Official Record
Creador makes SE Asia e-payment breakthrough
Creador spent a couple of years looking for ways to enter Southeast Asia’s electronic payments space without much success. “We are a firm believer that there is a shift from cash to credit and debit solutions and e-commerce will push this to the next...
J-Star buys ‘fourth hand’ Primagest
Primagest, a firm whose primary business is using optical character recognition (OCR) to turn documents in data, appears every bit the tech-savvy up and comer. However, it has been doing the same thing – in one form or another – for 45 years.
Panasonic unit gets KKR cure
KKR's acquisition of Panasonic Healthcare marks a return to form for the firm after its earlier efforts to acquire Japanese chipmaker Renesas were frustrated by the government-backed Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ). The deal had raised...
KKR, CDH go greenfield in China
KKR isn’t known for backing start-ups, but the risks associated with the firm’s recent foray into dairy farm ownership in China are tempered by the presence of familiar partners. For its first control deal in China and its first greenfield deal globally,...
MSPEA completes quiet Korea acquisition
Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia’s (MSPEA) investment in Ssangyong C&B and Monalisa is like an iceberg: only one sixth was immediately visible. When the deal was first announced earlier this year, the information disclosed concerned a South Korean...
TPG exits a more diversified UT Capital
Property prices in China are inextricably linked to government policy. Vigilant to the emergence of bubbles in different geographies and segments, the authorities are ready with measures to curb price growth, but they must also ensure a sector that contributes...
NSR has an appetite for Moshe’s
“The typical Indian family stereotype today is different to that of my parents’ generation,” says Parag Saxena, founding general partner and CEO of New Silk Route (NSR). “Back then my mother would cook the meals and keep the house running while...
Investors book passage with Tuniu
Most Travel e-commerce companies in China are essentially search engines that provide information on hotel and flight bookings plus a payment mechanism. The team at Tuniu opted for a different tack, focusing specifically on packaged tourism, and they...
MOPE raises $155m India growth fund
Motilal Oswal Private Equity (MOP) opted for more of the same when raising its second growth capital vehicle - India Business Excellence Fund (IBEF) II - remaining focused on domestic consumption, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing and infrastructure...
Ironbridge's creative liquidity solution
Stapled secondaries and GP restructurings have become common parlance as Asia's private equity investors grapple with a challenging fundraising environment, even though talk still overshadows action. In each case, new investors come in to replace old,...
SmartPay joins Ping An’s e-payment push
Ping An Insurance Group has taken the fight to Alibaba Group once before. In 2010 it bought an 80% stake in online grocery retailer Yihaodian and helped build the business into one of China’s leading B2C e-commerce players, finding space in the corner...
Navis in Australia demographics play
Australian politicians have long debated ways to enlarge the country’s tax base as they prepare for the economic ramifications of a spiraling dependency ratio. By 2050 there will be just 2.7 people of working age for each person aged 65 and over, compared...
Grocery tycoon launches China retail fund
After selling his family business, Chinese hypermarket chain Home World Group, Yucun Du was on the lookout for a new project. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised to learn that he set up a private equity firm.
China’s BVCF targets super bacteria
“Large pharmaceutical firms aren’t putting a lot of resources into developing antibiotics nowadays because they can make more money producing drugs for chronic-related diseases, or cancer treatments,” observes Zhi Yang, founder and managing partner...
L Capital Asia eyes bigger deals, mature markets for Fund II
Larger deals, including a few buyouts, are likely to feature more prominently in L Capital Asia’s second regional fund as the GP expands its attention to the more developed markets of Australia, Japan and South Korea, as well as bringing to bear the...
Quadrant backs City Farmers’ tech-based strategy
With a longstanding interest in Australia’s pet supplies industry, Quadrant Private Equity examined all the major independent players in search of a business suitable for rapid scaling up and expansion nationwide. In Perth-headquartered City Farmers,...
CDH, Belle to make Baroque big in China
Secondary direct deals frequently stumble on valuations. Private equity investors are sitting on either side of the table and both are hardwired to get the best possible price; the lingering fear is leaving the table with a deal that is either significantly...
IMM, Mirae forge POSCO steel investment
POSCO Specialty Steel (PSS) CAME into being 1997 when steelmaker POSCO bought most of manufacturing facilities of Sammi Specialty Steel, one of a host of Korean corporates struggling to service its debts in the midst of a credit crisis.
Bain exits Domino's Japan, retains slice
The pizza delivery market in Japan is very different from that of the US. Rather than a budget takeout option, pizza is treated as something of a luxury and customers are willing to pay a premium for quality. Japanese tastes differ too. In addition to...
Northstar's Singapore buyout starts a new ERA
Singapore property developers sold 481 new homes in July, about one quarter of the previous month's total. It was the predictable result of real estate cooling measures introduced at the end of June that restrict monthly mortgage payments to no more than...
Car Clubs enters the fast lane
Bicycles are thje kings of the road in Hangzhou. Following a program that was successfully introduced in Paris, the city in China's Zhejiang province has made a stock of about 66,500 bicycles available for hire. Journeys begin at one of 2,700 stations...
Clearlake backs Futuris to buck downturn
The A$200 million ($178 million) state bailout for Australia's auto industry comes after years of decline in manufacturing. Industry production numbers are the lowest since 1957. Toyota and General Motors (GM) have scaled back production amid export pressure...
Deal focus: Affinity agrees chaebol restructuring carve-out
Apple iTunes store has a library of more than 26 million songs, a presence in 119 countries and revenues of $12.9 billion in 2012. Its US market share is around 63%.
VCs back India SME group-buying service
Despite there being around 47 million small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in India, the segment has not yet participated in the country's e-commerce boom. While 51% of online SMEs use the internet to advertise, a mere 27% use it for trade, according...