It’s finally curtains down on the world’s most awaited elections. Contrary to popular expectations of a tight race that could delay the final results for days, Republican candidate and former US president Donald Trump delivered a resounding victory over incumbent Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris, bagging 295 Electoral College votes and at least six battleground states. He is set to become the first Republican to win the popular vote after George W Bush in 2004, with perhaps a Republican-controlled House and Senate to boot.
We at DealStreetAsia tried to understand what Trump 2.0 means for Asia’s economy and investor community. Geopolitical risk, trade tariffs, pressure on Chinese assets, and interest rates remaining higher for longer emerged among the key observations made by economists, asset managers, and investors with whom our reporters spoke.
Moving on to the developments in Asia’s private markets this week.
LP-GP quarters
A growing emphasis on sustainability among Asian limited partners (LPs) is reshaping investment strategies and prompting the likes of Australian sovereign investor Queensland Investment Corporation to engage in detailed discussions about their sustainability initiatives.
Two top Asia-based executives of Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) have quit the firm, DealStreetAsia has learnt. The pension fund’s head of Asia private equity, Frank Su, and managing director Roy Kim have quit, CPP Investments confirmed.
Private credit investor SC Lowy sees India and South Korea offering “compelling opportunities” in Asia in today’s market, said chief investment officer and co-founder Soo Cheon Lee. The $1.6-billion firm manages hedge funds and private credit funds focused on the mid-market sector in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.
“One of the hardest components” in promoting sustainable infrastructure and low-carbon development in Asia is the mobilisation of private capital, especially amid heightened cost challenges in recent years, according to Andrew Cross, CFO at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
Lighthouse Funds, India’s leading mid-market private equity (PE) firm focused on the consumer and healthcare sectors, has closed its fourth investment vehicle at $475 million (Rs 4,000 crore).
Taiwanese insurers Taiwan Life Insurance and Fubon Life Insurance have made a total of $39.4 million in new capital commitments to two investment funds, according to filings with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Indonesia Investment Authority, the country’s sovereign wealth fund, has partnered with Singapore-based investment firm Granite Asia to inject up to $1.2 billion into Indonesia’s technology sector.
Japanese investment company Nikko Asset Management is making a full-fledged entry into private debt, a high-growth area in Asian finance that is drawing more Japanese players.
Singapore-based global real asset manager CapitaLand Investment Limited has secured S$261 million ($198 million) in fresh commitments for its Southeast Asia and India private funds.
Hong Kong-based hedge fund firm Zeal Asset Management will cease operating next year and return over $1.6 billion in investor capital as its founders plan to retire.
Fubon Life Insurance, the insurance unit of Taiwanese financial conglomerate Fubon Financial Holdings, has committed to invest $70 million in the new dedicated energy transition fund of I Squared Capital, according to a disclosure.
Zhipu AI, one of China’s fastest-rising large language model (LLM) startups, recently held the first close of a venture capital (VC) fund which targets to raise a total of 1.5 billion yuan ($210.6 million) to invest in early-stage LLM startups.
US-based venture capital firm Tribe Capital, which has a dedicated India investment vehicle, has secured about $50 million for a new healthcare fund, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
US-based crypto venture firm Dragonfly is in the market looking to raise $650 million for its new fund, according to a filing with the SEC.
Northern Arc, a non-banking financial company in India, has secured $65 million in debt commitments for its maiden climate fund from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and OeEB, the official Development Bank of the Republic of Austria.
Early-stage venture capital firm Inflexor Ventures, which has backed the likes of Atomberg and Bellatrix, has hit the first close of its Opportunities Fund at Rs 280 crore, which is 80% of its Rs 350 crore ($41.5 million) target.
Deal updates
Private equity major CVC Capital Partners is actively considering an exit from its investment in PT Mulia Boga Raya Tbk, the producer of popular Indonesian cheese brand Prochiz, according to sources familiar with the matter.
CVC DIF, the infrastructure arm of global private markets manager CVC, is acquiring a 49.9% stake in Singapore hazardous waste management firm ECO.
Vietnam-based private equity firm Asia Business Builders (ABB) has invested in local integrated pharmacy company Duoc Vuong Group.
Private equity major Carlyle has acquired printed circuit board maker Kyoden Co to accelerate the Japanese company’s global expansion, according to an announcement.
KKR has become the largest shareholder in Japanese software developer Fuji Soft after completing the first stage of a two-part tender offer. The US firm acquired 21.4 million shares, and secured control over 90% of outstanding share options of Fuji Soft.
Dymon Asia Private Equity has invested in Singapore-based business services provider CLA Global TS to support the latter’s growth across Southeast Asia and China.
Pan-Asian buyout firm Affinity Equity Partners is said to have signed a non-binding agreement to take control of Southeast Asia’s largest gummy bear brand, PT Yupi Indo Jelly Gum, in a deal that could be as large as $400 million.
Singapore state investor Temasek is in advanced talks to re-up in India’s SarvaGram, nearly two years after it first invested in the rural credit startup that is now gearing up to raise another round of funding from new and existing investors, DealStreetAsia has learnt.
SGX-listed live-streaming platform 17LIVE Group has announced the acquisition of 100% of the outstanding shares of N Craft Co., Ltd.
Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment is said to have made an offer to buy its remaining stake in Olam Agri. The offer comes almost two years after Singapore’s Olam Group completed the sale of a 35.43% stake in Olam Agri to SALIC for $1.24 billion in December 2022.
TripFactory, a global travel platform with a strong footprint in India, has raised $50 million in its Series A funding round from a prominent international corporate group headquartered in India.
Hong Kong- and Singapore-based energy storage systems maker Ampd Energy has raised $27.3 million in a Series B funding round led by private investment firm Kibo Invest and venture capital firm Openspace Ventures.
Indian space tech startup GalaxEye has closed a $10-million Series A round, as it gears up to launch its first satellite next year. The latest funding tranche roped in MountTech Growth Fund – Kavachh as a strategic investor.
Physical Intelligence, a startup that is developing foundational software for robots, raised $400 million in early-stage funding from Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, OpenAI, Thrive Capital, and Lux Capital.
Chinese autonomous driving technology developer DeepRoute.ai has raised $100 million from an automaker, as it looks to bolster mass adoption of its systems on vehicles ahead of Tesla in China.
Lithium battery maker EIKTO has secured 400 million yuan ($55.9 million) in its latest funding round, which roped in a number of state-owned investors including China Galaxy Investment Management Company and Hefei Industry Investment Holding Group.
Mumbai-based Easy, a mortgage-tech startup, has raised $35 million in its Series B funding round led by Claypond Capital and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation’s Asia Rising Fund.
CARDS, an Indonesia-based innovative school management SaaS platform, has announced an undisclosed seed funding led by Katha VC, a US venture capital firm focused on fintech startups.
MTR Lab, the corporate venture arm of public transport operator and developer MTR Corporation, has made a strategic investment in industrial acoustic AI technology provider Ensonic as it seeks to expand overseas.
Indonesian logistics startup Paxel is weighing the acquisition of a local middle-mile logistics company to support future B2B and B2C business growth, said the company’s COO and co-founder, Zaldy Ilham Masita.
Vietnam-based financial technology firm MFast is targeting to raise about $15 million in its Series B funding round to further expand its presence in the Philippines.
Fresh Life Style Supply Chain Management, a cold-chain logistics unicorn incubated by Chinese agriculture and food company New Hope Group, has completed an extension round to bring its overall Series B financing to nearly 900 million yuan ($125.8 million).
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is weighing an investment of up to $100 million in India’s CSB Bank Limited, according to a disclosure.
IPOs & public markets
China has issued revised regulations for foreign investors in its listed companies, expanding eligibility criteria and easing financial requirements in a bid to attract more foreign investment.
Indian digital payments firm MobiKwik, which is backed by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Bajaj Finance, is set to launch an initial public offering (IPO) looking to raise up to $84 million this month, even as the recent market volatility has left investors cautious.
Food and grocery delivery firm Swiggy’s $1.4-billion IPO was 12% subscribed after its first day of bidding, with retail investors placing orders for more than half the shares reserved for them in India’s second-largest IPO of 2024. The company had sold shares worth $605 million to institutional investors, including Fidelity and Norges, ahead of the IPO.
Talabat, the Middle East business of Delivery Hero, plans to launch its Dubai initial public offering next week, in one of the UAE’s biggest IPOs this year, according to a Reuters report.
Earnings reports
Validus Investment Holdings, the holding group of Singapore-based digital financing platform Validus Capital and its subsidiaries, reported lower losses in 2023 as revenue surged on the back of higher commission and interest income from SME loans, regulatory filings showed.
Software developer and study-abroad platform Leap Technologies and its subsidiaries posted significantly lower losses in the financial year ended March 31, 2024 on the back of a 68% rise in revenue, regulatory filings show.
Sustainable waste management firm Blue Planet Environmental Solutions saw its losses widen to $5.5 million while wealth tech platform Syfe cut its burn to $8.29 million in the financial year that ended March 31, 2024.
Deep dives
Risk capital investors further tightened their purse strings in October, investing a mere $1.12 billion in Indian startups compared with $1.58 billion in September, according to proprietary data compiled by DealStreetAsia. The volume of venture capital and private equity transactions, too, dropped to 112 in October from 121 in the previous month.
Venture capital investment in Southeast Asia’s financial capital, Singapore, continued to weaken in the third quarter of this year, touching levels not seen in nearly four years, according to data from DealStreetAsia – DATA VANTAGE.
While companies’ initial public offering activities slowed in most Southeast Asian markets this year, one country is bucking the regional trend: Malaysia. From a palm oil producer to a grocery chain, a number of new listings underscore what the local bourse calls a “remarkable year” for Malaysia’s equity market, with its chief executive expecting that the IPO boom will continue in 2025.
Indonesia’s digital payment majors are facing increased regulatory attention as authorities grapple with the growing use of e-wallet services for online gambling transactions. The ease of use, minimal registration requirements, and small transaction amounts are being exploited for online gambling.
With the funding winter stretching well beyond expectations, risk capital investors approached young businesses with some trepidation this year. Early-stage funding for Indian startups, comprising seed to Series A stages, dropped 18% to $1.52 billion in Jan-Sept 2024 from $1.85 billion in the comparable period last year.
Kairous Capital, a Malaysia-headquartered venture capital firm, is placing a significant bet on the burgeoning Vietnamese market, said managing partner Joseph Lee.
The South Korean government’s flailing quest to rein in the market power of internet platforms contrasts with successful recent pushes by the European Union and Japan, whose approaches Seoul sought to build on. Yet its efforts have faced greater opposition at home because so many of the online service providers Seoul is trying to restrain are local companies, rather than American ones.
