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 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'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 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 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. 11. Macquarie Group, venture capital firm Accel Partners and private equity firm Carlyle Group will sell all they own of OzForex.