Asia Private Equity Weekly News, Sept 30, 2013

HONG KONG, Sept 30 (Reuters) - News and developments in Asia private equity from Reuters News for the week ending Sept. 27.

SEPTEMBER 27

U.S. PRIVATE equity (Swiss: PEHN.SW - news) firm KKR & Co said it would initially pay about 165 billion yen ($1.67 billion) for Panasonic Corp's healthcare unit, in what could be the largest buyout deal in Asia year to date.

DEALTALK-LAUDED by many for its principled stance in rejecting Alibaba Group's plans to list shares, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has left the city's financial community fuming at a lost opportunity, and re-ignited calls for market reforms.

SEPTEMBER 26

GERMANY'S BIGGEST bathroom fittings company, Grohe, has been snapped up by Japanese building products group Lixil in a $4 billion deal including debt, the largest ever investment by a Japanese company in Europe's biggest economy.

JAPANESE PUBLIC funds collectively holding more than $2 trillion in assets should alter their current emphasis on Japanese government bonds and diversify to property, infrastructure, private equity and commodities, a reform panel said in an interim report.

APPLIED MATERIALS Inc (NasdaqGS: AMAT - news) 's $10 billion acquisition of Tokyo Electron Ltd is more than just a milestone foreign takeover in Japan - it's a rare forward-looking deal in a country where selling to an overseas rival is usually a last resort.

SEPTEMBER 25

TPG CAPITAL has agreed to sell its China leasing business UT Capital Group Co Ltd to Haitong International Holdings, a unit of Haitong Securities, for $715 million, the two companies said in separate statements.

CHINESE E-COMMERCE giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd will pursue an IPO in the United States after talks with Hong Kong regulators broke down, a move bound to set off a dogfight between the two main U.S. stock exchanges for the offering.

SEPTEMBER 24

KKR & Co LP is leading a joint venture with China Modern Dairy Holdings Ltd and a Chinese private equity firm that will invest $140 million in two large dairy farms to help meet rising domestic demand for premium milk products.

SMITHFIELD FOODS Inc (NYSE: SFD - news) shareholders "overwhelmingly" approved the pork packer's $4.7 billion sale to Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd in what is shaping up to be the biggest acquisition yet of a U.S. company by a Chinese one.

SEPTEMBER 23

CHINA-BASED crop nutrient maker Yongye International Inc (NasdaqGS: YONG - news) said it has agreed to be taken private by top shareholder Full Alliance International Ltd and its affiliates, valuing the company at about $340 million.

ONLINE FOREIGN exchange services provider OzForex Group plans to raise A$440 million ($413.03 million) by listing on Oct (KOSDAQ: 039200.KQ - news) . 11. Macquarie Group, venture capital firm Accel Partners (Frankfurt: A0JJY6 - news) and private equity firm Carlyle Group will sell all they own of OzForex.

CHINA PRIVATE Equity Investment Holdings Ltd said it would invest a further $1.6 million in Asia Bioenergy Technologies Bhd, an information technology and biotechnology incubator in which it already holds an 11.9 percent stake.

INDOCHINA INVESTMENT firm Dragon Capital (Other OTC: DRGV - news) said it had launched the Vietnam Equity UCITS Fund, which aims to generate medium to long term capital growth by investing mainly in stocks of Vietnamese companies traded on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, or other listed companies with significant exposure to the country. ()