AM Global Infrastructure Partners, a private equity firm, said it agreed to buy a 25% stake in Chennai Container Terminal Private Limited, through its International Port Holdings portfolio company. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Chennai Container Terminal, located within Chennai Port on the South East Coast of India, serves the trade route between Europe and the Far East. Dubai Ports World owns the remaining 75% stake in the terminal.   more »

In what is the first buyout in the India-focused real estate fund space, Yatra Capital Ltd, an Amsterdam-listed fund, has bought out Eredene Capital Mauritius through its subsidiary K2 Property Ltd for €18.07 million (Rs99.39 crore) Eredene, listed on London’s Alternate Investment Market, had raised a $100 million (Rs410 crore) India-focused realty fund that listed on Euronext in December, in which hedge funds such as GLG Partners LP, Calyon & Cayman Family, and Henderson Global Investors had invested. Earlier this year, Citigroup Ventures acquired Old Lane, a hedge fund that had a $500 million real estate focused fund and a $500 million general fund that was also investing in real estate, as well as ajoint venture with a Chennai-based developer.   more »

JP Morgan’s real estate arm is in talks with Bangalore-based realty developer Prestige Group to infuse close to $100 million in the company, sources said. They said the infusion could be through equity placement or debt financing in the flagship company Prestige Estates & Projects. Sources said the cash generated could be employed for developing projects across south India, as Prestige looks to expand its footprint outside Bangalore in a big way. Last year, Prestige had reportedly raised $100 million through debt financing for specific projects.   more »

SKIL Infrastructure Ltd (formerly Sea King Infrastructure Ltd), promoted by Nikhil Gandhi, has sought clearance from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to sell a 26% stake in the Mumbai-based infrastructure company to US-based hedge fund manager Avenue Capital Group for about $500 million (Rs2,050 crore). “Avenue Capital is buying a 26% stake in SKIL Infrastructure Ltd for about $500 million. The money raised through a new issue of shares will be utilized to fund various infrastructure projects such as tourism and shipyard,” said an SKIL Infrastructure official, who did not wish to be identified. He declined to provide more details citing a “confidentiality agreement signed between the two parties”.   more »

Global private equity firm The Carlyle Group has made a US$10.3 million investment in Elitecore Technologies Ltd. Headquartered in Ahmedabad, Elitecore is an IT company focusing on the fast growing Internet security and the convergent billing solutions markets. Funds will be used for Elitecore’s ongoing product development, research & development, working capital, new products and infrastructure build-up. The investment will come from Carlyle Asia Growth Capital Partners, a US$680 million fund that invests in high growth companies in China, India, Japan and Korea.   more »

The race for Citigroup Global Services, the business process outsourcing arm (BPO) of Citigroup is hotting up with the entry of the BPO firm WNS and consultancy firm Accenture. Sources close to the development said these were the latest entrants into the fray. The list of suitors includes IBM, Automatic Data Processing (ADS), Infosys, EDS, Genpact, Capgemini and private equity players such as Blackstone and General Atlantic. A Citigroup spokesperson declined to comment.   more »

CNBC-TV18 has learnt that Liberty Shoe may be looking to dilute about 10% equity. It may also be looking at a pre-IPO placement for its retail subsidiary. According to sources, the company is planning to make a 15-20% pre-IPO placement in their 100% subsidiary, Liberty Retail Revolution, which may fetch around Rs 30-40 crore.   more »

JPMorgan's real estate investment arm is in advanced talks with private Indian real estate firm Aparna Constructions & Estates Pvt. Ltd. to invest about $100 million in a project, the Economic Times reported, citing unnamed sources. The investment is likely to be made through a special purpose vehicle, the report said.   more »

HDFC and Barclays and announced that they would sell their entire shareholding in BPO firm Intelenet to SKR BPO Services. SKR is jointly owned by the management of Intelenet and Blackstone GVP Capital Partners, reports CNBC-TV18. In the country's largest management buyout, Blackstone and the management of Intelenet is buying the whole stake of HDFC and Barclays in Intelenet for about Rs 950 crore.   more »

CLSA Capital Partners, a private equity arm of France's Credit Agricole , has agreed to invest $20.3 million in an Indian firm which makes inverters and other power supply systems, CLSA said in a statement on Monday. CSLA ARIA Investment Partners III and CLSA Clean Resources Asia, two funds within the private equity arm, would invest in the New-Delhi-based Luminous Power Technologies for an undisclosed stake   more »