Busy readers: here is what happened inside China’s smart money for the week of April 18-22.
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- Shanda Capital's Chen Tianqiao, Foyo Culture & Entertainment and Matrix Partners have led a RMB150 million (US$23 million) series B round of financing in Tuliu.com, a comprehensive online platform for land transfers in China.
- China Media Capital (CMC) has led a US$30 million series C round of financing in Enjoy, an O2O (online-to-offline) start-up focused on providing discounted reservation services in high-end restaurants.
- Zhubaijia, an online short-term vacation home rental platform backed by HNA Tourism Holding (Group) Co., Ltd. and CITIC GoldStone Investment Fund, has officially listed on China's New Third Board.
- Sino-Europe private equity firm Cathay Capital Private Equity has hired Daniel Balmisse, a former executive at French investment firm Bpifrance in charge of the fund of funds business, as its chief operating officer.
- D&J Industrial Property (China) Investment Co. Ltd., a business park and suburban office operator majority-owned by Warburg Pincus, has agreed to acquire a 40% stake in Chinese real estate investment management firm KaiLong Group.
- Chinese private equity firm Hony Capital Ltd. has raised US$2.7 billion for a dual-currency fund, aiming to allow overseas and China-based investors to participate in the same deals equally.
- Tencent Holdings Ltd. has led a RMB1 billion (US$155 million) series A funding round in artificial intelligence-enabled health data mining start-up iCarbonX.
- An investor consortium including Apex Technology Co., PAG Asia Capital and Legend Capital, has agreed to acquire global computer-printer maker Lexmark International Inc., in a deal that values the company at US$3.6 billion.
- Baidu Inc says its online video division has completed a RMB1 billion (US$155 million) fundraising led by Shenzhen-listed television production firm Shanghai New Culture Media Group.
- An investor consortium including China Investment Corp., KKR & Co. and Baring Private Equity Asia has expressed interest in buying a majority stake in Yum! Brands Inc.’s China business.
- Beijing-based high-end flower and gift O2O (online-to-offline) business roseonly has completed RMB190 million (US$29 million) series C round of financing from Yuansheng Capital and two additional Chinese investors whose identities cannot be verified.
- Beijing-based home cleaning service booking app eJiaJie, backed by CDH Investments, Tencent Industry Win-Win Fund and others, has officially listed on China's New Third Board, the National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ).
- Chinese short-distance travel service platform Yaochufa has raised RMB550 million (US$85 million) series D round of financing from Beijing UTour International Travel Service Co., Tongchuang Jinding Investment Management and China Capital Management, a unit of CITIC Holdings.
- ClearVue Partners has led a US$10 million series C round of financing in Beijing-based Yummy Express, a start-up providing logistics and operation services to Chinese O2O (online-to-offline) companies.
- Hong Kong-based private equity real estate firm Gaw Capital Partners just held a US$700 million first close for its fifth Asian real estate investment fund, which is targeting US$1.5 billion.
- United Overseas Bank, Singapore's third-biggest lender, plans to launch a private equity fund through its China venture capital operation in partnership with three Chinese companies to raise as much as RMB100 billion (US$15.4 billion).
- China-focused venture firm GSR Capital, affiliated with GSR Ventures, has launched a US$1 billion cornerstone fund to invest in global LED lighting assets.
- PAG, run by former TPG executive Shan Weijian, has reportedly raised over US$1 billion for its pan-Asia real estate fund, following a final closing of US$3.66 billion for the firm's second Asian buyout fund in January.
- New York Stock Exchange-listed Autohome Inc. says it has received a preliminary non-binding proposal from its chief executive James Zhi Qin, Boyu Capital, Hillhouse Capital and Sequoia Capital China to take the company private.
- Chengdu-based crowd-sourcing express service platform Renren Express has raised US$50 million from an undisclosed Chinese investor.
- Chinese e-commerce firm JD.com Inc has agreed to merge its O2O (online-to-offline) unit with Dada Nexus Ltd., a Shanghai-based Uber-like mobile app that focuses on providing last mile logistics services, to form a new company to compete with competitors including 58 Daojia, the O2O local services firm launched by 58.com Inc.
- XIO Group, a London-headquartered private investment firm with ties to Chinese investors, has agreed to acquire J.D. Power and Associates for US$1.1 billion in cash with an aim to expand into emerging markets.
