Asia Private Equity Weekly News, January 16, 2011

HONG KONG, December 26 (Reuters) – News and
developments in Asia private equity from Reuters News for the
holiday period, and the week ending Jan. 13.
JANUARY 13
TPG Capital LP is willing to invest about $1
billion in Japan’s Olympus Corp in a joint deal with
Sony Corp or another suitor circling the scandal-hit
company, a person familiar with TPG’s thinking said.
INVESTORS HAVE approved a year-long extension of a $4.7
billion property megafund from Morgan Stanley, a company
spokesman told Reuters on Friday.
JANUARY 12
HONY CAPITAL, one of China’s most successful private equity
funds, said on Thursday that it had raised nearly $4 billion
from investors, defying the increasingly tight fundraising
climate.
THE SALE of Indian developer DLF Ltd’s luxury hotel
chain, Amanresorts International, has stalled due to
lower-than-expected bids by shortlisted companies, two sources
with direct knowledge of the matter said.
JANUARY 11
ALIBABA GROUP has reduced the size of its debut
loan to $3 billion, three sources told Reuters.
LUNAR CAPITAL, a China-focused private equity fund, will pay
close to $100 million to buy a controlling stake in China’s
Yeehoo Group Ltd, a baby products maker, a source familiar with
the matter told Reuters.
AUSTRALIA’S BRAMBLES Ltd, the world’s top pallet
supplier, received first offers from private equity groups for
its U.S. document management business valued at more than $2
billion, three sources said.
JANUARY 10
JAPANESE STATE-sponsored fund, Innovation Network of Japan,
said its investment in overseas acquisitions by Japanese
companies is likely to increase this year, helped by a stronger
yen and an increase in asset sales abroad.
MALAYSIA-BASED private equity firm Navis Capital Partners
said it has completed the sale of its Dunkin’ Donuts and Au Bon
Pain businesses in Thailand to Sub Sri TPC Pcl for 1.32
billion baht ($41.56 million).
AUSTRALIAN PRIVATE equity firm Pacific Equity Partners
baulked at sweetening its A$711 million ($730 million) offer for
cleaning services company Spotless Group Ltd, raising
the prospect it could walk away from the bid.
KKR & Co has made a buyout approach to Australian
underwear manufacturer Pacific Brands Ltd that a
newspaper said could be worth $614 million, boosting its shares
20 percent and sparking talk other firms could attract similar
offers.
INDIA’S ASK Property Investment Advisors is close to raising
10 billion rupees ($192 million) for a fund that will invest in
property projects in five Indian cities, Chief Executive Amit
Bhagat said.
AMSTERDAM-BASED law firm Loyens & Loeff said it is opening a
Hong Kong office to capitalise on increased Asian interest in
investing in Benelux countries.
JANUARY 5
BLACKSTONE GROUP LP will conclude fundraising for its
latest buyout fund in January, raising just over $16 billion,
three people familiar with the matter said.
NEWQUEST CAPITAL Partners said it plans to invest up to $200
million in the next 12-18 months to acquire private equity
portfolios in Asia.
JANUARY 4
JAPAN’S RECRUIT Co has paid $410 million to buy two
temporary staffing agencies in the U.S. and Europe from buyout
firm Cerberus Capital Management, the human resources
company said, as it seeks to expand overseas.
JANUARY 3
TEMASEK HOLDINGS Pte Ltd said it has set up a new
subsidiary called Pavilion Capital Pte Ltd that will invest
primarily in privately owned firms in North Asia.
RED FORT Capital, an India-focussed real estate private
equity firm, is set to raise a $500 million fund that will
invest in commercial and residential assets, two sources told
Reuters.
DECEMBER 30
NATURAL GAS fuel firm Clean Energy Fuels Corp,
whose investors include Chesapeake Energy Corp,
Temasek’s Seatown Holdings and Asia private equity fund RRJ
Capital, said it has received $150 million from investors
including Boone Pickens.
DECEMBER 29
CHINESE WIRE maker Fushi Copperweld Inc said it
received a revised proposal from co-chief executive Li Fu, Abax
Global Capital and TPG Growth Asia Inc to take the company
private for $9.50 per share in cash.
DEALTALK – TOUGH IPO conditions in India are driving
secondary deals between private equity investors.
CHINA NO longer wants foreign-funded automobile factories or
polysilicon plants, but would welcome overseas investment in
hospitals and financial leasing firms, according to updated
inward investment guidelines.
ALIBABA has hired a Washington lobbying firm in a sign that
the Chinese e-commerce company would be willing to make a bid
for all of Yahoo Inc in the event that talks to unwind
their Asian partnership fail.
DECEMBER 28
AN AFFILIATE of U.S. private equity giant Blackstone has
bought a company that owns a special economic zone in India from
the country’s top listed developer DLF Ltd and its partner for
8.1 billion rupees ($153 million).
JAPANESE PRIVATE equity firm Unison Capital said it will buy
Asahi Tec, a maker of iron castings used in automobiles
that is majority owned by Belgian private equity investor RHJ
International SA, for $310 million excluding debt.
BANKRUPT JAPANESE consumer lender Takefuji Corp
gained a new lifeline when financial group J Trust Co Ltd
said it would invest $325 million after a previous
agreement with struggling A&P Financial of South Korea fell
through.
NOMURA HOLDINGS Inc said it would become the first
Japanese financial group to be allowed to make private equity
investments in China and would invest in a private equity fund
managed by Jiu You Equity Investment Management LLP.
DECEMBER 26
CARLYLE GROUP said it has named Kazuhiro Yamada as
co-head of its Japanese operations, replacing Masao Hirano, who
will resign from the private equity firm.
DECEMBER 23
DEALTALK-ASIA’S private equity firms face a shrinking pool
of bank loans as European lenders pull back from the region,
crimping both investments and re-financings for buyout-backed
companies and adding to the list of challenges the industry will
meet in 2012.
AUSTRALIAN PAPER manufacturer PaperlinX Ltd said it
has received an incomplete and conditional proposal from an
unnamed private equity firm for its business, while it predicted
a loss for the first half as European markets weakened.
http://tourism9.com/    http://vkins.com/