Thesis (MDF (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This paper gives an insight of the uniqueness of the South African Private Equity Industry and the underlying reasons for that. It also highlights the differences between the South African Private Equity Industry and both the African Private Equity Industry as well as the Global Private Equity Industry. It highlights challenges that all three industries are facing, both as a result of the global financial meltdown, the resulting global economic recession, and otherwise. Additionally, the paper highlights challenges and trends that are unique to South Africa. Further, it discusses views of industry experts and academics through proposals aimed at addressing these challenges and the roles of industry stakeholders. The discussions around the trends are mainly to highlight certain characteristics about the industry, globally, in Africa and in South Africa. The evidence provided in this paper, shows that the South African Private Equity Industry, owing mainly to regulatory and legislative causes, has proven to be much more resilient than the Global Private Equity Market; as such, it is still able to operate and do business. This finding is not only applicable to the Private Equity industry, but cuts across the financial services industry as a whole. The evidence provided also shows that the one solution that cuts across most of the challenges that the South African Private Equity industry is facing, is educating the stakeholders about the industry and doing a much better job at marketing the industry to them.

China's transition from a planned economy to a market economy has brought about remarkably rapid economic growth. Year after year, China boasted of double-digit growth rates since the early 1990s. Attracted by China's so-called "economic miracle," foreign investors began entering the Chinese market hoping to benefit from the country's vast array of financial opportunities. Private equity, particularly a leveraged buyout, was an unfamiliar concept in China until late 1990s. Now China has become the most attractive destination among emerging markets for private equity investment. Global private equity firms are currently raising billions of dollars for funds focusing on China because of the potential for exceedingly high returns. In the early 2000s, there were several instances of the Chinese government approving large foreign private equity deals with a state-owned enterprises in industries deemed strategically sensitive. This is highly unusual because the Chinese government has been traditionally protective of sectors related to national or economic security. However, there were also cases when foreign private equity deals failed to gain regulatory approval even though the Chinese firm was not in a sensitive industry. This paper aims to illuminate the reasons behind this anomaly. By investigating the factors that Chinese regulators consider when reviewing private equity proposals through an analysis of four case studies, this paper will reveal a facet of China's evolving market economy. Based on the parallels drawn from the case studies along with other formidable challenges, this paper proposes that the future of China's private equity market may not be as promising as anticipated by foreign investors.