News and developments in Asia private equity from Reuters News for the week ending May 25.

MAY 25

YUANTA FINANCIAL has pulled out of talks on a deal worth up to $1.25 billion to buy Carlyle Group-backed Taiwanese bank Ta Chong, dealing a blow to the private equity fund's hope to exit its Taiwan investment for a profit.

HONG KONG'S Cube Capital and Marc Faber-backed Leopard Capital are among Asian private equity firms lining up nearly $500 million aimed at Myanmar, hoping to tap into its rich natural resources and fill its infrastructure void, as sanctions on the former pariah state are lifted.

PRIVATELY-HELD packaging company Pact Group has hired Deutsche Bank to examine options including the sale of a stake in a deal likely to attract private equity and rival international firms, two sources familiar with the situation said.

MAY 24

SOVEREIGN WEALTH fund China Investment Corp (CIC) is in advanced talks to buy an up to $2 billion stake in Alibaba Group, sources told Reuters, as the Chinese e-commerce powerhouse looks to secure the last of the funding it needs to buy back part of its stake from Yahoo Inc.

U.S. MEDIA executive Harry Sloan has approached private equity firm CVC Capital Partners to buy a controlling stake in its asset, Australia's debt-ridden Nine Entertainment, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said.

INDIA'S L&T Infrastructure Development Projects Ltd (L&T IDPL) is in talks with private-equity investors including Temasek Holdings to raise $250 million to $300 million, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

CVC WILL cut its ownership stake to about 30 percent in the Formula One motor racing business after the company's up to $3 billion IPO by selling shares on the public market, sources said on Thursday.

AUSTRIAN PETER Brabeck, set to become non-executive chairman of the Formula One motor racing business as it prepares for flotation, will be rewarded with an equity stake potentially worth tens of millions of dollars, a source close to the deal said.

MAY 23

CHINA IS rolling out sweeping brokerage reforms to nurture future global investment banks that officials hope could eventually compete with the likes of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, a regulatory document showed.

AUSTRALIA'S BRAMBLES Ltd, the world's top pallet supplier, announced a further delay to the sale of its Recall information management business, which it values at around $2 billion.

CHINA FACES "invisible impediments" to investing in some parts of Europe, with Europeans nervous about allowing it to move into sectors such as nuclear power, a senior official at China's sovereign wealth fund said on Tuesday.

MAY 22

CHINA'S ALIBABA Group could command a Facebook-rivalling valuation of $100 billion when it comes to list its shares, possibly by 2015 - but its more immediate challenge is to hang on to top spot in the country's $36 billion e-commerce market.

THREE INVESTMENT groups have bought a 21 percent stake in Formula One from private equity firm CVC Capital for $1.6 billion ahead of the motor racing company's planned flotation in Singapore.

U.S. PRIVATE equity firm Warburg Pincus along with existing investors have pumped $32 million in fresh funds into Indian online classifieds firm Quikr, the e-commerce company said.

PRIVATE EQUITY firm TPG Capital, seeking to invest in distressed Japanese assets, agreed to jointly buy bankrupt apartment developer Joint Corp with property consultancy Savills .

THE BOOKBUILDING process of Malaysia's Felda Global Ventures Holdings' over $3 billion listing will begin on May 31 and end on June 15, a source with direct knowledge of the deal told Reuters.

MAY 21

YAHOO INC will sell as much as half of its 40 percent stake in Chinese e-commerce powerhouse Alibaba Group for $7.1 billion, ending years of fractious talks over how to extract value from its most prized asset.

CHINA'S DALIAN Wanda Group agreed to acquire AMC Entertainment for $2.6 billion, becoming the biggest theatre operator in the U.S. by revenue.

INTERNATIONAL FINANCE Corp and distressed investor ADM Capital said they have launched a $300 million fund for mid-sized Asia companies facing financial troubles after funding from European banks to Asia dried up in the wake of the sovereign debt crisis.

A GROUP of Elpida Memory bondholders opposes Micron Technology's offer to buy the bankrupt Japanese chipmaker and has reached out to South Korea's SK hynix and U.S.-based GlobalFoundries to ready a potential alternative plan, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said.

CHINA RESOURCES-backed private equity fund Harvest Capital Partners Limited said that Jiang Wei, Chairman of China Resources Capital and Vice-Chairman of Harvest Capital, will act as its interim CEO after former CEO Rong Ren resigned.

This article is copyrighted by Reuters