South Asia
TPG buys India's Poonawalla Housing Finance
TPG Capital Asia has agreed to acquire Poonawalla Housing Finance for a pre-money equity valuation of INR 39bn (USD 473m) and inject an additional INR 10bn to support growth.
2023 preview: India PE
India’s domestic growth story appears unobstructed, but some international investors could hold their fire. The local PE industry will not graduate to the next level without that foreign capital
2022 in review: End of the party?
Fundraising favours the few; deployment becomes progressively slower as investors agonise about valuations, macro prospects, and financing costs; sponsor-to-sponsor deals prop up exits
Winter Capital leads $22.5m Series A for India's Uolo
Dubai-based Winter Capital has led a USD 22.5m Series A round for Indian education technology platform Uolo with support from local investor Blume Ventures.
India's Blume closes fourth India VC fund on $250m
India’s Blume Ventures has closed its fourth fund targeting seed-stage tech start-ups on USD 250m, beating a target of USD 200m. Fund III raised USD 105m in 2020.
India's Innoven fractionalises venture debt fund
India’s Innoven Capital, a joint venture between UOB and Temasek Holdings-owned Seviora Holdings, has fractionalised a USD 50m venture debt fund using blockchain and smart contracts.
Temasek, A91, Kae back $135m round for India's HealthKart
Temasek Holdings, A91 Partners, and Kae Capital have invested USD 135m in Indian omnichannel wellness products retailer HealthKart.
Profile: Gaja Capital’s Gopal Jain
Though pleased with India’s progress in the past 30 years, Gopal Jain set up Gaja Capital to help take it to the next level. He sees PE as a central pillar of economic growth and by extension national morale
TPG exits Sri Lanka's Union Bank of Colombo
TPG Capital has agreed to exit Union Bank of Colombo (UBC), a Sri Lanka-based lender it has held since 2014, to a Singapore-registered company of unspecified ownership.
India's KreditBee raises $80m Series D
Indian lending start-up KreditBee has raised USD 80m in Series D funding from Premji Invest, NewQuest Capital Partners, Mirae Asset Ventures, MUFG Bank, and Motilal Oswal Alternates (MO Alts).
India agtech start-up DeHaat closes Series E on $60m
DeHaat, which claims to be India’s largest full-stack agricultural technology platform, has closed its Series E round on USD 60m. Sofina and Temasek Holdings were the lead investors.
India's 3one4 seeks $200m for fourth VC fund
3one4 Capital, an India-based early-stage investor, has launched its fourth venture capital fund with a target of USD 200m. It raised the same amount in the previous vintage.
Norwest invests $32m in India's Celebal Technologies
Norwest Venture Partners has invested USD 32m in India’s Celebal Technologies, a software consulting and delivery company active in artificial intelligence, big data, and cloud.
India's Kae Capital closes Fund III on $94m
Indian seed-stage investor Kae Capital has closed its third flagship fund at about INR 7.7bn (USD 94m) with about 40% of the capital coming from overseas investors.
Qualcomm backs India EV maker Ultraviolette
Qualcomm Ventures and Lingotto, the largest shareholder in Ferrari, have invested in India’s Ultraviolette Automotive, an electric vehicle maker focused on two-wheelers.
India's Multiples targets up to $1b for Fund IV
Multiples Alternate Asset Management is looking to raise up to USD 1bn for its fourth India-focused fund, with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) proposing a USD 60m commitment.
Lighthouse seals partial exits from India's Nykaa with 14x return
Lighthouse Funds has generated a more than 14x multiple on its investment in India-based beauty e-commerce platform Nykaa following two partial exits in the past fortnight.
India's Five Star completes $195m IPO, GPs make partial exits
Five Star Business Finance, an Indian non-banking financial company (NBFC) that has received several rounds of private funding, gained 3% on debut following an INR 15.9bn (USD 195m) domestic IPO.
ESG: The case for convergence
With ISSB pursuing pre-eminence in sustainability-related financial disclosures and TCFD emerging as a preferred climate framework, investors and investees will have to get more serious about reporting
One size does not fit all in Asia value creation – AVCJ Forum
Replacing portfolio company CEOs is not part of buyout firms’ value creation playbook in emerging markets, the AVCJ Private Equity & Venture Forum heard.
Fundraiser Atul Phull departs Everstone for UBS
Atul Phull, who spent nine years with India and Southeast Asia-focused private equity firm Everstone Group across two stints, has joined the private funds group at UBS as an executive director.
GSV leads $45m round for India's Simplilearn
GSV Ventures has led a USD 45m round for Indian education technology provider Simplilearn. The Blackstone Group acquired 70% of the company last year for USD 250m.
Blackstone pursues $359m take-private of India's R Systems
The Blackstone Group has agreed to acquire a majority stake in India-based IT services provider R Systems International at a valuation of INR 29.04bn (USD 359m) and moved to delist the company.
Team diversity impacts fundraising prospects - AVCJ Forum
Asia-based managers are slower to implement diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies than their peers in other markets, but LPs told the AVCJ Diversity & Inclusion Forum that action on this issue is increasingly important to fundraising.
