Advantage Partners is getting close to acquiring Tokyo Star Bank after talks of a deal first surfaced in May last year.
Goh Yew Hong is a co-founder of Axiom Asia Private Capital, a Singapore-based fund of fund manager founded in 2006. Established by a group of former executives from Singapore's GIC Special Investment, Axiom made headlines last year when it raised $440 million to invest in Asia-focused private equity funds. Axiom Asia represents a new generation of local fund of fund managers that have gained favour with investors outside the region who like the local and institutional experience of professionals like Goh. At GIC, which he joined in 1995, Goh was involved in investments in private equity funds, direct deals and co-investments. Sharon Lim spoke to him in January.
In January, Tony James, president of the Blackstone Group, met with our US editor David Snow for a wide-ranging, exclusive interview. Unsurprisingly given current industry trends, Asian private equity was one of the main topics of the conversation.
Largely unaffected by the sub-prime crisis, the Japanese leveraged finance market is open for business. The availability of cheap credit bodes well for buyouts led by private equity. Sponsorless deals on the other hand will remain the exception - despite an interesting precedent. Sharon Lim reports.
In Asia, the credit crunch has had limited impact on debt markets so far. Buyout pros and leveraged finance specialists in Hong Kong and Singapore are nevertheless bracing for tricky times. By Patricia Lee.
January brought a new twist in South Korea's KEB saga: authorities detained Lone Star's chairman John Grayken as part of their ongoing investigation into the transaction.
GSO Capital Partners, newly part of The Blackstone Group, has agreed to pay a $21 million breakup fee to Reddy Ice after credit market conditions gave GSO’s lenders cold feet.
The firm’s country head, Paul Yoo, has been sentenced to five years in prison, while Lone Star has been fined $26 million by a Korean court.
Obstacles still remain, but Europe's private equity markets are becoming more integrated. Peter Cornelius and Karlijn Juttmann of AlpInvest Partners look at the implications.
The near-term future of the leveraged buyout market presents an unfolding tale of two halves. Mid-market private equity firms will cautiously continue to acquire quality companies, while mega-fund managers will dramatically downsize their deal sizes and pursue alternative deal structures. David Snow asks LBO insiders to take the temperature of 2008.