mbk partners

Tensions are building as a growing number of institutional investors, such as CPPIB and Ontario Teachers, take to direct investments. Regulators are watching the trend closely.

After its disappointment at failing to snap up Hi-Mart last month, private equity firm MBK Partners buys a 30.9% holding in Woongjin Coway, Korea's leading water purifier maker.

The private equity firm will acquire Singapore-listed Chinese drug maker, AsiaPharm, for $252 million. Shareholders respond by pushing the traded share price up to near offer level.

The $1.5 billion leveraged buyout financing for MBK PartnersÆ purchase of China Network Systems will be one of the larger private-equity financings ever completed in Asia.