Official Record
Saratoga aims for differentiation
When Saratoga Capital was preparing to launch its third fund in July 2011, the elephant in the room was Northstar Pacific Partners. A few months earlier Northstar closed its own third fund at $820 million. Would LPs still be keen on when Saratoga came...
Carlyle sees value in mid-market hotels
Marriott to Hilton to Shangri-La, international hotel brands are buys expanding their footprints in China. Among the country’s 600 five-star hotels, more than 500 are still under construction, and average occupancy rates are barely 60%, the lowest in...
Warburg Pincus in China car hire play
Two months ago, China Auto Rental was preparing to list on NASDAQ. The car hire provider set a target of $138 million for what would be only the second IPO by a Chinese company in the US this year. The experiences of the first did not bode well: VC-backed...
Bain closes second Asia fund at $2.3b
A host of leading PE firms is in the market, seeking to raise pan-Asia funds of $2 billion or more. Last week, Bain Capital became the first to cross the finish line. Its second regional fund closed at $2.3 billion, roughly halfway between the initial...
CVC buys into C.Banner’s organic growth story
Over the course of 17 years, C.Banner Holdings has become China’s third-largest ladies footwear retailer, building up a network of more than 1,800 outlets and four self-developed brands. Growth has been entirely organic: Chinese retailers habitually...
Hopu sees slim return on Mengniu investment
Four years on from the tainted milk scandal that cost the lives of six infants and hospitalized hundreds more, the memories still loom large over the dairy industry.
AVCJ China Awards: VC Professional of the Year – Bo Feng
Bo Feng, founding partner of Ceyuan Ventures, on the treats and trials of VC investing in China
AVCJ China Awards: RMB Fundraising of the Year – Cowin Capital
After barely three months in the market, Shenzhen-based Cowin Capital successfully closed its Nanhai Growth Fund V in June 2011 at a total of RMB2.5 billion ($393 million). The vehicle took the VC firm’s total assets under management past RMB7.5 billion.
AVCJ China Awards: VC Deal of the Year – Dianping.com
As China’s leading restaurant reviews website, Dianping.com has developed a business model that is difficult for others to replicate. VC backers TrustBridge, Lightspeed, Sequoia and Qiming don’t expect this to change
AVCJ China Awards: PE Deal of the Year – Alibaba Group
Silver Lake started building relations with Alibaba Group almost as soon as it launched its Asia operations in 2008. It was the logical thing to do: the private equity firm assiduously builds relationships with senior management at most of the world’s...
AVCJ China Awards: PE Exit of the Year – Beijing Leader & Harvest
Much is made of the commercial implications of China’s clean energy drive. The government has pledged to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and energy intensity, promote industrial efficiency and minimize industrial pollution, protect forests, curb motor...
Unitas in timely bet on Korea’s outdoor market
As in most proprietary deals, timing was everything when it came to Unitas’ most recent investment. By fortuitous coincidence, the Asia-focused private equity firm approached Korean outdoor apparel and equipment manufacturer NEPA at the very moment...
AVCJ China Awards: PE Professional of the Year – David Liu
David Liu, KKR member and head of the firm’s China operations, explains how the drop in public market valuations has created a swath of deal-making opportunities
AVCJ China Awards: Firm of the Year – Hony Capital
Hony Capital further endorsed its claim to be China’s preeminent domestic PE firm, raising a $2.4 billion US dollar fund and securing some landmark investments
VC players back $45m PubMatic mezz round
It is no exaggeration to say that real-time bidding (RBT) is transforming online display advertising. For years, customers bid for slots in bulk, paying a flat rate for each one; there was no way to improve cost efficiency by bidding for particular opportunities.
Jacob Ballas supports Indian diagnostics chain
The $40 billion Indian healthcare market is growing rapidly and has seen numerous PE investments into hospital chains and pharmaceutical companies. However, the country’s diagnostic expertise and infrastructure still lag behind.
India’s Komli raises $39m in Series D round
India-based Komli Media, a provider of online advertising solutions across mobile, video, social networks and search engines, has attracted $39 million in Series D funding from venture capital firms, in a move to expand its presence across Asia.
PE firms remain in the hunt for Kyobo Life
The sale of a one third interest in Kyobo Life, the smallest of South Korea’s Big Three life insurers, was always going to be a two-phase affair. The first phase – Korea Asset Management Corp. (KAMCO) exiting its 9.9% stake in the company – is now...
SBI, FMO launch $80m financial services fund
Japan's SBI Holdings and Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) have jointly rolled out a new fund that will invest in financial services across emerging Asia. The SBI-FMO Emerging Asian Financial Services Fund is targeting up to $80 million in...
Intel bets on Vietnam’s information highway
Imagine initialing every page of a 1,200-page equity agreement. Sudheer Kuppam, managing director of Intel Capital APAC, did exactly that over the last few months, for the paperwork for a transaction with Vietnam Communication Corp (VC Corp), a leading...
PE giants exit AMC to Chinese investor
Dalian Wanda Group’s ambitions appear to know no bounds. Last week the conglomerate completed what could be the largest ever Chinese takeover of a US company, paying $2.6 billion for AMC Entertainment. Wanda’s goal is to unite AMC’s movie theater...
Fairbridge buys Thomas Cook India for $150m
Thomas Cook has now sold its India business twice in the space of six years. The asset was first offloaded to Dubai Financial in 2005 as a package deal including licenses to operate the brand in the Middle East, as Thomas Cook divested non-core assets...
CIPEF closes emerging markets fund at $3b
Capital International has closed its sixth emerging markets private equity fund at its hard cap of $3 billion, making it the largest vehicle of its kind to be raised in the last five years.
Armstrong launches SE Asia cleantech fund
Southeast Asia has abundant solar radiation, agricultural resources and biomass when compared to North Asian and European countries. However, the use of clean energy in the region is still somewhat limited. Singapore-based clean energy asset manager Armstrong...