Sharon Lim

Vestar Capital Partners, a US mid-market buyout specialist, has ended its hiring spree with the appointment of Susumu Sekihata, the seventh member of its Japan affiliate.

WI Harper and Siemens Venture have led a $5 million investment in a Beijing-based diagnostics company in a transaction Softbank China Venture Capital participated in.

US venture capital firm Mayfield has stepped up its India focus with the appointment of two local investment professionals and a new office in Mumbai.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts has regulatory approval to invest $230 million in a convertible bond in Taiwan-listed Yageo Corporation, giving the US buyout firm the equivalent of a 16 percent stake in the electronic component maker.

India’s YES Bank is looking to raise $100 million for a new private equity fund to help scale medium sized business in the food and agribusiness sectors.

Baring Private Equity Asia has joined forces with the private sector arm of the World Bank to invest $47 million in a Chinese producer of environmentally-friendly refrigerants.

Singapore’s Temasek Holdings is acquiring a 12 percent stake in ABC Learning Centres, an Australian childcare group with centres across its home country, New Zealand, the US and UK, via a proposed new share placement.

Mekong Capital, a Vietnam-focused private equity firm, is investing in a mobile phone retailer that has captured a 20 percent market share in Ho Chi Minh City since it was founded in 2004.

The proposed $2.5 billion buyout of Australia’s APN News & Media by a consortium led by Irish billionaire Tony O’Reilly’s Independent News & Media has failed to garner enough support. The Carlyle Group and Providence Equity Partners will have to wait for their first Australian deal.

James Packer’s Publishing and Broadcasting is in talks with CVC Asia Pacific and CVC Capital Partners about trimming its stake in their joint-venture PBL Media. Australia’s richest man is selling the media assets to fund the global expansion of his gaming business.