Siddharth Poddar

Konzen Group, a Singaporean water firm, and AmInvestment Bank, a Malaysian bank, have launched a private equity fund to invest in water treatment and waste water management throughout China and Southeast Asia.

Venture Capital Bank has launched a $15m fund to invest in SMEs and start-ups in the Bahrain, one of the first of its kind for the kingdom.

The Japanese financial services conglomerate is committing $100m to Hopu Investment Management, the China-focussed private equity firm founded by Goldman executive Fang Fenglei.

The firm has raised its first India-focused private equity fund to invest in the manufacturing, infrastructure services and consumer-driven sectors.

The US bank has chosen the co-head of Morgan Stanley Japan Securities’ investment banking division to head its private equity activities in the country.

The firm has invested $15m in the Taiwanese auto-part maker to back its growth in what is its third deal in the last two months.

The two firms have launched a private equity infrastructure fund for making investments in the gas transportation, power generation and railways sectors in emerging markets globally.

Private equity investments showed an increase in the first five months of 2008 even as the value of all other M&A deals fell significantly.

The Hong Kong firm has backed Bangalore-based BioPlus Life Sciences with an investment of $31m from its third Asian fund.

Rapid economic growth and large pools of available capital are positive indicators for the industry, though a shortage of skilled investment professionals and restrictive foreign ownership regulations remain a concern.