Softbank's partner SAIF raises 1.6b yuan fund

SAIF Partners, backed by Japan's Softbank, has completed raising 1.6 billion yuan for its first yuan-denominated private equity fund, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said yesterday.

Major investors of the fund include Chinese private enterprises and some top-end domestic individual investors, said the sources, who declined to be identified before an official announcement is made as early as next month.

HK dollar little changed, stuck in tight range

The Hong Kong dollar remained stuck in a narrow range against the US dollar yesterday, while interbank rates were mostly steady and hovered at a similar level to the previous session.

The local currency traded between 7.7503 and 7.7507 against the US dollar for most of the day, hovering close to its upper trading band.

Pacific Alliance's new funds to target consumer

Private equity dealmaker Allan Liu, who decades ago as a Chinese official helped bring Procter & Gamble, Nestle and other Western brands to a market starved for choice, is considering a new fund to capitalize on the country's demand for consumer staples.

The fund will become the fourth China-focused offering for Pacific Alliance Equity Partners, whose existing funds have invested more than $1 billion in 34 different companies.

Dupont delays China expansion amid downturn

Chemicals maker Dupont Inc will delay expanding Chinese product lines used in car manufacture and construction as demand has slowed, but strategic projects including photovoltaics will go ahead, a company executive said.

The US-based company, which last week announced it was cutting 2,500 jobs globally, may have to shed jobs within China and elsewhere in the Asia Pacific. Dupont is targeting cost cuts for 2009 of $600 million, up from its previous goal of $200 million.

China Overseas Land Nov property sales rise 37 pct

China Overseas Land said yesterday its property sales in November rose 37.4 percent from a year earlier to HK$2.26 billion, boosted by strong growth in sales in central and western China.

The mainland property group said November sales rose 11.7 percent from October, while total sales amounted to HK$25.08 billion for the first 11 months of this year, up 34.3 percent year-on-year.

Shrugging off concerns over weak sentiment in China's property market, the company said sales so far this year had met its target. It gave no further details.

Reuters

(HK Edition 12/11/2008 page2)