News and developments in Asia private equity from Reuters News for the week ending June 1.
JUNE 1
JAPANESE BUYOUT firm Unison Capital is seeking a buyer for its popular sushi restaurant chain Akindo Sushiro, in a transaction that could be worth as much as 70 billion yen ($893 million), two sources said.
MOTOR SPORT racing company Formula One has delayed its Singapore initial public offer worth up to $3 billion, the fifth big Asian IPO to be postponed or pulled in a week, as weak markets bring the global market for new listings to a shuddering halt.
PRIVATE EQUITY property funds run by Blackstone and Morgan Stanley have agreed to pay A$640 million ($621 million) to acquire a A$1.9 billion portfolio of distressed property loans in Australia from a unit of Lloyds Banking Group , two sources with knowledge of the transaction said.
AUSTRALIA'S BOURSE operator, ASX Ltd, said it may buy share registry Link Market Services from Pacific Equity Partners in a deal that could be worth as much as $1.36 billion and pit ASX against global buyout firms.
MAY 31
DAVID JONES Ltd, Australia's No.2 department store chain, posted a 3.1 percent decline in third-quarter sales with no improvement seen in consumer sentiment, and said it plans to keep its valuable property assets and has no takeover talks to report.
AUSTRALIAN PRIVATE equity returned 7.85 percent to investors in 2011, and on a three-year basis returns far outstripped the benchmark Australian stock index, industry data showed.
BAIN CAPITAL LLC aims to raise $6 billion for its new global private equity fund and will take the innovative step of offering three options on the fees it charges to manage the money in an effort to widen the fund's appeal, according to people familiar with the matter.
MAY 30
GOVERNMENT OF Singapore Investment Corp and Canada's Ontario Teachers Pension Plan are among final bidders to buy stakes in South Korea's unlisted Kyobo Life Insurance, sources said, in deals worth up to $1.4 billion.
STANLEY BLACK & Decker Inc is among potential bidders for private equity-owned Infastech, a Singapore-based industrial fastener maker with revenues of more than $500 million, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.
QATAR HOLDING LLC, a unit of the Gulf nation's sovereign wealth fund, has agreed to take part in the planned $3 billion listing of Malaysia's Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd as a cornerstone investor, a source with direct knowledge of the deal told Reuters.
THE FOUNDER of placement agent Triago, Antoine Dréan, has founded Palico, an online markeplace that aims to bring private equity fund managers and their investors together more efficiently, peHUB reported.
EMERGING MARKETS fund CVCI Private Equity and a co-investor advised by Thai Strategic Capital have bought a significant minority stake in Thai skincare company Wuttisak Clinic Inter Group Co Ltd, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
BAIN CAPITAL LLC aims to raise $6 billion for its new global private equity fund and will take the innovative step of offering three options on the fees it charges to manage the money in an effort to widen the fund's appeal, according to people familiar with the matter.
MAY 29
THE HEAD of Actis' Singapore office, Gary Addison, has left the emerging markets private equity firm after four and a half years, according to an email seen by Reuters.
MAY 28
U.S. PRIVATE equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC and India's ICICI Venture, the private equity arm of No.2 Indian lender ICICI Bank, are close to raising $350 million to invest in distressed assets in India, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
A YEAR after Reliance Communications said it had received several offers for its towers business, India's No.2 mobile phone carrier by users said regulatory clarity would help push a deal along.
AUSTRALIAN ENGINEERING company Hastie Group said it has appointed voluntary administrators after recapitalisation talks stalled over an "accounting irregularity", in a case that also highlights tougher times for the nation's construction sector.
CHINA YONGDA Automobiles Services decided to pull an up to $434 million Hong Kong initial public offering because of deteriorating market conditions, IFR reported, citing two sources with direct knowledge of the plan.
MAY 26
INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL Corp, a member of the World Bank Group, is planning to take part in the planned $1.5 billion listing of Malaysia's Integrated Healthcare Holdings (IHH) in a move to help validate IHH's emerging markets strategy, according to IFC's official website.
BUSINESSMAN PETER Brabeck, celebrating his appointment as Formula One chairman, said the motor racing series had not made a decision on whether to proceed with a much discussed $10 billion listing on the stock market in Singapore.
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