Deal numbers were lower in October than in previous months, although the value of deals closed were high. There were 106 investments in the month worth $6bn, which compared with 157 investments worth $3.2bn in September. There were also eight exits and five initial public offerings (IPOs) worth $12.2bn.
The exit numbers were high thanks to the KRW 10 trillion ($9.4bn) merger of online messaging company Kakao, and internet portal Daum Communications, both based in South Korea. Kakao was backed by software companies Tencent and CyberAgent. CyberAgent is reportedly set to make a 20 to 30 times return on its investment.
China-based fashion designer and manufacturer Shanghai La Chapelle Fashion raised HK$1.69bn ($219m) in a HongKong IPO, issuing 121.9 million shares at HK$13.98 each. La Chapelle designs, markets and sells clothes. Its investors include Legend Capital, the corporate venturing unit of conglomerate Legend Holdings.
SK Planet, the mobile online service subsidiary of telecoms network SK Telecom, has acquired Shopkick, a US-based developer of a shopping rewards app, for $200m. Citi Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of US-based bank Citi–group, was an early investor in Shopkick.
The largest investment of the month was US-based semiconductor producer Intel investing $1.5bn in a China-basedsemiconductor company Spreadtrum Communications and RDA Microelectronics, in return for a 20% stake. Internet company Google reportedly led a funding round that could stretch to $500m for Magic Leap, a US-based start-up building technology it calls cinematic reality. China-based e-commerce company Koudai Gouwu raised $350m in a series Cround led by Tencent, which valued Koudai at almost $1.5bn.
Another large exit was pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson buying Alios BioPharma, a US-based developer of drugs to treat viral diseases, for $1.75bn in cash. Exiting investors included Novo Ventures, SR One, Roche Venture Fund and Novartis Ventures, which respectively act as the corporate venturing arms of pharmaceutical firms Novo, GlaxoSmithKline, Roche and Novartis.
Japan-based telecoms firm SoftBank invested $250m in diversified US-based media company Legendary Entertainment. SoftBank also reportedly invested $210m in India-based car rental and taxi aggregator Olacabs. US-based semi-conductor technology developer Soft Machines reportedly raised more than $125m from investors including Samsung Venture Capital, electronics manufacturer Samsung and semiconductor maker AMD.
US-based mobile financial services provider Mozido raised $185m of a planned $400m series B round from investors, including payment services company MasterCard. US-based online payment company Square closed a $150m series F round at a $6bn valuation.