Major global events – from the Russia-Ukraine war beginning in 2021, to the US tariff announcements that have characterised much of this year – have sparked market volatility and expectations of a slowdown in global growth, all of which continue to weigh on investor sentiment.
Still, according to a recent Preqin survey of investors, there are higher interest levels compared to six months ago, in Southeast Asia and China, though India still sees strong demand from allocators.
A recent Coller Capital report indicated that while it continues to be a tough operating landscape for managers, there are still GPs emerging and finding their niche in underserved segments.
Existing managers are still working hard on their mandates. Among deals in the pipeline is the mega Metro Pacific Health stake sale, for which top global names are said to have emerged as bidders.
And, Indonesia’s MDI Ventures is reporting a healthy spate of exits, according to its CEO Donald Wihardja. The firm is back in the market and looking for deals in ‘new’ areas, he said.
The scoop on Southeast Asia
We’ve learned that Sunata Tjiterosampurno, the managing director and co-chief investment officer at Northstar Group, is set to join Indonesian sovereign wealth fund Danantara, as changes at the highest levels of the private equity firm take place. These could point to the merger between Northstar and Ares Management that we had first reported in January.
At GoTo, in which Northstar co-founder Patrick Walujo was an early investor and is now CEO, major leadership changes are also underway, including a board reshuffle with five new directors and a top-level management transition.
There have also been a series of other interesting developments at Danantara.
This week, the SWF signed an agreement with the Indonesia Investment Authority to invest in the local production of downstream chemicals, critical in nickel processing, for instance. Danatara has also inked a deal with Russia to set up a 2-billion-euro joint direct investment platform.
Indeed, the new class of sovereign wealth funds, including the Philippines’ Maharlika Investment Corporation, has a different playbook, as we discuss in this week’s Beyond The Buyout.
Our reporters in Indonesia have continued to be on the case of eFishery, since we first broke the story in January of the startup’s unravelling under alleged financial irregularities.
In the latest exclusives on developments, we learned how the beleaguered company could be acquired by Aqua Bridge Holding, an investment firm linked to Dubai’s royal family. At the same time, it would appear that the Indonesian police have concluded their criminal investigation into the alleged fictitious transactions at the company and named suspects.
Elsewhere, while Grab has earlier dismissed talk it was seeking a merger with rival GoTo, due to regulatory hurdles or otherwise, the Singapore-based company is raising some $1.5 billion in debt for M&As. We also had an earlier analysis on how Grab and its Southeast Asia tech peers are banking on financial services to drive growth.
In Vietnam, this analysis looks into why, despite sales growth at breakneck speed, EV maker VinFast is falling deeper into losses.
India, Greater China developments
Amid the rebalancing of global supply chains, there are emerging opportunities in domestic manufacturing in India, and one of the country’s most established private equity firms has its eye on the sector, as well as the green economy. Read the view from Multiples PE.
Quadria Group has launched HealthQuad III, its healthcare-focused venture capital fund investing in early-stage startups in India, with a targeted corpus of $200 million and a greenshoe option of an additional $100 million.
Indian remittance startup Aspora has raised some $93 million from investors including Sequoia Capital, Soma Capital, and Global Founders Capital, helping it to fulfil its ambitions to become a neobank for the Indian diaspora.
And this piece looks at how a bike taxi startup in India could just break the food delivery duopoly between giants Swiggy and Zomato.
In China, state support for homegrown deeptech companies is helping to drive the sector’s growth and investors’ confidence in its future, as our colleague writes.
Meanwhile, Chinese companies are lining up to make their market debuts in Hong Kong, amid tensions between the US and China, which have made listings in the US less attractive.
Conversely, in Singapore, delistings continue as Liberty Energy, which is majority-owned by private equity firm ShawKwei & Partners, has completed the $165 million acquisition and privatisation of oil-and-gas engineering company PEC Ltd from the Singapore Exchange. Other transactions in the pipeline include hotel group Amara Holdings, a portfolio company of Dymon Asia Private Equity.
If you would like more insight into what is ahead for private capital in Greater China, India, and Southeast Asia, come meet industry insiders at DealStreetAsia’s Asia PE-VC Summit 2025.
