Siddharth Poddar

Saigon Asset Management is partnering with RNG Invest to launch a fund for real estate, pre-IPO investments and investments in public equities.

The global private equity and real estate firm will acquire up to 49.9% of Gateway Rail Freight in its second Indian logistics deal. GRF currently has terminals in Ludhiana, Mumbai and Garhi, with plans to expand to Faridabad.

The presence of a large number of family offices in the Middle Eastern LP base underlines the importance of relationships in the region, writes Siddharth Poddar.

There is plenty of demand for Asian secondaries – but where are the vendors?

Michael Ricciardi, Enrique Cuan and Alan Pardee will lead the 24-strong team for Mercury Capital, which will raise private equity, private equity real estate and infrastructure funds globally.

The Singaporean sovereign fund continues its management overhaul, appointing Lim Chow Kiat and Anthony Lim Weng Kin as respective regional heads.

Fundraising for Asia-focused funds may have stalled, but it has less to do with Asia than it has to with a slowdown in the pace of investments globally, writes Siddharth Poddar.

The China-focused firm plans to raise both a real estate and private equity fund denominated in the local currency.

The Bahrain-based investment manager has reported a loss of $780m for the year ended June 2009, a significant portion of which is attributable to a $350m writedown of its private equity and real estate investments.

Haruyasu Asakura has left the firm but Carlyle said it continues to focus on SMEs and real estate assets in Japan, despite recent media reports suggesting otherwise.