ePlanet Ventures Group Holdings Ltd. has set up a Sharia'a compliant asset management company with Kuwait Finance House, which will be known as ePlanet LMH Capital. (Global)

The Future Fund is in preliminary discussions with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Ontario Teacher's Pension Plan to back their proposed acquisition of Transurban Group Ltd., a toll-road operator. The investors have placed the value of the target company at around A$6.78 billion (US$6.21 billion). (Australia)

Future Capital Holdings Ltd. announced the spin-off of its private equity business, which will be known as Everstone Capital. The new independent fund management firm will comprise of assets currently managed by Indivision India Partners as well as a basket of real estate funds. (India)

China Development Financial Holdings (‘CDFH’) has committed US$25 million to Goldman Sachs Tikona Digital Network Investors Offshore L.P. and is planning to invest US$20 million in Riverwood Capital Partners L.P. In 2009, CDFH has made allocations to private equity funds, including those in Australia as well as in India. (Global)

GIC Special Investments has teamed up with EQT Partners in the takeover of Springer Science+Business Media, the world's second-largest scientific, technical and medical publisher. No transaction details were disclosed. (Offshore)

The California Public Employees' Retirement System disclosed its US$120 million commitment to SAIF Partners' latest fund, which invests mainly in Greater China and India. (Pan-Asia)

A consortium of institutional investors, including CDC Group plc, Deutsche Investitions und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH and FMO, has allocated an undisclosed amount to Renewable Energy Asia Fund ('REAF'), which is managed by London-based Berkeley Energy. REAF has achieved its first closing at €50.7 million (US$73 million). (Pan-Asia)

Partners Group announced the final closing of Partners Group Secondary 2008, L.P. at €2.5 billion (US$3.6 billion), substantially larger than its original target size of €2 billion. (Global)

Infiniti Capital, a Hong Kong-based fund management firm, has launched Panda Screen Productions, an investment fund that targets the film and television industry with a target size of US$400 million. (Global)

Prax Capital has successfully garnered commitments from domestic investors for its two renminbi funds, adding an additional Rmb1.1 billion (US$162 million) to its fund pool under management. Prax Capital is also currently raising a foreign currency fund. (People's Republic of China)

Singapore-based Extream Ventures announced the launch of its S$20 million (US$14.3 million) venture capital fund which is funded by the National Research Foundation of Singapore. The fund has received commitments from two investors and will invest in early stage companies in Singapore. (Singapore)

Kotak Mahindra Private Equity has joined Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. and participated in the 1.75 billion rupees (US$37.3 million) acquisition of Aerostaff Australia Pty. Ltd. and Gippsland Aeronautics Pty. Ltd. Both are in the aerospace industry. (Australia)

IDG Capital Partners has invested HK$97 million (US$12.5 million) in the Hong Kong-listed Media China Corporation Ltd., which focuses on television advertising and content production. (Hong Kong)

Singapore-based Aquarius Investment Advisors Pte Ltd. has invested 300 million rupees (US$6.4 million) in Vijay Nirman Company Pvt. Ltd., a civil engineering company. The investment was transacted through the Aquarius India Fund. (India)

Nexus Venture Partners has led a Series-B financing of mChek India Payment Systems Pvt. Ltd. for an undisclosed sum. It also disclosed the appointment of Dr Naren Gupta, managing director of Nexus Venture Partners, as director of the company. (India)

Standard Chartered Private Equity Ltd. has committed 1.5 billion rupees (US$32 million) to Firepro Systems Pvt. Ltd. ('Firepro'), a fire safety and security solutions company. Earlier, Firepro had raised capital from AIG Global Investment Corp. (India)

A consortium of microfinance investors that includes Aavishkaar Goodwell India Microfinance Development Co. Ltd. has committed an aggregate 275 million rupees (US$5.9 million) in Grameen Koota. The latter is a Bangalore-based microfinance institution, which serves approximately 300,000 low income households. (India)

CMS Opus Private Equity has made a privately-negotiated commitment to Daya Materials Berhad ('Daya') for 20 million ringgitt (US$5.9 million). Daya is listed on Bursa Malaysia and is a growth-oriented oil and gas company. This is the private equity firm’s third investment in this industrial sector. (Malaysia)

Japan-based Infinity Venture Partners has invested US$1.5 million in Rekoo Media, a social game developer in China and Japan. According to domestic reports, Rekoo Media set up a subsidiary in Japan in October this year. (People's Republic of China)

MBK Partners has taken a stake in Golden State Environment Group Corporation ('Golden State'). No transaction details were released. Based in Beijing, Golden State engages in sewage management and investment. (People's Republic of China)

New Enterprise Associates and BioVeda China Fund have taken a stake in Nexchem Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. ('Nexchem'), a producer of pharmaceutical ingredients. No transaction details have been released. Nexchem has ceased its production since December last year. (People's Republic of China)

Sequoia Capital China has invested US$15.6 million in Sparkle Roll Group Ltd., which is engaged in the dealerships of luxury products, and the comics and media business in China. (Hong Kong)

JAFCO Asia led in the US$10 million transaction for Medicalsystem (Beijing) Co., Ltd., an information-based medical solutions provider in China. WI Harper Group and Suzhou Venture Capital Group have also joined in this round of financing. (People's Republic of China)

Daiwa Securities SMBC Principal Investments Co. Ltd. and WL Ross & Co. will sell their entire 79.1% stake in Nikko Electric Industry Co., Ltd. to Ningbo Yunsheng Co. for ¥1.2 billion (US$13.5 million). The investors took control of the then bankrupt Nikko Electric in 2001. (India)

Archer Capital has sold One Source Group Ltd. and Leasing Solutions Ltd. for a total of NZ$132 million (US$95.7 million). It invested in both companies in 2005. (New Zealand)

MOBI Development Co, Ltd., a Shenzhen-based telecommunications equipment maker, backed by SAIF Partners, was listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. (People's Republic of China)

PCD Stores (Group) Ltd. ('PCD'), a department store chain in China, with both 3i Group plc ('3i') and United Capital Investment Group Ltd. ('United') as its financial investors, was listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. 3i has sold all of its shares while United continues to hold its equity position in PCD. (Hong Kong)

Shengli Oil & Gas Pipe Holdings Ltd. ('Shengli'), backed by SEAVI Advent, was listed on the Hong Kong bourse. The private equity firm, which first invested in Shengli back in 2008, has sold a small parcel of its holding at the company’s initial public offering. (People's Republic of China)