Asia Private Equity Weekly News, Oct 22, 2012

HONG KONG Oct 22 (Reuters) - News and developments in Asia private equity from Reuters News for the week ending Oct. 19.

OCT 18

CHINA'S BIGGEST online retailer 360buy.com will start selling directly to overseas buyers, the first such move by a major Chinese e-commerce firm, as it struggles with increasing competition at home.

BLACKSTONE GROUP LP, the world's largest alternative asset manager, said third-quarter earnings were its third best since going public in 2007, as its funds appreciated in value and performance fees soared.

OCT 17

LENDERS OF Nine Entertainment television network, owned by CVC Capital Partners Ltd, agreed to swap more than $3 billion in debt for equity, giving U.S. hedge funds control of one of Australia's best-known media firms.

FACTBOX: ASIA'S biggest private equity losses

THE FOUNDER of Li Ning Co Ltd plans to sell a 25 percent stake in China's best-known sportswear group to his talent management firm Viva China Holdings Ltd for $175 million, knocking Li Ning's shares on concerns about his commitment to the group.

HCP INC said it will buy 133 senior housing communities for $1.73 billion, including debt, from a joint venture between Emeritus Corp and Blackstone Real Estate Partners VI as an ageing U.S. population lifts demand for retirement villages.

PRIVATE EQUITY firms are planning to increase investment in Asia over the next year as they look to tap into potential growth, a survey from Ernst & Young showed.

OCT 16

GOLDMAN SACHS Group Inc said it has named Adebayo O. Ogunlesi, managing partner and chairman of private-equity firm Global Infrastructure Partners, to its board of directors.

OCT 15

SINGAPORE PRECISION engineering firm United Test & Assembly Center (UTAC) is the latest private equity-backed company in Asia to turn to the high-yield bond markets to refinance buyout loan debt, seeking to raise around $600 million, sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

CHINA-BASED Yongye International Inc, a maker of crop nutrient products, received a buyout offer from a group including a fund of Morgan Stanley's Asia private equity arm and Abax Global Capital that values the company at $334 million.

SHARES OF electronics and furniture retailer Courts Asia Ltd , which operates stores in Singapore and Malaysia, rose more than seven percent in heavy trading on their debut in Singapore.

SAIF PARTNERS plans to launch a Greater China hedge fund, according to marketing material obtained by Reuters, becoming the first major Chinese private equity firm to branch out into the hedge world.

JAPANESE MOBILE operator Softbank Corp said it will buy up to 70 percent in Sprint Nextel Corp, the third-largest U.S. carrier, for about $20.1 billion - the most a Japanese firm has spent on an overseas acquisition.