Jenny Blinch

A month after opening an Australian office, US-headquartered firm The Riverside Company has acquired a controlling stake in juice bar chain Boost Juice Bars.

The firm is targeting commitments of between $500m and $800m as it follows up on the success of its recent record-breaking RMB fundraise.

The acquisition of Chapdelaine is the Hong Kong-based private equity start-up’s first since buying AIG's Nan Shan Insurance and will be a platform to build a global brokerage business.

Many Western firms are looking East for investment opportunities. Some, like Quadrangle Capital Partners, are scaling up in Asia while scaling back in the West.

A pilot scheme would allow the conversion of up to 50% of an RMB fund from foreign currency, removing a huge hurdle facing foreign investors seeking access to China's private equity market.

The listing would mean an exit for Baring Private Equity Asia, which, along with Topaz Investment Worldwide, owns the Southeast Asian chain of electrical products and furniture stores.

The private equity firm has failed on two previous attempts to sell its controversial 51% holding in the Korean bank.

Emerging markets funds lost two percentage points in terms of global fundraising market share last year, with $23bn raised reflecting a 66% drop from 2008 totals.

Improved access to the estimated $1tr Shariah-compliant pool of capital in the MENA region may spur more firms to switch to Islamic private equity funds.

The global co-investment plans of The Carlyle Group and China's Fosun Group confirm: for businesses anywhere, the lure of China is proving irresistible.