Carlyle Group, the US private equity firm, is suing prominent Chinese venture capitalist Neil Shen on the grounds that he unlawfully prevented it from buying into a Chinese medical research company, the Wall Street Journal reported. A Carlyle-managed Asia fund is seeking damages of US$206 million. The fund claims that Shen thwarted its investment by backdating an US$11 million investment contract between the fund he runs, Sequoia Capital China Growth Fund, and the founder of Green Villa Holdings, Ren Jun. The contract – for a 25% stake in Green Villa – was signed four days before Carlyle formally agreed to invest US$10 million in the company, according to a writ submitted to Hong Kong’s High Court. Carlyle claims that Ren is a former classmate of Shen. Shen is best known as the founder of NASDAQ-listed online travel company Ctrip.
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