The Financial Services Agency, together with the Ministry of Finance and the National Tax Agency, have agreed to exempt offshore funds with assets in Japan and that are managed by “independent” investment managers. The regulatory move is retroactive from 1st April this year. (Japan)

Xdlong International Co., Ltd. ('Xdlong'), China's fourth largest sport shoe retailer, withdrew its initial public offering from the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. Backed by Goldman Sachs, Xdlong had been scheduled for a listing on 11th July, 2008. (People's Republic of China)

Uni-President Enterprises Corp, Taiwan's leading food manufacturer, announced the formation of China F&B Venture Investments, a 616.5 million yuan (US$89.9 million) private equity fund that will target companies involved in the food and beverage industry in China. It is the first corporate venture fund launched by a Taiwan-based organisation for the mainland China market. (People's Republic of China)

DBS Group Holdings Ltd announced it has entered into an agreement through DBS Bank to allocate up to US$8.7 million to Raffles Fund 1 Limited, a fund of funds company that targets technology-related venture capital funds. (Singapore)

Infrastructure India plc, sponsored by UK-based Smith & Williamson Corporate Finance Ltd., was listed on the London Stock Exchange and raised £36.7 million (US$73 million). It is the first publicly-listed infrastructure fund that is solely focused on India and sponsored by a foreign organisation. (India)

Ideacts Innovations Pvt. Ltd. announced that it has received its first round of funding of US$5 million from Sequoia Capital India. The firm recently launched “Clinck,” an Active Desktop Application that will be used for advertising. (India)

Dubai-based Alcazar Capital Ltd. has deployed 400 million rupees (US$9.25 million) to Bumi Geo Engineering Pvt. Ltd. which is a specialist Geo Engineering Company serving the infrastructure sector. (India)

ChrysCapital has reportedly acquired close to 7% in the publicly-listed Amtek Auto Ltd. for an estimated of 2.29 billion rupees (US$52.9 million). (India)

NIF SMBC Ventures Co. and U.K.-based Coller Capital have taken a combined majority position in RaQualia Pharma Inc., a former research laboratory of Pfizer Inc. (Japan)

Youku.com, an online video sharing site operator, has raised US$30 million from a consortium of new and existing investors including Maverick Capital, Brookside Capital Partners, Sutter Hill Ventures; Farallon Capital Management and Chengwei Ventures. (People's Republic of China)

AsiaVest Partners, headquartered in Taiwan, has teamed up with Deutsche Bank AG to commit US$37 million to Leyou.com Inc., a retailer of products for children and pregnant women. (People's Republic of China)

China Yangtze Venture Investment Management Limited, the investment arm of China Yangtze Power Co. Ltd, has committed 1 billion yuan (US$146 million) to Daye Nonferrous Metals Company, located in Hubei province. (People's Republic of China)

The International Consumer Products Corp. ('ICP') has received US$9.6 million from BankInvest, manager of the Private Equity New Markets series of funds. Earlier, ICP had raised capital from Mekong Capital. ICP is one of the fastest growing consumer goods companies in Vietnam. (Vietnam)

The Longreach Group is to sell OCC Corp. ('OCC') to NEC Corp and Sumitomo Electric Industries. The buyers will jointly assume full ownership of OCC, which is the second largest undersea cable maker in the global market. (Japan)

China Shanshui Cement Group Ltd. made its debut on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong on 4th July. The second largest clinker and cement producer in China is by Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia, CDH Investments, and International Finance Corp. None of the investors disposed of their holdings. (People's Republic of China)