominated funding and the venture capital firm only had US dollar funds.
Bain soaks in hot spring opportunity
Along with conveyer belt sushi and lively karaoke nights, the hot spring visit is a uniquely Japanese pastime popular with both locals and, increasingly, those who visit the country.
Equis in $1.7b fundraising bonanza
Equis Funds Group's first foray into Japan’s solar energy sector was at least 18 months in the making. The energy and infrastructure-focused GP mapped the entire region in terms of solar power potential and regulatory factors then, working with Partners...
China B2B platform targets supply chain disruption
Chinese B2B trading platforms Zhaogang.com and Zhaosuliao.com share more than just a desire to bring about technology-enabled disruption of inefficient offline industry supply chains. They also have several backers in common: IDG Capital Partners, Matrix...
Hahn & Co gets $1.9b for two funds
Christmas holidays are a rarity at Hahn & Co. The Korean buyout firm’s acquisition of Posfine, a slag powder business owned by steelmaker Posco, closed on December 30. The 2013 seasonal period was dominated by negotiations over a majority stake in Hanjin’s...