Buyout funds in China, India find small bites make full meal
Laura Santini
The Wall Street Journal Asia
13 April 2007
"A lot of large buyout funds have come to this market with the intention of doing large buyouts and are realizing that it's going to take time," says Vinit Bhatia, a private-equity consultant in Hong Kong for Bain & Co. So far this year, private-equity funds in China have completed 16 transactions below $100 million, representing about 40% of the overall private-equity market there, according to data tracked by Dealogic. In India, 21 deals in that range have closed so far this year, accounting for more than 60% of the entire market.

Eastern exposures
Phil Leung and Hugh MacArthur
TheDeal.com
26 March 2007
As merger mania sweeps Asia, dealmakers need to remember this cautionary fact. Bain & Co. research shows that only three in 10 megadeals - those of more than $250 million - created meaningful shareholder value from 1995 to 2001. Slightly more than half of these deals actually destroyed value.

Tapping China's booming retail market
Bruno Lannes, Oliver Stratton, Gary Turner and Frank Su
Far Eastern Economic Review
1 March 2007
The people of China are world-class savers, routinely banking more than a quarter of their incomes. But they are also beleaguered consumers, earning virtually nothing on their deposits in state- owned banks, and with minimal access to personal loans or lines of credit. All that is about to change.

How to win in retail banking in China
Bruno Lannes and Oliver Stratton
China Daily
24 November 2006
With its record-setting IPO, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has convinced investors the future is bright. The new challenge for the bank is to win over its own customers. As the country prepares to deregulate consumer banking by the end of the year, China's banks will face foreign competition for Chinese savers holding some 325 million accounts totalling nearly US$1.8 trillion.

China's 'good-enough' market
Orit Gadiesh and Till Vestring
Wall Street Journal Asia
5 September 2006
China's recent proposal to curtail foreign investments isn't the only threat that global firms face in the mainland. While Beijing fiddles with its regulatory framework, a huge segment of lower-end -- but acceptable --products, priced at unbeatable prices, is emerging. This "good-enough" market erases the idea that companies can simply use China as a source of low-cost manufacturing, or to sell premium products to China's increasingly affluent consumers.

Preparing for China's next great leap
Orit Gadiesh, Paul DiPaola, Philip Leung and Luca Caruso
Global Agenda
1 January 2006
China's rise as the world's factory is well known. But another story is unfolding with amazing speed: China as a huge market for multinational companies (MNCs) and as an emerging challenger in MNCs' core markets. At a stunning pace, China is absorbing foreign direct investment, creating a large middle class and learning to adapt western technologies in a modern Great Leap toward economic prominence.