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for week ending 20th March, 2020 |
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| Australia/New Zealand |
| EQT Walks Away from Retirement Villages
Sweden’s EQT AB (‘EQT’) has indicated its intention to terminate its agreement to take over the New Zealand-listed Metlifecare Ltd (‘Metlifecare’), a retirement villages operator, citing that the Covid-19 as “a specified event” that triggered certain clause in its offer.
In February, EQT tabled its offer to take over Metlifecare which was valued at NZ$1.5 billion (US$892.7 million).
The Covid-19 outbreak has led to investors shelving deals. Recently, a consortium comprising BGH Capital and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has also rescinded its agreement to privatise the New Zealand-listed Abano Healthcare Ltd, a dental network in Australia and New Zealand. (Australia & New Zealand) |
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| Blackbird Further Promotes Workplace Safety
Blackbird Ventures and Index Ventures, both existing investors of SafetyCulture Pty Ltd (‘SafetyCulture’), have taken part in the latter’s A$60.5 million (US$35.5 million) fundraising exercise. The deal was led by TDM Growth Partners, and has also attracted Skip Capital.
SafetyCulture helps companies to enhance safety in workplace via its checklist app, iAuditor, which enables users to report safety and non-compliance issues. The latest round of financing has placed the company’s valuation at A$1.3 billion or US$803.5 million. (Australia) |
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| MIRA Takes Control of Data Centre, AirTrunk
Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets has led a consortium in taking control of AirTrunk. The Asia-focused data centre operator is being valued at more than A$3 billion (US$2.1 billion). In this transaction, Goldman Sachs and Sixth Street Partners, the credit investment platform of TPG, will be selling their interest.
Founded in 2014, AirTrunk currently has operations in both Australia and Singapore. It is beginning its expansion into other markets in Asia. (Australia) |
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| GIC Partners with Dexus to Buy Office Assets in Oz
GIC Pte Ltd (‘GIC’) and the Australia-listed Dexus Group (‘Dexus’) have formed a joint venture (‘JV’) to purchase a 50% stake in Rialto Towers, a 55-storey office building located in Melbourne, Australia. The deal commands a price tag of A$644 million (US$385.6 million).
GIC will own 90% of the JV, with the remaining to be held by Dexus. The latter will manage the target asset.
The deal came just after GIC had lifted its stake in the Dexus Australian Logistics Trust core portfolio to 49%, from the previous 25%. (Australia) |
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| China |
| MassMutual Ventures into Fintech
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co, through its venture investment unit, MassMutual Ventures, has participated in the US$11 million series A financing round of Hong Kong-based Neat Ltd (‘Neat’). The deal was led by Pacific Century Group, a Hong Kong-based private investment firm.
Neat is a fintech company that offers money transfer and corporate expense management services. The capital infusion would advance the company’s global expansion to support small and medium-sized enterprises for their cross-border trades. (Hong Kong) |
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| Luckin Coffee Makes Bitter Brew
The meltdown of Luckin Coffee Inc (‘Luckin Coffee’), a US-listed Chinese coffee chain operator backed by Centurium Capital, GIC Pte Ltd and Joy Capital, continues with a US$518 million loan default by a company related to its chairman, Mr Charles Zhengyao Lu, being the latest episode. Goldman Sachs, acting on behalf of a group of lenders, is seeking to dispose of Luckin Coffee’s shares that were held as collateral.
Just days earlier, Luckin Coffee’s Board disclosed that the coffee chain operator had reasons to believe its chief operating officer has fabricated around Rmb2.2 billion (US$310 million) worth of transactions for the period from Q2 to Q4 2019. Luckin Coffee’s share price dived by as much as 75.6% in one single trading day. As of 7th April, trading of Luckin Coffee, a challenger to Starbucks’s operations in China, was halted. (China) |
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| Ocean Link Offers to Take Over 58.com
Ocean Link Partners (‘Ocean Link’) has tabled a non-binding proposal to acquire all outstanding shares in 58.com Inc (‘58.com’) which is currently listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The offer values 58.com’s equity at US$8.2 billion and represents a 17.8% premium of the company’s share price on the trading day before the proposal was disclosed to the public.
Ocean Link, a tourism-focused private equity firm in China, plans to fund the acquisition itself together with any additional members it may accept to form a consortium of buyers.
58.com was founded as a classified platform in China in 2005. It has since expanded into other online services including real estate listing and used good trading. Most recently, 58.com acquired the B2B car trading platform of Uxin Ltd. (China) |
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| CDH Closes 5th Mezz Fund
CDH Investments (‘CDH’) announced closing of its fifth mezzanine fund, at Rmb8 billion (US$1.1 billion). The fund has garnered allocations from insurance companies, pension funds and fund-of-funds.
According to the private equity firm, it has completely exited investments in its first two mezzanine funds, chalking up net internal rate of returns of 15.1% and 11.5%. (China) |
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| Qiming Boosts its US Dollar Fund Pool
Qiming Venture Partners (‘Qiming’) announced having raised US$1.1 billion for its Qiming Venture Partners Fund VII. The fund will focus on early-stage investments in the healthcare, technology, media and telecom sectors.
Qiming was founded in 2006. It currently manages 9 US Dollar funds and 5 Renminbi funds with US$5.3 billion of assets under management. (China) |
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| Hillhouse Ventures into Cancer Drug Discovery
Hillhouse Capital Management, through its newly established venture capital arm, GL Ventures, is among those that have co-led in the Rmb470 million (US$66.2 million) series C2 investment round of Souzhou Ribo Life Science Co Ltd (‘Ribo’). The deal has also enlisted Everest Venture Capital and CICC Capital as investors.
Founded in 2007, Ribo is dedicated to developing nucleic acid drugs which can be used to treat cancers and cardiovascular diseases, among others. (China) |
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| IDG & Vision Plus Buy into Self-Driving Tech
IDG Capital has joined force with Vision Plus Capital to participate in the seed funding round of Beijing QCraft Smart Technology Co Ltd (‘QCraft’), which has raised an undisclosed sum.
QCraft is an autonomous driving technology developer that has operations in the Silicon Valley as well as major cities across China. (China) |
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| Matrix & CICC Lead in Optical AI Chips
Matrix Partners China has joined hands with CICC Capital to co-lead in the US$26 million series A financing round of Shanghai-based Lightelligence. The transaction is joined by Vertex Ventures, Baidu Ventures and Frees Fund. The latter two had previously invested in the company.
Lightelligence develops optical AI chips that can be applied in data centres, surveillance cameras and autonomous vehicles. (China) |
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| Lilly Asia Pares Down Interest in Vaccine Developer
Lilly Asia Ventures is said to have disposed of a portion of its stake in the Hong Kong-listed Cansino Biologics Inc (‘Cansino’) and clocked as much as HK$776.6 million (US$100.1 million) in distribution, according to market estimates.
Cansino, a vaccines developer, was founded in 2009. Its share price has skyrocketed by 127.8% since the beginning of the year, thanks to the Covid-19 outbreak. (China) |
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| Sanyou Medical Debuts on STAR Board
Shanghai Sanyou Medical Co Ltd (‘Sanyou’), backed by Qiming Venture Partners (‘Qiming’), was listed on Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Science and Technology Innovation Board. On its first day of trading, Sanyou’s shares soared by 71.8% to close at Rmb36 (US$5.1) each. Qiming did not dispose of its Sanyou shares at the latter’s initial public offering.
Founded in 2005, Sanyou is a medical implant developer specialised in spinal system. (China) |
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| Zentalis Pharma Listed on Nasdaq
US-based Zentalis Pharmaceuticals Inc (‘Zentalis’), backed by Highlight Capital, was listed on Nasdaq and raised US$165.2 million. On its first trading day, Zentalis’s share price rose to close at US$23.2, a 28.9% surge from its offer price of US$18.
Founded in 2014, Zentalis focuses on discovering and developing small molecule therapeutics targeting fundamental biological pathways of cancers. (China) |
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| India |
| CPPIB & GIC Could Make Deposit into IndusInd Bank
Canada’s CPP Investment Board and Singapore’s GIC Pte Ltd are said to be among those that are in talks to inject up to US$500 million into IndusInd Bank (‘IndusInd’), according to domestic reports. The lender’s share price has plunged as much as 63% when India implemented lockdown to stem the coronavirus epidemic.
Axis Bank, which counts Bain Capital as an investor, also encountered a similar fate. Its share price has fallen by more than 40%, leading market speculations that the private equity firm could face margin calls from JPMorgan Chase & Co, Citigroup Inc and Nomura Holdings Inc. (India) |
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| Zomato Secures Fresh Capital
The UK-based Baillie Gifford & Co is believed to have pledged close to US$5 million to Zomato Media Pvt Ltd (‘Zomato’), according to domestic reports in India. The deal places the online food delivery and restaurant discovery platform at an estimated valuation of around US$3.25 billion.
The latest investment came just months after China’s leading fintech company Ant Financial Services Group (‘Ant Financial’) having agreed to invest up to US$150 million into Zomato. The latter had previously raised capital from Ant Financial, Sequoia Capital India and Temasek Holdings (Pte) Ltd. |
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| Investors from Korea Seek Food Delivery Foothold in India
A pool of investors from South Korea, including Korea Investment Partners, Samsung Ventures and Mirae Asset Capital Markets, are said to have participated in the US$43 million raised by Swiggy. Operated by Bundl Technologies Pvt Ltd, in this latest fundraising round, Tencent Holdings Ltd, an existing investor, is believed to have joined the aforesaid group of investors. The transaction has placed the online food delivery platform’s valuation at US$3.6 billion.
Swiggy had earlier secured capital from China-based Hillhouse Capital Management and the US-based Coatue Management. |
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| LGT Lightstone Makes Impact in Medical Supply Chain
LGT Lightstone Aspada (‘LGT Lightstone’), the India-focused impact investment arm of LGT, has pledged US$7 million to Akna Medical Pvt Ltd. The latter runs a medical supply chain platform that provides integrated procurement solutions for hospitals.
The deal came weeks after LGT Lightstone had injected 3.5 billion rupees (US$47.2 million) into Vivriti Capital, an online enterprise debt platform for small businesses and financial institutions. |
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| Lightbox Rents Furniture & Home Accessories Online
Lightbox has joined a group of high-net-worth individuals in the US$10 million fundraising by Kieraya Furnishing Solutions Pvt Ltd (‘Kieraya’). The transaction, in a mix of equity and debt, values the company at US$125 million.
Kieraya operates Furlenco, an online rental platform for furniture, home accessories and household appliances. |
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| Matrix & SAIF Lead in Online K12 Education
Matrix Partners India and SAIF Partners have co-led in the US$4 million seed funding round of K 12 Innovations Pvt Ltd. The latter operates Camp K12, an online K12 education platform that offers live-streaming courses for coding, mathematics and science subjects. |
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| Sequoia Joins FMO to Advance AgriTech
Sequoia Capital India has led in the US$12 million series A financing round of Green Agrevolution Pvt Ltd, the operator of DeHaat. The deal has also secured commitments from FMO, the Dutch development finance institution, as well as DeHaat’s existing investors including Omnivore and AgFunder.
DeHaat is an agritech platform providing one-stop solutions to farmers. Its services range from assisting farmers to acquire seeds and fertilizers to the distribution of their agricultural products through DeHaat’s network. |
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| Vertex & Prime Help Reconcile Digital Transactions
Vertex Ventures has led in the US$6 million series A financing round of Recko Software Pvt Ltd (‘Recko’). The deal has also secured commitment from Recko’s existing investor, Prime Venture Partners (‘Prime’).
Recko provides AI-driven reconciliation of digital transactions for enterprises. It has so far reconciled US$5 billion worth of transactions since coming into operation in 2017.
According to Prime, digital payments in India are expected to reach US$135.2 billion in 2023, more than double from US$64.8 billion in 2019. |
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| Japan/South Korea |
| Argyle Street Urges Toshiba to Exit from Kioxia
Hong Kong-based hedge fund, Argyle Street Management Ltd, currently a financial backer of Toshiba Corp (‘Toshiba’), is said to have requested Toshiba to sell its 40% interest in Kioxia Holdings Corp (‘Kioxia’) at the latter’s impending initial public offering. Kioxia is seeking to raise up to US$32 billion, according to market reports.
Kioxia, formerly known as Toshiba Memory Holdings Corp, a memory chip unit of Toshiba, came under the control of a consortium of international investors in 2018. The buyout was led by Bain Capital that commanded a staggering ¥2 trillion (US$18.3 billion). (Japan) |
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| Investors Buy Semiconductor Foundry Business
South Korea-based Credian Partners Inc and Alchemist Capital Partners Korea Co Ltd have agreed to acquire MagnaChip Semiconductor Corp’s (‘MagnaChip’) Foundry Services Group and its factory in Cheongju. The transaction commands a price tag of around US$435 million.
The target business provides analog and mixed-signal foundry services for semiconductor companies that serve the telecom, consumer and industrial sectors.
MagnaChip was formed when SK Hynix Inc spun out its system integrated circuit division and enlisted a consortium of investors including CVC Capital Partners. In 2009, MagnaChip entered into a restructuring process after filing for bankruptcy. (South Korea) |
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| L Catterton Asia Beautifies Deal Log with Cosmetic Products
L Catterton Asia has pledged an undisclosed amount to ETVOS Co Ltd, a leading natural cosmetics brand in Japan that also provides skincare and haircare products. This is the second investment in Japan completed by L Catterton Asia.
Earlier, L Catterton Asia had joined hands with Mitsui & Co Principal Investments Ltd to inject up to ¥3 billion (US$26.4 million) into OWNDAYS Co Ltd, a Japanese optical eyewear retailer. (Japan) |
| published on 8th April |
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| SBI Connects Customers & Vendors
SBI Investment Co Ltd is party to the latest ¥750 million (US$6.9 million) fundraising by Linkers Corp (‘Linkers’), which runs an online matching platform. It connects customers with manufacturing companies. Linkers also provides similar matching services for financial institutions. (Japan) |
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| Southeast Asia |
| Armstrong Faces Headwinds in its Exit of Wind Power Project
Armstrong Asset Management (‘Armstrong’) is unable to complete its planned US$46 million sale of Dam Nai Wind Power JSC (‘Dam Nai’) to the Philippine-listed Aboitiz Power Corp (‘Aboitiz’). According to the latter’s release, Aboitiz’s impending acquisition has passed the specified timeframe for completion due to “a condition precedent being unmet”.
In August 2019, Armstrong agreed to sell its entire 100% indirect stake in Dam Nai to Aboitiz. Dam Nai owns and operates a 39.4 MW onshore wind power plant in Vietnam. (Vietnam) |
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| Convergence Ventures Converges with Agaeti Ventures
Agaeti Ventures and Convergence Ventures, the two Indonesia-based venture capital firms, jointly announce their merger to form AC Ventures. The enlarged entity will continue to invest in early-stage technology startups in Indonesia.
Convergence Ventures counts China’s Baidu Inc as its sponsor.
AC Ventures has also established a strategic alliance with Indies Capital, an Indonesia-focused asset manager for private credit and special situations. (Indonesia) |
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| Shopmatic Secures Funds from MatchMove
Singapore-based Shopmatic Pte Ltd (‘Shopmatic’), an e-commerce enabler that counts ACP Pte Ltd (‘ACP’) as its investor, has secured an undisclosed amount from the Singapore-based MatchMove Pay Pte Ltd (‘MatchMove’). The latter is a payment solutions provider that is vying for a digital banking licence in the Lion City. It counts Singapore’s Vickers Venture Partners and a host of investors from Japan as its financial backers. Shopmatic is seeking to raise up to S$20 million (US$14 million), inclusive of the latest capital injection from MatchMove. (Singapore) |
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| KKR Joins IFC to Further Advance Digital Payments
KKR & Co, International Finance Corp, IFC Asset Management Company LLC and Tencent Holdings Ltd, all existing investors of Voyager Innovations Inc (‘Voyager’), are among those that have committed up to an additional US$120 million to Voyager.
The digital innovation unit of the Philippines-listed telecommunication company PLDT Inc, Voyager operates a range of digital service platforms that cover e-commerce, digital payments and financial technology.
The aforesaid investors had injected an aggregate US$215 million into Voyager in 2018. (The Philippines) |
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| Rest of Asia/Rest of the World |
| ROC Secures Fresh Capital for its Latest Asia Fund
ROC Partners has garnered no less than US$120.2 million for its ROC Asia Pacific Private Equity Fund IV LP (‘Asia IV’), its latest Pan Asia-focused fund, according to the regulatory filing. Asia IV has a target size of US$150 million. (Pan-Asia)
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| Airbnb Raises US$1 Bn
Silver Lake has joined force with Sixth Street Partners, the credit investment platform of TPG, and committed US$1 billion to the US-based home-sharing giant Airbnb Inc (‘Airbnb’). The commitment is among the largest by private equity firms to help the home-sharing platform to mitigate negative shocks caused by the coronavirus epidemic. (USA) |
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| BPEA’s Cath Kidston Could Appoint Administrator
Cath Kidston Group Ltd (‘Cath Kidston’), backed by Baring Private Equity Asia (‘BPEA’), is said to have filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators. The UK-based fashion retailer recorded operating losses that amounted to £19.6 million (US$27.5 million at then exchange rate) in the fiscal year ended March 2018.
BPEA first invested in Cath Kidston in July 2014. It subsequently took control of Cath Kidston after having undertaken a follow-on investment in 2016. (UK) |
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| SoftBank to End its US$3 Bn Tender Offer of WeWork’s Shares
SoftBank Group Corp (‘SoftBank’) announced its decision to terminate its earlier planned tender offer of up to US$3 billion worth of shares of The We Company (‘WeWork’). The tender offer was part of the US$10.7 billion rescue package arranged by SoftBank back in October 2019 when WeWork failed to raise capital through a public float. According to a statement from SoftBank, the decision not to buy shares from WeWork’s shareholders stemmed from “certain conditions” attached to this tender offer not being satisfied.
WeWork’s plight continues to worsen. It is said to be in talks with its landlords globally to reduce its rental in an attempt to slash up to 30% of its rent liabilities. (USA) |
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| Japan’s SPARX Finds Clean Energy Production in Norway
Japan-based SPARX Group Co Ltd has recently partnered with the UK-based AP Ventures to participate in the NOK 130 million (US$11.2 million) raised by Norway-based ZEG Power (‘ZEG’). The deal is joined by Denmark-based Danske Invest Asset Management AS.
ZEG is a clean hydrogen production technology developer that aims to provide a clean alternative for energy production. (Norway) |
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| Sequoia & Hillhouse Find Robotics Solutions in Germany
China-based Sequoia Capital China, GL Ventures and Linear Venture Capital, all existing investors of Germany-based Agile Robots AG (‘Agile’), have participated in the latter’s series A fundraising exercise. The transaction size was not disclosed and was led by Hong Kong-based C Ventures which focuses on technology, lifestyle and media sectors.
Agile provides robotics solutions to a broad spectrum of industries including manufacturing, logistics and healthcare.
GL Ventures is a newly established venture capital arm of Hillhouse Capital Management. (Germany) |
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