Africa-focused investment manager Ashburton Investments has reached a first close for its inaugural mezzanine fund with ZAR507.5 million (approximately US$40 million) in capital commitments from four undisclosed investors. Ashburton Mezzanine Fund I, which is targeting ZAR1 billion (approximately US$79 million) in total commitments, will focus on South Africa with an… Read More
China-based artificial intelligence company SenseTime has raised a US$620 million Series C+ round valuing the company at more than US$4.5 billion. Investment firms Fidelity International, Hopu Investment Management, Silver Lake and Tiger Global Management led the round, which also included participation from Qualcomm Ventures and other financial and strategic investors. Read More
Accion Venture Lab, the seed-stage investment vehicle of financial inclusion-focused investor Accion, India-focused venture capital fund manager YourNest and several angel investors have jointly invested INR90 million (approximately US$1.3 million) in India-based fintech startup CredRight. CredRight provides credit to unserved and underserved micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises. The company partners… Read More
U.S.-listed social game developer Zynga has acquired Turkey-based mobile game developer Gram Games, which is backed by Hummingbird Ventures, for US$250 million in cash. Zynga will also pay a three-year earn-out if Gram Games meets undisclosed financial targets. Hummingbird Ventures originally invested in Gram Games in 2012, when the company… Read More
Central and Eastern Europe-focused private equity fund manager Mid Europa Partners has agreed to invest in Poland-based JS Hamilton, a testing, inspection and certification company engaged in food, non-food, fuel and environmental testing, as well as cargo and engineering inspection. With Mid Europa’s support, JS Hamilton plans to broaden its… Read More
China-focused alternative investment management and advisory company CITIC Capital Holdings has invested in China-based Shanghai Railink International Intermodal Logistics and Kazakhstan-based Atasu Group. Both companies operate in the logistics services sector, serving trade links between China and Europe via Central Asia and Kazakhstan. CITIC Capital, which invested through CITIC Capital… Read More
China-based online payment platform operator Ant Financial Services, a subsidiary of Alibaba, has reportedly raised US$10 billion from a consortium of global and local investors in a funding round valuing the company at US$150 billion. Sovereign wealth funds GIC, Temasek Holdings and Khazanah Nasional, as well as global private equity… Read More
India-based digital-only insurance platform Toffee Insurance has raised US$1.5 million in a seed financing round led by Accion Venture Lab, the seed-stage investment vehicle of financial inclusion-focused investor Accion, India-focused venture capital firm Kalaari Capital and philanthropic investment firm Omidyar Network. Toffee provides insurance offerings to millennials; its initial lineup… Read More
India-focused technology investment firm Zodius Capital has reportedly increased its stake in India-based lingerie retailer Zivame to 45 percent by acquiring shares from India-focused venture capital firms Kalaari Capital and IDG Ventures India. Kalaari and IDG originally invested in Zivame in 2012. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. Read More
The Blackstone Group has agreed to exit India-based Gateway Rail Freight to its parent company Gateway Distriparks for INR8.1 billion (approximately US$118 million), bringing Gateway Distriparks’ stake in the company to 99.8 percent. Blackstone originally invested INR3 billion (approximately US$65 million) in Gateway Rail Freight in November 2009. The deal,… Read More
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