Investors plan to block PE buyout of AsiaPharm

Some shareholders of AsiaPharm Group, a Chinese pharmaceutical company listed on the Singapore stock exchange, plan to oppose a buyout by private equity fund MBK Partners, the Wall Street Journal reported. Among the shareholders who oppose the buyout are Templeton Asset Management and Pope Asset Management. The firms own more than the 10% in equity needed to stop the buyout. MBK had offered US$258 million to buyout and delist AsiaPharm. AsiaPharm executives supported the deal. The MBK offer is a departure from private equity firms’ usual practice of taking minority positions in Asian deals.