Asia Private Equity Weekly News, March 10, 2014

March 10 (Reuters) - News and developments in Asia private equity from Reuters News for the week ended March 7.

MARCH 7

AUSTRALIA'S CHAMP Private Equity said it plans to bypass the local share market to list Shelf Drilling Ltd, the company it formed 16 months ago to run $1 billion worth of shallow water oil rigs, on the London Stock Exchange in May. News Search ID:nL3N0M41NZ

MARCH 6

SPAIN'S SAVERA Group, which earns most of its revenue in China, is seeking a buyer for around 70 percent of itself, in a sale valuing the company at up to $500 million, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. News Search ID:nL3N0M32OS

SOUTH KOREA plans to ease rules to make mergers and acquisitions easier for private equity firms and local companies in a bid to facilitate the sale of an estimated 10 trillion won ($9.34 billion) in assets of cash-strapped local conglomerates.

News Search ID:nL3N0M30A2

WARBURG PINCUS Href="NewsSearch">WP.UL backed Sunshine 100 China Holdings Ltd 2608.HK , a commercial and residential real estate developer in second and third-tier Chinese cities, raised about $258 million after pricing its Hong Kong initial public offering at the bottom of expectations, IFR reported. News Search ID:nL3N0M30U6

PREQIN RESEARCH shows an increasingly difficult environment for fund of funds vehicles, with only 72 of the funds closed in 2013 raising a total of $12 billion, compared with 87 funds raising $16 billion in 2012, and 164 funds raising $58 billion at the peak in 2007. ( Href="Link">http://link.reuters.com/dyz47v)

MARCH 5

KKR & Co KKR.N said it had hired Tony Schulz, formerly with EIG, to join its Sydney team as managing director, as it expands its energy and infrastructure business (E&I) in Asia. Ash Upadhyaya, a director on the firm's E&I team in the United Sates, is relocating to Singapore from New York. ( Href="Link">http://link.reuters.com/zuz47v)

THE VOLUME of M&A activity in South Korea has posted its strongest start to the year since 2008, rising 18 percent to date and dominated by a spate of private equity dealmaking.

News Search ID:nL3N0M10OI

ICICI VENTURE, the private equity arm of No.2 Indian lender ICICI Bank ICBK.NS and U.S. private equity giant Apollo Global Management LLC APO.N , will this month complete raising a $750 million fund to invest in distressed assets in India, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

News Search ID:nL3N0M22PA

SHAREHOLDERS REJECTED Yongye International Inc's YONG.O going private proposal, which was backed by Morgan Stanley's Asia private equity unit. News Search ID:nWNAB04CJL

JAPAN LAGS Asian stock markets on price performance in dollar terms this year, while Indonesia is the best performer.

News Search ID:nL3N0M22L3

MARCH 4

RAVINDRA KISHORE Sinha built India's largest security business from a garage in the dirt-poor state of Bihar. He has just won a seat in the upper house of parliament, becoming its richest member, and his Security and Intelligence Services (SIS India) firm is growing at 40 percent a year. News Search ID:nL3N0LQ2LY

FIVE BANKS have provided underwritten debt of around 1.3 trillion Korean won ($1.2 billion) to back Carlyle Group's

CG.O $1.93 billion buyout of ADT Korea, the South Korean security systems unit of Tyco International TYC.N , Basis Point reported. News Search ID:nRLP41735a

MARCH 3

TYCO, a maker of fire safety and security systems, said it would sell its South Korean security business to private equity firm Carlyle for $1.93 billion and take a charge in the second quarter. News Search ID:nL3N0M03HL

PRIVATE EQUITY funds face increasing deal-making competition in 2014, Bain & Co consultants said, with a record $1 trillion cash pile adding to the pressure to find strong investments.

News Search ID:nL6N0M012P

BEIJING CAPITAL Group Href="NewsSearch">BEJINX.UL will buy New Zealand's biggest waste management firm from Australia's Transpacific Industries Group Ltd TPI.AX for almost $800 million, enabling the Chinese state-owned company to acquire technology that could help combat chronic pollution in the capital and beyond.

News Search ID:nL3N0M00QE

CVC CAPITAL Partners Ltd Href="NewsSearch">CVC.UL has raised 2.49 trillion Indonesian rupiah ($214.5 million) from the sale of a block of shares in PT Matahari Putra Prima Tbk MPPA.JK , IFR reported.

($1 = 1073.4500 Korean won)

(Compiled by Stephen Aldred in Hong Kong; Editing by Anand Basu)

((stephen.aldred@thomsonreuters.com; +852 2912 6609; Reuters Messaging: stephen.aldred.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))

Keywords: PVE WEEKLY/