Asia Private Equity Weekly News, November 6, 2013

HONG KONG, Nov 6 (Reuters) - News (Other OTC: NWSAL - news) and developments in Asia private equity from Reuters News for the week ending Nov. 1.

OCTOBER 31

AUSTRALIA'S NINE Entertainment Co Pty Ltd is seeking to raise as much as $570 million in an initial public offering, a person familiar with the process said, a move that will help the troubled TV network pay down debt.

OCTOBER 30

A DEAL for CVC Capital Partners to buy a majority stake in a Chinese restaurant chain highlights a growing willingness by smaller China firms to cede control to foreign private equity amid unfavourable IPO prospects.

HONG KONG-based private equity firm Gaw Capital Partners said on Wednesday it had raised a $1.025 billion real estate fund for investment in China, its biggest ever fund.

BAMBOO FINANCE said it had sold its stake in TenGer Financial Group, the holding company of Mongolia's Xac Bank, to investors including Orix Corp (Frankfurt: OIX.F - news) , resulting in expected returns above 25 percent in local currency and two times its investment. ()

ITALIAN LUXURY leather goods brand Bruno Magli said its hedge fund owner Fortelus has begun exclusive talks to sell the entire company to a consortium of Asian investors, including South Korean retailer E-Land and Hong Kong-based private equity firm CDIB Capital in November.

CLSA CAPITAL Partners, the alternative asset management arm of brokerage CLSA, said it had hired Dr. Richard Woodling as an operating partner for its Clean Resources Asia Growth Fund. ()

OCTOBER 29

LAW FIRM Debevoise & Plimpton LLP said Andy Y. Soh, a specialist in internal investigations and complex commercial disputes, has joined the firm as International Counsel. ()

OCTOBER 28

ASIAN PRIVATE equity firm MBK Partners has put Techpack Solutions Co Ltd on the auction block, people familiar with the matter said, in a deal that could fetch up to 600 billion won ($565 million) for the South Korean bottler.

FOUNDERS OF India's Apollo Hospitals Enterprise have agreed to raise 5.5 billion rupees ($89.42 million) from U.S. buyout firm KKR Co & LP in a structured debt deal, the company said in a statement.

CHINA'S SUNING Commerce Group and Hony Capital, an affiliate of Lenovo Group (Berlin: LHL.BE - news) , will invest $420 million in PPTV, a Chinese online TV services provider, Suning said in a statement on Monday.

OCTOBER 25

ASIAN PRIVATE equity firm RRJ Capital, founded by ex-Goldman Sachs and Hopu Management dealmaker Richard Ong, has invested a further $248 million in ING Groep (NYSE: IDG - news) 's U.S. insurance unit, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

BRITAIN'S ROYAL Mail PLC said Singapore's GIC (KOSDAQ: 019570.KQ - news) has raised its stake in the mail carrier to above 4 percent.

JAPAN'S ANT Capital Partners said it had taken a majority stake in Japanese shoe maker MoonStar Co Ltd, which makes shoes for K-Swiss, Burberry and Disney, though a management buyout. Ant (Taiwan OTC: 3646.TWO - news) did not disclose the value of the deal.

OCTOBER 24

A PRIVATE consortium is seeking to raise a $2.1 billion syndicated loan to back the purchase of an 81 percent stake in US insurer American International Group (NYSE: AIG - news) 's aircraft leasing unit ILFC, banking sources said.

AUSTRALIA'S NEWLY elected conservative government has ordered a study into selling government-owned insurer Medibank Private, kickstarting privatisations as it scours state assets to see where it can make budget savings.

OCTOBER 23

BLACKSTONE GROUP founder Stephen A. Schwarzman said at a groundbreaking ceremony for Schwarzman College at Tsinghua University in Beijing that $260 million had been raised for Schwarzman Scholars, an international scholarship programme in China. ()

OCTOBER 22

PRIVATE EQUITY firm Actis said it invested $48 million in Indian pharmaceuticals company Symbiotec Pharmalab Ltd for a significant stake.

OCTOBER 21

AT LEAST three South Korean firms made preliminary bids for the brokerage unit of the Woori Finance Holdings Co Ltd , giving a boost to the government's decade-old attempts to privatise the country's biggest banking group.