Category: Enterprise
Warburg Pincus-backed D&J China launches US$1.45 billion industrial park fund with AVIC Trust
D&J Industrial Property China Investment Ltd., a business park and suburban office developer which is owned by Warburg Pincus through a majority stake, has launched a capital fund with AVIC Trust to invest in industrial infrastructures in China.
Co-founded by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) and OCBC Bank of Singapore, AVIC Trust is an investment and trust manager in China, with assets under management of over RMB430 billion (about US$62.18 billion).
With this partnership, the D&J Zhiyan Equity Investment Fund raises an initial equity capitalization of RMB10 billion (about US$1.45 billion), founded on a USD-RMB hybrid basis, which is said to be the first of its kind in China.
“In addition to helping tenants lower potential cost of land sourcing, infrastructure and facilities construction, the fund also seeks to provide integrated services in the areas of finance, data storage, consultancy, and R&D,” said the chairman of AVIC Trust, Yao Jiangtao.
The capital is dedicated to China’s industrial infrastructure landscape, where it will mainly be used to invest in modern integrated industrial parks in China’s major cities – backing projects which include business parks, production facilities, and R&D parks.
“Driven by a strong trend for an industrial upgrade, continued urbanization and rise of the knowledge economy, the fund will invest in quality assets and provide modern infrastructure services for corporates and manufacturers across the entire industry value chain,” said Sun Dongping, the co-founder and chairman of D&J China.
China’s D&J Industrial holding is the second real estate platform co-founded by Warburg Pincus and Sun Dongping, after the pair co-founded warehouse developer e-Shang in 2011.
Since its establishment, China D&J has completed two rounds of financing and currently has over 1.2 million square meters of operating and under development properties in Beijing, Shanghai, and other Chinese cities.
The company’s tenants portfolio include Shell, Abbott, and FMC, as well as high-tech knowledge economy companies – Asiainfo and iSoftStone.
D&J China targets to grow its assets to over 5 million square meters in the next three to five years, targeting to increase its total asset value to RMB45 billion by 2020.
By Vivian Foo, Unicorn Media
Singapore Ruvento Ventures raises US$25 million seed funding to invest in hardware startups from Singapore, China, and the United States
Singapore-based venture capital (VC) firm Ruvento has a new US$ 25 million seed fund to invest in hardware startups across Singapore, China, and the United States.
The fund is founded and managed by a Russian team, Vyacheslav Slava Solonitsyn and Alex Toh in 2011, who play the role of the Managing Partner and General Partner at Ruvento respectively.
At the same time, Vyacheslav Solonitsyn also maintains a role as the Managing Partner at EnchantVC, which also serves as an accelerator for consumer hardware startups.
According to the company, about 70 percent of the transactions by the VC firm will be an investment between US$ 100k and US$ 500k. While remaining of the capital will be reserved for follow-on investments with a budget up to US$ 2 million.
In terms of the company’s investment interest, Ruvento is particularly interested in infrastructure hardware, focusing on the Internet of Things (IoT) as well as sensor integrations.
Besides, the VC firm is also interested in the commercial applications of drones and robotics, in addition to creative startups that provide VR/AR solutions.
“Hardware shouldn’t mean gimmicks,” said Slava Solonitsyn, Ruvento Managing Partner. “We are not investing in things you don’t need.”
So far, Ruvento using this fund has already written checks to more than 14 companies.
Some of the startups include a startup developing precise autonomous drones, Prenav which received US$ 6.5 million for its seed round and Naked Labs which designed the world’s first home body scanner.
The company also operates in Russia and other Republics of the former Soviet Union, helping startups from the region to expand into Asian markets.
Ruvento is backed by an undisclosed family office. The firm has an eight-year fund lifecycle with a potential two-year extension.
By Vivian Foo, Unicorn Media
JP Morgan Arm to invest US$ 30 million in Assetz Property Group
Global giant JP Morgan Asset Management has invested Rs 200 crore (about US$ 30 million) in Assetz Property Group, a firm that develops residential and commercial properties in Southern India.
“The capital will be given in the form of equity by JP Morgan,” said Akshay Dewani, the director of Assetz Property Group. “The money will then be used to build an 18.5 acre residential project in north Bangalore.”
With this investment, Assetz Property Group has secured about US$ 180 million for its upcoming projects.
Earlier investments include US$ 116 million from venture capital firm Equis Funds Group Pte Ltd as well as private equity (PE) that is intended for its midmarket housing vertical.
Other investors comprise of property consultant Jones Lang, LaSalle’s real estate investment arm – Segregated Funds Group, Avenue Real Estate Fund and Amplus Capital Advisors Pct Ltd.
Headquartered in Singapore, Assetz Property Group for the most part develops residential assets in Bengaluru. But the firm also has plans to set up logistics and warehouse parks on the outskirts of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, and Nagpur in the near future.
“We will be raising capital for logistics vertical first and plan our steps to have a 10 million square feet portfolio over the next four years,” Dewani added.
The company is diversifying into new segments and is in the process of forming commercial, industrial warehousing, and residential platforms to raise capital and expand its presence.
“We plan to have a multi-development platform as we have a good fundraising setup,” said Dewani.
Previously in March, the company had made an announcement regarding the launch of its township brand “Assetz Lifestyle”, under which it will build the group’s mid-market housing projects in the next decade.
In the next ten years, the group plans to build around 10,000 homes along the growth corridors of Bengaluru which is expected to generate a sum of around Rs 5000 crore in revenue from this business alone.
For more information, please visit http://www.assetzproperty.com/
By Vivian Foo, Unicorn Media
Temasek Holdings to take stake in Oxford Sciences Innovation
Singapore’s state investment fund – Temasek Holdings has become a limited partner in Oxford Sciences Innovation (OSI), which develops and commercialises intellectual properties from Oxford university.
Participating through the means of capital infusion, this is Temasek Holdings’ first investment in the UK-based university fund. The financial terms of the investment were undisclosed.
This is part of a larger £230 million (about US$ 289.9 million) financing round that was announced on December 9, which has boost OSI’s capital base to almost £600 million.
The investment round had both new and existing investors, including some of Asia’s leading technology corporations and sovereign wealth funds such as Singapore’s Temasek and Oman Investment Fund, which are among the new wave of investors.
“We are very excited to be working with new shareholders from across the world, notably from Asia and continental Europe, and also grateful to our original supporters, the 10 largest of which have participated in this funding round,” said the chairman of OSI, Peter Davies.
With the new funding round, OSI’s capital base which previously stood at £350m has now expanded to £580 million (about US$ 731 million), making it the largest private university fund in the United Kingdom.
“Raising this capital reflects our confidence in the breadth and quality of opportunity available to investors to help the University of Oxford develop a world-class commercial ecosystem around its unmatched intellectual capital and heritage,” Davies add.
Founded in 2015, the formation of Oxford Science Innovation (OSI) aims to maintain the university’s position as one of the world’s leading research institution, providing capital and scaling expertise to businesses that are driven by its in-house intellectual property.
To date, the fund has backed approximately 20 spin-out startups based on the technology from university’s labs. Among its track record of developed businesses include Oxford Nanoimaging, Vaccitech and Oxford Flow.
Temasek is reshaping its holdings and bracing for lower returns after in July reporting the first decline in its portfolio in seven years. The value of assets fell 9% to US$ 242 billion in the fiscal year ended March 31, according to the firm’s annual review.
Temasek Holdings Pte, Singapore’s state-owned investment fund, said it will focus on being an active investor as it increases holdings in overseas companies.
By Vivian Foo, Unicorn Media
Indonesian coal producer Bumi Resources to restructure debt, paring down US$ 2 billion via Preemptive Rights offering
Indonesian coal producer PT Bumi Resources Tbk (BUMI) is looking to restructure its finance. The company plans to swap its debts for share, through raising IDR 26.9 trillion (about US$ 2 billion) through a rights offering.
The company will issue up to 29.1 billion new shares which are equivalent to 79.5 percent of its enlarged capital with Preemptive Rights (ER). These 29.1 billion shares will then be sold at about IDR 926 per share.
The transaction is expected to take place in 2017, fetching a total amount of IDR 26.9 trillion – part of the company’s efforts to restructure its US$ 4.2 billion debt.
The debt is intended to be reduced to US$ 1.6 billion, of which US$ 2 billion will be converted into shares, while the remaining will become Mandatory Convertible Bonds (MCB) or mandatory convertible bonds with a seven-years term.
Bumi Resources will use the proceeds to pay off debts to China Investment Corporation (CIC) along with eight other lenders. In an event that shareholders are reluctant to participate, the creditors will absorb all new shares issued, allowing Bumi Resources’ obligations to be converted into shares.
Later, no interests will be converted into shares of the company.
“This way, the old shareholders are given the opportunity to keep their ownership, but at a higher sum than the company’s current stock price. This is already stated in the agreement between the firm and creditors,” said finance director at Bumi Resources, Andrew Beckham, in Jakarta recently.
In the proposal, CIC would control 22.6 percent of Bumi Resources’ shares while 2016 bondholders would get 4.6 percent, and 2017 bondholders would obtain 10.6 percent. Credit Suisse would also get 3.6 percent, UBS 0.8 percent, Axis Bank 0.8 percent, Deutsche Bank 0.7 percent, and Raiffeisen Bank International 1.2 percent.
Bumi Resources primarily exports coal to China, Japan, and India. The Bakrie family-controlled firm supplies 25 percent of its coal to the domestic market and aims to boost coal production up to 100 million tonnes next year following this agreement for a debt-restructuring scheme.
The company forecast its production to increase by 5 percent more with the sales target also increasing by 7 percent in the near future, considering the surging demand for coal in the country as a result of the government’s ambitious electricity procurement programme.
Known as the most indebted coal miner in Southeast Asia, Bumi Resources has spent half the decade trying to reduce its debt.
In August, the company sold 50 percent of its stakes in unit Leap Forward Resources Ltd to two investors – Smart Alliance Ltd and Oceanpro Investments – in a US$ 90 million deal. The transaction was used to repay part of the company’s debts to Axis Bank Ltd, according to corporate secretary Dileep Srivastava.
On Friday, Bumi Resources shares increased by 0.68 percent to close at IDR 296 per share, against a 0.08 percent gain in the broader index.
By Vivian Foo, Unicorn Media