HSBC Holdings plc is in talks with the managers of its private equity businesses in Hong Kong, UK, USA, Canada and the Middle East for five separate management buyouts. (Global)

CIMB Standard Strategic Asset Advisors Pte. Ltd., the joint venture infrastructure investment operation between Malaysia's CIMB Group and South Africa's Standard Bank Group, has renamed itself CapAsia. (Pan-Asia)

AIF Capital has decided not to proceed with its proposed acquisition of Hebei-based Oriental University City Ltd. The latter is owned by the Singapore-based Raffles Education Corporation Ltd. (Singapore)

International Finance Corporation ('IFC') may invest in Ventures Nepal which has a target size of US$10 million. The allocation could be made through its IFC SME Ventures programme. (Nepal)

International Finance Corporation could revive its plans to invest in Mindoro Resources Ltd., a mining exploration company. The equity commitment could be up to C$10 million (US$9.6 million). (Philippines)

The Singapore-based Keppel Data Centre Investment Management Pte. Ltd. has joined hands with AEP Investment Management Pte. Ltd. and announced the initial closing of Securus Data Property Fund Pte. Ltd. at US$100 million. The latter is said to be the world's first Shariah-compliant fund that focuses on global data centres. (Global)

Malaysia's Maybank Group and and the Singapore-based Middle East & Asia Capital Partners Pte. Ltd. have formed Maybank MEACP Clean Energy Funds that focus on clean energy projects in Asia. The funds, with an aggregate target size of US$500 million, have attracted commitments from institutions including Asian Development Bank and Overseas Private Investment Corporation, as well as Islamic financial institutions. (Pan-Asia)

State Weifang High Tech Industry Development Zone announced its launch of an Rmb8 billion (US$1.2 billion) high tech fund that focuses on photovoltaic projects in the region. (People's Republic of China)

Orix Corporation and Dream Incubator Inc. announced the launch of DI Asian Industrial Fund LP, a joint venture fund that targets Vietnam. The fund has an initial size of ¥5 billion (US$54.8 million). (Vietnam)

BanyanTree Finance Pvt. Ltd. has invested around US$15 million in Deepak Fasteners Ltd., India's largest manufacturer of specialty industrial fasteners. (India)

Mizuho Capital Partners Co., Ltd. has acquired Medical Tribune, Inc., a publishing company, for ¥5.3 billion (US$57.9 million) from Impress Holding, Inc. (Japan)

The Carlyle Group has invested in ATMU Inc., which is an independent automated teller machine distributor. The latter has a 15% market share in the ATM market in China. (People's Republic of China)

DT Capital Partners and Tiger Technology Fund have reportedly invested around US$10 million in the latest round of financing of Letao Inc. The latter operates www.letao.com, which is an online shoe retailer. (People's Republic of China)

GSR Ventures, along with other investors, are believed to have invested US$5 million in LaShou.com, a Chinese online platform which provides promotional offers for restaurants and movie tickets. (People's Republic of China)

MBK Partners is in preliminary talks to bid for Lone Star's controlling stake in Korea Exchange Bank, according to various media reports. The deal is reportedly valued at approximately US$3.6 billion. (South Korea)

The Carlyle Group announced its recent four investments in Asia, two of which are based in South Korea:-

• HKucar Global Co., Ltd., a used car dealer in South Korea, was a unit spun-off from Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group in late 2006
• KOSDAQ-listed EO Technics Co., Ltd. is an integrated laser engineering company that manufactures micro-machining laser equipments

The investment amount for each deal was not disclosed. (South Korea)

Hong Kong-based General Enterprise Management Services (International) Ltd. along with CEF Holdings Ltd. have committed an aggregate US$60 million to the non-precious metals division of Petropavlovsk PLC. The latter specialises in the acquisition, development and production of mineral deposits and iron ore assets. (Offshore)

Redwood Capital Inc., a subsidiary of the US-based S3 Investment Company, Inc., has appointed Mr Richard Chiang as a managing director of its Greater China fund, Redwood Asia Fund LP. (People's Republic of China)

Temasek Holdings (Pte.) Ltd. reportedly plans to invite Mr Zhang Jiansheng, a deputy managing director of Taiwan's Chinatrust Financial Holdings Co., Ltd., to assist the set up of its rural bank business in mainland China. (People's Republic of China)