News and developments in Asia private equity from Reuters News for the week ending June 21.
_0">JUNE 21
DEUTSCHE BANK'S Asia-Pacific head of financial sponsors group, Peter Plakidis, has left the bank to set up a private investment group headquartered in Australia, after working with the German bank for nearly six years, sources told Reuters.
A BIPARTISAN group of 15 U.S. senators urged the Obama administration to consider whether the proposed sale of Smithfield Foods Inc to the Chinese meat company Shuanghui International posed a threat to the U.S. food supply that could justify blocking the deal.
U.S. ENERGY companies Hess Corp and Newfield Exploration Co have launched two separate auctions to sell part of their Asian oil and gas field stakes that have a combined value of about $3 billion, people familiar with the matter said.
U.S. PRIVATE equity firm Blackstone Group LP and Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings are in separate talks to invest about $200 million in India's Shriram Ventures, the non-financial services arm of Shriram Group, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
JUNE 20
PRIVATE EQUITY firm Carlyle Group and Seven Group Holdings said they plan to retain ownership of Coates Hire Ltd, Australia's top equipment rental firm, following a six-month review of the business.
THE U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged defunct company China MediaExpress and its chief executive officer with misleading investors, the agency's latest case alleging fraud at a U.S.-listed China-based company.
SHAREHOLDERS OF Intrepid Mines backed their board to try to win back rights to a $5 billion copper and gold project in Indonesia that the company lost last year, defeating a plan to oust the board, spokesmen for both sides said.
TPG CAPITAL has mandated four banks as bookrunners for a A$1.15 billion-equivalent loan in the U.S. for Alinta Energy, despite volatile conditions that have seen more than US$10bn of deals pulled from market, Basis Point reported citing sources.
BAIN CAPITAL-backed software company MYOB Ltd has a NZ$75 million ($57.99 million) loan from six lenders to back its acquisition of New Zealand business management services firm BankLink, Basis Point reported.
JUNE 19
CHINA MENGNIU Dairy Co Ltd signed a second takeover deal in a month, offering to buy Carlyle-backed Yashili International Holdings Ltd in a deal worth about HK$12.5 billion ($1.6 billion) as part of a plan to expand its milk powder business.
_0"> _1">JUNE 18
_2">BARING ASIA Private Equity is sitting on a $43 million paper loss from a $57 million investment in New York Stock Exchange-listed Ambow Education Holdings Ltd., the latest example of how even the smartest money managers continue to get trapped in risky Chinese investments.
_3">AUSTRALIA'S COASTAL Wyong region outside Sydney isn't high on the travel agenda of most Chinese tourists. But the local mayor and a Chinese businessman have big plans to change that by building a A$500 million ($480 million) theme park.
_4"> _5">JUNE 17
_6">FRANCE'S EUTELSAT Communications SA and U.S. private equity firm KKR & Co are among the suitors to place first-round bids for Singapore Telecommunications Ltd's Australian satellite unit, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said.
_7">FOUR GLOBAL investment banks have started working on a planned initial public offering of China Cinda Asset Management Corp, expected to take place in Hong Kong later in 2013, IFR reported, citing sources with direct knowledge of the deal.
_8">NEW ZEALAND broadcaster MediaWorks Ltd was placed in receivership after its private equity owners and bankers failed to agree on a refinancing deal, but new owners have been lined up.
_9">STARBOARD VALUE LP revealed a major stake in Smithfield Foods and urged the world's largest pork producer to explore a breakup rather than a planned $4.7 billion takeover by Chinese meat company Shuanghui International.
_10">CITIC CAPITAL Holdings Ltd said it had raised a $683 million dedicated retail-focused fund, the CITIC Capital China Retail Properties Investment Fund, exceeding its target of $600 million.
_11">KROLL ADVISORY Solutions said it has relocated Jason Wright from Singapore to Hong Kong as an associate managing director in its Greater China investigations practice, reporting to Violet Ho, senior managing director for Greater China.
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