Opinion
China technology: King content
The proposed acquisitions of online video platform Youku Tudou by Alibaba could be a crucial move in the battle for content being contested by China's internet giants
Hong Kong vs Singapore VC: Flawed comparisons
Singapore has easily surpassed Hong Kong in terms of venture capital investment for the last four years, but that data should be assessed in the context of wider industry dynamics
Exit options: China trade sales
Acquisitive mainland-listed Chinese companies have become the primary movers in the country's private equity trade sale market
AVCJ: Under new ownership
I am proud to announce that AVCJ is now part of the Mergermarket Group. This brings to an end to Incisive Media’s nine-year tenure as owner of the AVCJ brand.
ESG in action
As a content provider for the Asian private equity industry, identifying topics that appeal to readers and conference attendees is at times challenging. As a weekly product, the journal is able to cover a wider variety of subject matter than our less-frequently-held...
Big deals: Buyouts, tech transactions and the AVCJ Awards
Starting with the acquisition of Japan Telecom’s fixed-line business in 2003, Asia has seen 29 buyouts of $2 billion or more, although about 10 of those could be classified as large-scale infrastructure deals somewhat removed from the corporate private...
Fundraising: Cracking the Korean LP
Korea’s LP community has been compared to an iceberg: the tip is very visible but getting to the lump of uncommitted capital that lurks beneath surface can be far more difficult. GPs on the fundraising trail must ask themselves whether it is worth the...
Nominations open for the 15th AVCJ Awards
Following a significant change in format last year, the 2015 - and 15th - AVCJ Private Equity & Venture Capital Awards features just one new prize. The venture capital deal of the year category has been split in two: early stage technology and late stage...
The race to stay relevant
The last couple of weeks have been relatively slow as the industry shakes off the summer doldrums. We are now beginning to see more activity on the deal-making front, as well as a few interesting fund launches such as Chang Sun’s new China agribusiness...
India exits: Where’s the cash?
India Value Fund Advisors (IVFA) has now raised five funds. The first is fully liquidated and the second is close to that mark. The third will deliver the bulk of the $600-700 million the GP expects to return to LPs this year, and the fourth – a 2009...
Graybeards: External directors and PE portfolio companies
Just over eight years ago, I penned an article for another publication on the role of independent directors at Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs). This was mid-2007, and China Construction Bank (CCB), Bank of China (BoC) and Industrial & Commercial...
Hong Kong profit tax: Breakthrough
The move to extend the profit tax exemption for offshore funds in Hong Kong to include private equity has been more than two years in the making. After various lobbying efforts, plans to extend the exemption – already enjoyed by the hedge fund industry...
China's stock markets: Coping with volatility
The recent fall in China's stock markets had some investors concerned about the prospects of the country's private equity market. GPs, naturally, downplayed the impact on private market activity, stressing that LPs should focus on the longer-term opportunities.
India IPOs: Best intentions
Should Cafe Coffee Day, the largest player in India's chained café market, succeed in raising INR11.5 billion ($180 million) in its IPO, it would be the largest PE-backed offering on a domestic bourse in close to eight years.
US-listed Chinese companies: Compliance costs
Chinese mobile game publisher iDreamSky Technology went public on NASDAQ in August 2014 after raising $116 million in its IPO. This windfall came with a price tag: the company paid $4.65 million in costs, most of it in accounting and legal expenses. A...
A team sport: PE and personalities
Private equity is a people business - this is an oft-repeated phrase at AVCJ events and certainly one that continues to be relevant.
Japan buyouts: Large check limbo
It is not a phenomenon unique to Japan. Pick a major Asian market with public markets trading at or close to an all-time high and you find a cumulative private equity investment figure that is lagging the previous year’s pace.
Fund restructuring: The waiting game
The message has always been: Look at what’s happening in the US and Europe to get an idea of what is likely to happen in Asia. The follow-up question: Okay, but when? The answer: Soon, but not yet.
China cross-border: A helping hand
When Hony Capital bought Pizza Express for about GBP880 million ($1.5 billion) last year, the plan was to turn the UK-based restaurant chain’s nascent China presence into a commanding one. The private equity firm then built a dedicated platform for...
Institutional investors: Join the club
Tales of large pension funds and sovereign wealth funds gathering in five-star hotels to map out their ultimate dominance of private equity are legion, if perhaps overblown.
Changing China: Economics and private equity
The phrase "new normal" has been used so frequently with regard to China’s economy in recent years that one wonders when it might reach its sell-by date.
PE tech boom: High stakes
It is still only May but Asia has seen 28 deals in the technology, media and telecom (TMT) space of $100 million or more. This compares to 31 in 2014 and an average of approximately 14 for the eight years before that.
China retail 2.0: The O2O effect
There are more than 2,500 retailers on Tmall, Alibaba Group’s business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce platform, claiming to sell products made by Chinese sportswear brand Li-Ning.
Southeast Asia payment platforms: Who pays?
When Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) bought a 10% stake in e-commerce incubator Rocket Internet for $444 million last year, the agreement had a notable addendum: the companies would develop a payments and remittance infrastructure for Rocket’s...