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The move comes as global infrastructure funds are pouring huge sums of money to acquire capital-intensive telecom infrastructure assets in Southeast Asia, seeing strong growth opportunities. The sources said discussions are taking place for a minority stake to be sold in the decade-old Edotco, which is 63% owned by Axiata. However, three of the sources said there was a possibility that Axiata could even consider giving majority control in order to secure a deal. The sources said the bulk of the proceeds from the share sales will likely fund Edotco's business expansion. While broader dealmaking activity has fallen sharply over the past year due to weak equity markets and rising interest rates, telecom tower assets have been a bright spot.

☆ UOB completes deal for Citi's Vietnam consumer banking business
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SINGAPORE, March 1 (Reuters) - Citigroup (C.N) said on Wednesday that it had completed the sale of its Vietnam retail banking and consumer credit card businesses to Singapore's United Overseas Bank in a transaction expected to result in a "modest regulatory capital benefit". United Overseas Bank (UOBH.SI), commonly known as UOB, said in a separate statement that it planned to complete the acquisition of Citigroup's Indonesian consumer banking business by the end of 2023. The lender announced in November the completion of its purchase of Citigroup's Malaysia and Thailand retail banking businesses. UOB's purchase of Citigroup's consumer businesses in the four Southeast Asian markets for about S$5 billion ($3.71 billion) marks its biggest acquisition in two decades. ($1 = 1.3476 Singapore dollars)Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui; Editing by Christian SchmollingerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Warburg has approached a number of Chinese investors including local government-backed entities and state-backed financial institutions for the new yuan fund, the people with knowledge of the matter said. The U.S. private equity (PE) firm plans to primarily focus on the healthcare and industrial technology sectors in China with the yuan fund, one of the people said. "RMB (yuan) funds are relatively independent and self-sustainable," he said. Sensitive sectors will remain closed to global private equity groups even if they raise yuan funds, she added. Emerging markets-focused Affirma Capital is also targeting a 2 billion yuan raising in its debut fund and reached first close at 1.5 billion yuan by end-2022, a person close to the situation said.

SINGAPORE, Feb 13 (Reuters) - DBS Group (DBSM.SI) has a tightly managed exposure to India's Adani group of companies, the chief executive of Southeast Asia's largest bank said on Monday. DBS was among a group of banks which provided finance to Adani's $10.5 billion acquisition of Holcim's (HOLN.S) cement business in India last year. "They're solid, cash-generating companies, so we're not concerned about the exposure," Chief Executive Piyush Gupta told reporters after DBS reported quarterly results. The cement industry has huge potential, given the growth in the market, Gupta said, "and so that exposure is quite tightly managed." New York-based short-seller Hindenburg Research accused the Adani Group in a Jan. 24 report of stock manipulation and improper use of offshore tax havens that it said obscured the extent of Adani family stock ownership in group firms.

SYDNEY/SINGAPORE, Jan 26 (Reuters) - China's reopened borders and renewed focus on boosting the sagging economy have brightened the deals outlook, with bankers starting to field interest for mergers, acquisitions and fundraising involving the world's second-largest economy. Chinese companies' capital markets deals slipped 44% in the same period, according to Refinitiv data. That slump crimped the fees earned by Wall Street banks and forced some of them to cut jobs, mainly those linked to Chinese deals, in the past few months. Chinese private equity activity was worth $24.1 billion in 2022, down from $57.8 billion a year before, Pitchbook data showed. "Because of opening up, we expect an uptick in overseas disposal of private equity to Chinese buyers."

☆ Olam Group targets Olam Agri dual IPO as early as first half of 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Yantoultra Ngui | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SINGAPORE, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Singapore commodity trader Olam Group on Tuesday said it plans to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) for majority-owned Olam Agri Holdings as early as the first half of this year, listing the unit domestically and concurrently in Saudi Arabia. A concurrent listing on the Saudi Exchange would make Olam Agri the first company to list in both countries and the first non-Gulf Cooperation Council incorporated business to list in Saudi Arabia. The plan comes weeks after Olam Group completed the sale of 35.43% of Olam Agri to Saudi Agricultural & Livestock Investment Co for $1.24 billion, giving the unit an equity valuation of $3.5 billion. Olam Group continues to own the remainder. Olam Group said the IPO may involve a domestic and global sale of shares it holds in the unit as well as new Olam Agri shares.

☆ Recovery in Asia M&A, stuck at 8-year-lows, rests on macro conditions
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Kane Wu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Deals are set to revive slowly as companies and funds watch out for easier macroeconomic conditions, they said. "This will provide a more stable backdrop for the return of a more robust M&A market," said Maliah. Deals in private equity, a major M&A driver, amounted to $139 billion as of Dec. 15, down 52% on all of 2021. "Banks' ability to write big-size checks is still much challenged," said Samson Lo, UBS's co-head of Asia-Pacific M&A. An improvement in Asian equity capital market volumes from three-year lows will also help M&A deals, dealmakers said.

☆ Singapore state investor Temasek to open Paris office in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SINGAPORE, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Singaporean state investor Temasek Holdings (TEM.UL) will open an office in Paris next year as it seeks to focus on investments in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, it said on Tuesday. "Our decision to open a new European office reflects the continuing importance of EMEA as an investment destination," Temasek's EMEA head Uwe Krueger said in a statement. Ranked among the top 10 state investors in the world, Temasek's portfolio value rose to a record S$403 billion ($293 billion) in the year to March 2022. Temasek, which has stakes in large listed Asian companies such as DBS Group (DBSM.SI) and China Construction Bank (601939.SS), is mainly focused on Asia. ($1 = 1.3759 Singapore dollars)Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui; Editing By Anshuman Daga and Jan HarveyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

STOCKHOLM, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Philip Morris International (PMI) (PM.N) said on Monday it now owned a big enough stake in Swedish Match (SWMA.ST) to initiate a compulsory redemption of remaining shares in its Swedish peer and would take it off the stock market. Marlboro maker PMI in May launched a $16 billion takeover bid for the Swedish tobacco and nicotine products company. Buying Swedish Match, with its popular wet snuff "snus" products and tobacco-free nicotine "ZYN" pouches, will aid PMI in its stated ambition to move away from health-harming cigarettes and eventually become a smoke-free company. Swedish Match was not immediately available for comment. ($1 = 10.3774 Swedish crowns)Reporting by Marie Mannes and Anna Ringstrom, editing by Essi Lehto and Susan FentonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Major Gulf markets track Asian shares, oil prices lower
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Roxanne Liu | Yantoultra Ngui | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 28 (Reuters) - Major stock markets in the Gulf fell on Monday, with the Qatari index leading the drop, as investors tracked sluggish crude prices and Asian equities lower after rare protests in China against the country's zero-COVID curbs roiled sentiment. Crude prices - a key catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets - slumped as street protests against strict curbs in China, the world's biggest crude importer, stoked concerns about the outlook for fuel demand. In Qatar, the index (.QSI) dropped 1.5%, as all stocks were trading in negative territory including petrochemical maker Industries Qatar (IQCD.QA), which was down 1.9%. Saudi Arabia's benchmark index (.TASI) retreated more than 1%, with Retal Urban Development Co (4322.SE) losing 1% and oil giant Saudi Aramco (2222.SE) declining 0.9%. Dubai's main share index (.DFMGI) retreated 0.5%, weighed down by a 0.9% fall in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties (EMAR.DU).

SINGAPORE, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Link Real Estate Investment Trust (0823.HK), Asia's biggest REIT, has emerged as the frontrunner to buy a portfolio of assets from Singapore shopping mall owner NTUC Enterprise Co-operative Ltd, multiple sources told Reuters on Monday. If Link REIT does buy, the assets will be its first in Singapore. Mercatus and Hong Kong-listed Link REIT declined to comment on the matter. Nearly three-quarters of its portfolio value is in Hong Kong. Link REIT has been on the prowl for assets in Singapore and other countries to diversify its portfolio.

☆ Malaysia's TIME sells data centre stake to DigitalBridge for $440 mln
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Gabriel Araujo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SINGAPORE, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Malaysian telecoms firm TIME dotCom (TCOM.KL) is selling a major stake in its data centre business to U.S. infrastructure investor DigitalBridge Group (DBRG.N) for about 2 billion ringgit ($437.64 million), the companies announced on Tuesday. TIME will sell 49% of the ordinary shares and 100% of the irredeemable convertible preference shares in AIMS Data Centre Holding, and 21% of the ordinary shares in AIMS Data Centre (Thailand), according to the statement. Proceeds from the stake sales will be partly used by TIME to pay a special dividend of up to 1 billion ringgit to its shareholders, TIME's Commander-in-Chief Afzal Abdul Rahim said in the statement. The deal gave the AIMS business an enterprise value of 3.2 billion ringgit and compares to the 119 million ringgit TIME paid to buy it in 2012, according to the company. AIMS' current book value is 240 million ringgit.

☆ Morning Bid: Bulls take cover
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Yantoultra Ngui | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

We have seen this story before of markets getting ahead of themselves, but the latest China worries are resurfacing just as global investors dial back hopes of an imminent Fed pivot on interest rates. In Europe, ECB policymakers are seen taking an even tougher stance. Three top officials said on Friday that the European Central Bank must raise interest rates high enough to dampen growth as it fights record inflation and it could soon start running down its 5 trillion euro ($5.2 trillion) debt pile. Minutes from the ECB meeting and the Fed this week will provide markets more direction on the outlook for interest rates, while manufacturing and consumer confidence data will give a snapshot of the health of economies. Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden is proving that age is just a number as he turned 80 on Sunday, making him the first octogenarian president in U.S. history.

Two investment banks have been tapped to launch a sale process for Singapore-headquartered MedTech, which could be valued at roughly $1 billion, two of the sources said. All the sources declined to be named as news of the sale process has not been made public. A Temasek spokesperson declined comment, while there was no immediate comment from an external spokesperson for Advanced MedTech. Advanced MedTech, which earns the majority of its business from the United States, is one of the few companies that is fully-owned by Temasek, which ranks among the world's biggest investors. The sources expect private equity firms, healthcare-focused funds and strategic investors to put in bids for Advanced MedTech.

The deadline for shareholders to tender shares in support of the bid was 1600 GMT on Friday. Protean Funds had said previously it wanted to fight for Swedish Match and thought PMI's bid undervalued the company. It is still not known what activist investor Elliott Management, which owns over 10% in Swedish Match, has done. Under Swedish law, PMI needs 90% of shareholders to agree to the deal to get full control of Swedish Match. PMI bid lights up Swedish Match stock($1 = 10.9446 Swedish crowns)Reporting by Marie Mannes; Editing by Jane Merriman, Josephine Mason, Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Blackstone Credit is working with an investment bank to explore options for PRI Operating at a time when commodity prices continue to trade at elevated levels after touching multi-year highs earlier in 2022. The sources cautioned a sale of PRI Operating was not guaranteed and the value Blackstone Credit might secure was difficult to estimate given how volatility in commodity prices influences asset valuations. PRI Operating did not respond to comment requests. Founded in 2017, PRI Operating is backed by Blackstone Credit and management. In July, Reuters reported Blackstone Credit and Apollo Global Management were marketing for sale Canadian oil and gas producer Ridgeback Resources.

SummarySummary Companies Agnico Eagle, Pan American bid values Yamana around $4.8 blnGold Fields says it will continue working towards takeoverYamana shares jump 16%Nov 4 (Reuters) - Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd (AEM.TO) and Pan American Silver Corp (PAAS.TO) swooped in with a joint bid for Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) on Friday, in an attempt to scupper Gold Fields' (GFIJ.J) planned acquisition of the Canada-listed gold miner. The cash and stock offer, valuing Yamana at around $4.8 billion, would see Agnico and Pan American split Yamana's mines between them. Yamana shareholders would receive $1.0406 in cash, 0.0376 of an Agnico Share and 0.1598 of a Pan American Share for each share held. South Africa's Gold Fields had agreed to take over Yamana in an all-stock deal valuing it at $6.7 billion in May. Gold Fields will update the market on the status of its bid after the weekend, a company spokesman said.

The macroeconomic environment is also not one that really favours aggressive investment at this point in time," Jaideep Khanna, who heads Barclays' Asia Pacific business told Reuters in an interview. We, as a business within the Barclays framework, are accretive to the firm and have delivered over the last three years," said Mumbai-based Khanna, who is also Barclays' India CEO. Khanna, the only regional CEO of a global bank to be based in India, took the role in 2017 after joining Barclays in 2001. The country is also home to Barclays' global services centre, where it employs more than 21,000 - its second-largest number of staff outside of Britain. In Australia, Khanna said Barclays would deepen its involvement with investment banking boutique firm Barrenjoey Capital Partners in which it nearly doubled its stake to 18.2% this year.

☆ EXCLUSIVE KKR raises $6 bln for biggest Asia infrastructure fund -sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Anshuman Daga | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HOTBED FOR DEALSLike the debut infrastructure fund that made more than a dozen investments, KKR's latest one will target renewables, telecom towers, power, utilities and transportation infrastructure, among others, the sources said. This year alone, funds backed by the likes of KKR, Macquarie, infrastructure investors DigitalBridge (DBRG.N) and Stonepeak have struck deals for tens of thousands of telecom towers in the Philippines. Earlier this month, a top executive at Permodalan Nasional Bhd, Malaysia's largest asset manager, told Reuters that it plans to add infrastructure assets into its portfolio from 2023. Last year, 19 Asia Pacific-focused infrastructure funds raised a total of $10.3 billion, Preqin data showed. Last month, Neil Arora, a veteran infrastructure dealmaker from Macquarie, joined KKR as the head of its energy transition team for Asia Pacific.

☆ Herbert Smith Freehills appoints Roberts and Robinson as TMT lead partners
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

SINGAPORE, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Herbert Smith Freehills has appointed Veronica Roberts and Mark Robinson as joint global sector lead partners of the global law firm's technology, media and telecoms (TMT) sector. Based in London, Roberts is an European Union, United Kingdom competition law expert who also leads Herbert Smith Freehills' global foreign investment group, the law firm said in a statement late Wednesday. Singapore-based Robinson has advised on corporate transactions, investments and projects in Asia and previously worked in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Herbert Smith Freehills said it has more than 360 lawyers in its TMT sector. Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui; Editing by Anshuman Daga and Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Singapore's Love, Bonito brand owner to open first U.S. store in 2023, eyes IPO
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Yantoultra Ngui | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A view of the Love, Bonito flagship store at ION Ochard shopping mall, Singapore October 19, 2022. The Chinese private equity firm led a $50 million funding round in Lovebonito Holdings in October 2021. Among the other investors are Singapore-based Openspace Ventures, Japanese comparison-shopping site Kakaku.com (2371.T), Shanghai-headquartered venture capital firm Ondine Capital and Japanese fashion chain store Adastria (2685.T). Song, 33, said Lovebonito Holdings' plans for an IPO were "definitely in the mid-term horizon", but she declined to give specifics. This week, Lovebonito Holdings announced the acquisition of butter., a women-led activewear brand, and a small investment in Moom Health, a Singapore healthcare startup.

☆ Everstone explores stake sale in India and Indonesia's Burger King franchisee - sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Yantoultra Ngui | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SINGAPORE, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Private equity firm Everstone Capital is considering selling its stake worth $314 million in Restaurant Brands Asia Ltd (RESR.NS), the master franchisee of Burger King in India and Indonesia, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Everstone Capital, through its investment vehicle QSR Asia Pte Ltd holds a 40.9% stake in Restaurant Brands, according to Refinitiv data. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterEverstone Capital declined to comment and Restaurant Brands Asia did not respond to Reuters queries seeking comment. Restaurant Brands Asia had a market value of $768 million based on Friday's price of 129 Indian rupees. read more read moreRestaurant Brands Asia, formerly known as Burger King India Ltd, was incorporated in 2013 following a partnership formed between Everstone and Burger King Worldwide Inc to develop the fast-food chain's presence in India.

Helen Wong, Group CEO of OCBC Bank poses for a portrait during an interview with Reuters in Singapore October 10, 2022. And while OCBC earned nearly half of its operating profit from Singapore, Greater China was the next-largest contributor, followed by Malaysia. She added that OCBC benefited from having both a brick-and-mortar and a strong digital footprint. This has increased attention on OCBC, which has the strongest capital position among Singapore banks. Sanford Bernstein analysts said in a report in June that OCBC had S$4.8 billion that could be used for acquisitions without the need to raise capital.

SINGAPORE, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Southeast Asia's digital media and tech sectors, underpinned by young consumers and one of the fastest growing internet markets, had drawn U.S. investment bank Raine Group to expand in the region, senior executives said. Global media, entertainment and gaming giants are ramping up their presence in Southeast Asia's fast-growing economies. Raine specializes in media, sports and technology deals and also oversees $4 billion in growth equity and venture capital. It advised Southeast Asia's biggest ride-hailing firm Grab on its purchase of Uber's regional business in 2018. Reuters reported last week that Raine had tapped Jonathan Pflug, Morgan Stanley's head of Southeast Asia M&A, to lead its regional coverage.

☆ Singapore's SATS in $1.1 bln deal to become biggest air cargo handler
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Yantoultra Ngui | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SINGAPORE, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Singapore-based ground handling and catering provider SATS Ltd (SATS.SI) is acquiring Paris-based Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) for 1.19 billion euros ($1.14 billion) cash in its largest ever deal, to create the world's biggest global air cargo handler. SATS' CEO Kerry Mok called the deal "a transformational opportunity for SATS", saying it would create a global leader. Last week, Bloomberg News reported that SATS had sounded out financing for a possible deal that could be worth about $3 billion. WFS reported 1.722 billion euros in revenue and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of 232 million euros for the year ended March 2022. Founded in 1984, WFS is the world's largest air cargo logistics provider and a major provider of ground handling and technical services.

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