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Wed, 21-Apr-2010 Blackstone Group LP, the largest private-equity firm, plans to invest 2.25 billion rupees ($50 million) in the owner of Dainik Jagran, the Hindi-language broadsheet that says it’s the world’s most widely read newspaper reported Bloomberg. The New York-based firm is investing in Jagran Media Network Pvt., which holds a majority stake in Indian newspaper publisher Jagran Prakashan Ltd., as local-language publications are poised to grow.
Dainik Jagran has 54.6 million readers and prints 37 editions and more than 200 sub-editions across 11 states, according to a joint statement by Blackstone and Jagran Media.
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Thu, 15-Apr-2010 A group of private equity firms led by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) is in the final stages of investing around Rs 1,000 crore (over $200 million) in Coffee Day Resorts — a company owned by VG Siddhartha, a serial entrepreneur and son-in-law of foreign minister SM Krishna — the largest investments by private equity in an unlisted firm in recent times reported the Economic Times.
The PE firms KKR, New Silk Route and Standard Chartered Private Equity are likely to end with an ownership of more than 20% in Coffee Day Resorts, which performs the role of a holding company besides running a host of businesses like resorts and IT parks apart from Café Coffee Day, the coffee chain, confirmed two people close to the transaction.
This fund-raising exercise — once concluded — will value the company between $800 million and $1 billion. KKR is likely to own over 10% of the unlisted company and invest between $75 million and $100 million, NSR is likely to invest between $50 million and $75 million, while StanChart will invest around $50 million. Cafe Coffee Day, a subsidiary of Coffee Day Resorts, plans to use some of this cash to increase the number of retail outlets and also speedily add international locations to its small portfolio in Austria, Pakistan and Dubai. Read More »
Sun, 11-Apr-2010 Wall Street bank JPMorgan and Beijing-based Hopu Investments, run by influential China dealmaker Fang Fenglei, are advisers for a $3.1 billion energy joint venture between CNOOC and Argentina’s Bridas Energy Holdings, banking sources said as reported by Reuters. CNOOC said it would pay $3.1 billion to take a 50 percent stake Bridas Energy subsidiary Bridas Corp. Bridas Corp, wholly-owned by Bridas Energy, would become equally owned by the partners, CNOOC said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange.
JPMorgan has long-time business ties with China National Offshore Oil Corp, China’s biggest offshore oil explorer, while the deal marks the first advisory role for Hopu, which usually invests on its own. CNOOC hired JPMorgan as sole adviser on the buy side, while Beijing-based Hopu was hired by Bridas as adviser for the sell side, sources with knowledge of the matter said recently.
The deal also reveals Hopu’s ambition to expand into the already competitive merger and acquisition advisory business in China, as well as to continue to invest on its own. “Apparently, Hopu wants to become something like Blackstone in China. I am sure you will see Hopu take on more advisory roles in major deals in the future,” said a banker familiar with the matter.
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Thu, 18-Mar-2010 Previous attempts by Lone Star to sell its 51 percent holding in the country’s 6th-ranked lender — to Kookmin Bank for $7.3 billion in 2006 and to HSBC for $6.3 billion in 2008 — failed due to pricing and legal disputes over the private equity firm’s South Korean activities reported Reuters. Lone Star has sought to exit the bank to return profits to its stakeholders. KEB shares have more than doubled since late 2008 when HSBC walked away, and the value of Lone Star’s holding has more than trebled since it bought it for $1.2 billion in 2003. Managing partner John Grayken said last month the fund expected to sell the stake in the next six months.
($1=1,131 won)
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Fri, 12-Feb-2010 Quadrangle Capital Partners, the private-equity firm co-founded by Steven Rattner, led a group of investors in buying stakes in Tower Vision India Pvt., the nation’s second-largest independent manager of wireless towers reported Bloomberg. The equity capital and some additional debt financing will provide Tower Vision with $300 million to add to its portfolio of transmission sites, the companies said in a joint press release. The New York-based private equity fund, which manages $3 billion in assets, will take a “significant minority” stake in Tower Vision, Jessie Hsieh, who handles media enquiries for the fund, said without giving more details.
This is the first transaction in Asia for Quadrangle Capital, which opened a Hong Kong office in 2008. The fund’s investments in the region will focus on telecommunications, media and technology in India, China and Australia, Hsieh said.
Tower Vision, based in Gurgaon, has more than 5,000 sites in India, the world’s second-largest wireless market by subscribers, where it competes with Indus Towers Ltd., a venture controlled by Bharti Airtel Ltd. and Vodafone Group Plc.
GTL Infrastructure Ltd., India’s largest independent operator of mobile-phone towers, agreed to buy transmission sites from Maxis Communications Bhd.’s Aircel Ltd. unit for 84 billion rupees ($1.8 billion) earlier this month to help it double its network in India.
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Wed, 10-Feb-2010 Delta Partners, a Dubai-based private equity investor, has invested an undisclosed sum in Aricent Technologies, a communications software company based in California, USA as reported by Reuters. Aricent has strong presence in Asia Pacific in countries including India, China, Korea and Japan.
The investment came after Singapore-based electronics manufacturing services provider Flextronics International Ltd sold its minority stake to private equity majors like Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR), Sequoia Capital, The Family Office and The Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) Investment Board for $255 million in September 2009. Read More »
Sat, 6-Feb-2010 Bain Capital said in a statement that it would buy Japanese firm Higa Industries Co from Duskin Co, Daiwa SMBC Capital and Ernest Higa, the founder of Higa reported Reuters. “In Japan pizza delivery is a niche business and home delivered pizza is treated as a specialty item so there is less price sensitivity,” said David Gross-Loh, a managing director at Bain Capital in Tokyo. He said delivered pizza is priced higher in Japan than in the U.S. and that this boosts opportunities for the development of new products and marketing.
Domino’s Pizza charges 3,900 yen, or $43, for a large pizza with roasted chicken topped with anchovy sauce, according to the company’s website. Even a medium pizza with just cheese and tomato sauce costs about $10. Domino’s Pizza currently only operates in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan’s two largest cities, so there is considerable scope for expansion, Gross-Loh continued.
Bain did not disclose the purchase price although Duskin, which owns 44% of Higa, said it was selling its stake for 2.64 billion yen ($29 million), making the entire company worth about 6 billion yen ($66 million). Read More »
Fri, 29-Jan-2010 CVC Capital Partners has struck a Rp7,200bn ($770m) deal to acquire Indonesia’s leading department store chain reported the Financial Times. Pending regulatory approval, the buy-out group will gain control of Jakarta-listed Matahari Department Stores, in the country’s biggest private equity deal.
CVC’s Asia-Pacific unit is among the most prominent buy-out houses in the region, but the Matahari deal marks its first foray into Indonesia, a country often overlooked by global private equity groups. Foreign investor interest in Indonesia has risen after the recent re-election of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, in the belief that added political stability will help fuel Indonesia’s strong economic growth.
Indonesia was given a vote of confidence on Monday by Fitch, which lifted its ratings to one notch below investment grade. Read More »
Wed, 27-Jan-2010 Hopu Investment Management Co., the $2.5 billion fund run by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s former Asia investment-banking chief, bought 4.9% of PT Lippo Karawaci, Indonesia’s largest property developer, said a person with knowledge of the matter as reported by Bloomberg.
Beijing-based Hopu purchased the stake from China Resources Holdings Co. for $45 million, the person said, asking not to be identified before an announcement in October. The purchase price was 508 rupiah per share, a 27% discount to the prior day’s closing price, the person said.
Indonesia, Asia’s fastest-growing major economy after China and India, has made more significant changes in easing business regulations than other economies in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a World Bank report published last month.
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Mon, 25-Jan-2010 Darby Overseas Investments, Ltd. (“Darby”), the private equity arm of Franklin Templeton Investments, announced that its Darby Asia Mezzanine Fund II (“DAMF II”) provided a US$33.5 million senior secured convertible loan to PECH Holdings LLC, the holding vehicle of Prestolite Electric Beijing Ltd. (“PEBL”), which is the China-based operating joint venture controlled by Prestolite Electric Incorporated (“Prestolite”). Proceeds from the transaction were used by Prestolite for corporate purposes. Further details on the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in 2001 and based in the Tongzhou District, an eastern suburb of Beijing, PEBL is the leading full-line provider in China of medium- and heavy-duty alternators and starter motors to both original equipment manufacturers and the aftermarket. PEBL offers the broadest line of heavy-duty alternators in China, and is the largest supplier of alternators to both the Chinese bus and truck markets. In addition to starter motors and alternators, PEBL also supplies related component parts, including regulators, armatures, rotors, and shafts.
Prestolite, which is based in Plymouth, Michigan, is a major global manufacturer of alternators and starter motors sold in the medium- and heavy-duty vehicle, military, and industrial markets. With operations in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia, Prestolite provides value-added, highly engineered products under the Prestolite Electric, Leece-Neville, and Indiel brand names. Prestolite is primarily owned by a fund managed by First Atlantic Capital, Ltd. (“First Atlantic”), a New York based private equity firm.
David Hudson, Darby’s senior managing director for Asia and Global Infrastructure, commented: “PEBL is well positioned to take advantage of strong prospects in the China medium- and heavy-duty vehicle industry. We are attracted to PEBL because of its strong leadership, broad offering and innovative new products.” Read More »
Thu, 31-Dec-2009 Hopu Investment Management Co., the $2.5 billion China-focused private equity fund backed by Singapore’s Temasek Holdings Pte, recently bought at least $400 million of stock in China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co., said people familiar with the matter reported Bloomberg. The private equity fund bought about 13% of the $3.1 billion of shares China Pacific Insurance and a shareholder sold yesterday, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is confidential. China’s third-biggest insurer sold stock in Hong Kong at HK$28 apiece.
Institutional investors ordered more than six times the China Pacific Insurance shares available to them, people familiar with the deal said yesterday. China Pacific Insurance shares also trade in Shanghai, where they’ve rallied 120% this year. Read More »
Wed, 30-Dec-2009 Carlyle Group, one of the world’s largest private equity companies, is “actively exploring opportunities” for its first investment in Indonesia as buyout firms raise bets on the resource-rich nation. The fund is “very open to teaming up on deals” with local investors, including private equity firms, companies and family-controlled business groups, Anand Balasubrahmanyan, a Singapore-based director at Carlyle, said recently. He declined to specify industries the firm, which typically seeks investments worth at least $75 million to $100 million, is targeting.
“The stars seem to be aligned for Indonesia,” Balasubrahmanyan said in an interview. “Over time, Indonesia will turn out to be an important destination for private equity capital in Asia, as Asia becomes a key area for global private equity investments.” Read More »
Mon, 28-Dec-2009 Hopu Investment Management Co., the $2.5 billion China-focused private equity fund backed by Singapore’s Temasek Holdings Pte, recently bought at least $400 million of stock in China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co., said people familiar with the matter reported Bloomberg. The private equity fund bought about 13% of the $3.1 billion of shares China Pacific Insurance and a shareholder sold yesterday, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is confidential. China’s third-biggest insurer sold stock in Hong Kong at HK$28 apiece.
Institutional investors ordered more than six times the China Pacific Insurance shares available to them, people familiar with the deal said yesterday. China Pacific Insurance shares also trade in Shanghai, where they’ve rallied 120% this year. Read More »
Mon, 21-Dec-2009 Affinity Equity Partners has recently agreed to sell its controlling stake in South Korea’s third-largest cosmetics brand to LG Household in a deal totalling $364m, securing a healthy return for the Asian-focused private equity firm. Affinity is expected to reap three to four times its investment from the sale of TheFaceShop after reportedly paying about Won80bn ($60m) for the South Korean company in 2005, well before asset prices started to take off in 2007.
LG Household, South Korea’s second-ranked cosmetics company, recently said it would buy a 70% stake from an affiliate of Affinity and a 19.8% stake from Jung Woon-ho, the founder of TheFaceShop, for Won420bn. Read More »
Sat, 19-Dec-2009 Affinity Equity Partners, an Asian-focused private equity fund, has moved forward with a buy-out in China in a rare takeover of a mainland company by an overseas investor. Almost all overseas private equity investment in to China is in the form of minority investments, amid shareholder reluctance to yield control of fast-growing companies and nationalist caution about approving foreign-led takeovers. However, according to people familiar with the matter, Affinity has secured approval to acquire 94% of Beijing Leader & Harvest Electric Technologies, the country’s leading supplier of devices that improve the energy efficiency of electric motors. Though relatively small by global standards, the $200m deal represents China’s largest ever buy-out where the acquirer is a single overseas private equity fund. The acquisition price represents 10 times forecast 2009 earnings. Read More »
Thu, 19-Nov-2009 Citigroup Inc recently said it has agreed to sell its stake in Japanese telemarketer Bellsystem24 to U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital for 93.5 billion yen ($1 billion). The Nikkei newspaper said the total cost of the deal for Bain would reach 120 billion yen, including a special dividend payment.
Bellsystem24 is Japan’s largest telemarketing firm. It competes against Moshi Moshi Hotline Inc and Transcosmos Inc in Japan.
Bellsystem24 is now owned by Citigroup Capital Partners, which was known as Nikko Principal Investments, a private equity arm of brokerage group Nikko Cordial, which was bought by Citigroup in 2007. Nikko Principal paid 220 billion yen to buy Bellsystem24 in 2004.
Bain’s financing will be supported by banking units of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc, Mizuho Financial Group Inc and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc, sources familiar indicated as reported by Reuters.
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Wed, 18-Nov-2009 The founders of Indian developer DLF Ltd will pay 23 billion rupees ($495 million) to buy out hedge fund D.E. Shaw‘s minority stake in a property trust, the Economic Times reported.
The newspaper also said the country’s largest listed real estate firm has started talks with bankers for the property trust’s listing in Singapore after attempts in 2008 failed due to the global equity markets tumble.
DLF had earlier said its founders would be using the proceeds from a $783 million share sale earlier this year to inject capital into the property trust, DLF Assets Ltd (DAL), and also to buy D.E. Shaw’s stake.
DLF has not disclosed details of the holdings in DAL, where Symphony Capital is the other PE investor.
($1=46.5 rupees)
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Tue, 17-Nov-2009 China-focused private equity fund Hopu Investment Management plans to invest up to $1 billion in China Minsheng Bank, a mid-sized lender aiming to raise $4.07 billion through its upcoming IPO in Hong Kong.
Hopu’s plan shows that the fund, run by Goldman Sachs Gaohua Securities Chairman Fang Fenglei and former Goldman banker Richard Ong, is turning its investment attention away from China’s big banks and toward mid-sized lenders.
Of the Minsheng share offering, 90 percent has been allocated to institutional investors, or about $3.66 billion worth of shares, assuming the shares are priced at the top end of the indicative range. Hopu’s order size would represent 27 percent of the institutional tranche of the IPO. Read More »
Fri, 13-Nov-2009 The Carlyle Group said recently it would buy a Japanese restaurant chain operator in a 21 billion yen ($230 million) management buyout, its second deal in Japan in two weeks reported by Reuters. The U.S. private equity firm said it aims to buy all the shares in Chimney Co for 2,260 yen per stock. Carlyle needs to obtain at least 75 percent of Chimney’s outstanding shares for the buyout to succeed. Carlyle will borrow 11.2 billion yen ($123 million) in loans, or over 53% of the total transaction, from Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi JFJ, Mizuho Bank and Development Bank of Japan to finance the transaction.
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Wed, 11-Nov-2009 Megha Mittal will buy insolvent German luxury fashion house Escada for an undisclosed price, the company said as reported by Reuters. All key assets of Escada’s operating business as well as shares in its subsidiaries will be transferred to Mittal’s trust, excluding those that serve as guarantor for the Escada bond. Escada, once one of the world’s top fashion labels, filed for insolvency in August after years of diminishing sales took their toll and a broad restructuring plan failed to win approval from bondholders.
Mittal won the bidding war for Escada against Sven Ley, son of Escada founder Wolfgang Ley. He said on Tuesday he had teamed up with the former head of Gucci, Giacomo Santucci, and Italian investment group Borletti to mount a rescue bid.
Megha Mittal, the 33-year old daughter-in-law of ArcelorMittal Chief Executive Lakshmi Mittal, had also expressed an interest in Escada.
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