Private equity is ramping up presence in India’s out-of-home (OOH) advertising play. ICICI Ventures, Lehman and Goldman Sachs have lined up to pick up around 15-20% stake in Bangalore-based outdoor advertising firm Serve & Volley (S&V) for Rs 250 crore. Sources said Serve & Volley, with key assets like Delhi Metro, Kolkata Metro and Bangalore Municipal Corporation, plans to dilute 15-20% to raise Rs 300 crore. The 11-year-old company vies with sector leaders like Clear Channel, Laqshya and JCDecaux for a pie in the Rs 1,800-crore business, growing robustly at 10-15% in recent times. When contacted, S&V’s COO J Vishwanath declined to comment. Sources said advanced discussions were on with at least three funds for raising Rs 300 crore.   more »

Mauritius-based Frontline Strategy's India Industrial Growth (IIG) Fund has picked up a 26 per cent take in Shriram SEPL Composites, a joint venture of Shriram EPC and Strategic Engineering. This is the first investment from the SME-specific IIG Fund, a press release issued here today stated. Frontline Strategy is a Fabiani family office-anchored asset management company with prime focus on private equity investments. The company's Managing Partner Atim Kabra, said that "the investment in Shriram SEPL Composites is a continuation of Frontline Strategy's focus on investing in companies with global scope and capability."   more »

Axis Bank has picked up 2.5 per cent stake in the in Lavasa Corporation, a subsidiary of Hindustan Construction Company (HCC), engaged in the development of a township in Lavasa near Pune, for Rs 250 crore. The deal values Lavasa at Rs 10,000 crore. Lavasa has issued convertible preference shares and convertible debentures to Axis bank in the transaction. At present, HCC holds 29 per cent stake in the project, while 16 per cent stake is held by Avantha Group (LM Thapar Group) and Venkateshwara Hatcheries holds 13 per cent. After the conversion of shares and debentures over the next five years, the equity stake of current investors will go down accordingly.   more »

First Choice, the used car arm of Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) group, has received fund infusion to the tune of Rs 80 crore from Phi Advisors, a private equity firm. The funds will be used to finance the roll-out First Choice's chain of 300 owned and franchises outlets across the country. The company plans to have sales of about 100,000 units through the expansion in the next five years. Vinay Sanghi, CEO, FirstChoice Wheels, added, "We are targeting 100,000 vehicle sales per annum by 2013. With this funding, we will increase our reach to over 300 outlets. This will include 30 franchise super stores, each of which will have a stock of over 200 cars on display."   more »

Religare Finvest Limited (RFL), a wholly owned subsidiary of integrated finance services provider Religare Enterprises, has issued Compulsorily Convertible Debentures for Rs 100 crore to Standard Chartered Bank, Mauritius. These debentures would be converted into equity of RFL to the extent of 40 per cent at the end of 13 months and balance at the end of 25 months at a price to be fixed per Controller of Capital Issues (CCI) guidelines. These debentures will form part of the Tier II capital of the company and will strengthen the capital adequacy ratio of RFL, Religare said in a release. RFL is registered with the Reserve Bank of India as a Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC) and is a member of the Central Depository Services Limited (CDSL). Religare Finvest is presently engaged in capital market lending, consumer finance and third party distribution through its personal financial services channel.   more »

GIC Special Investments will invest Rs 900 crore in S Kumars unit Reid & Taylor through a fresh issue of shares and warrants. GIC Special Investment (GIC SI), is the private equity investment arm of Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC). Post-conversion, GIC SI would own 25.4% of Reid & Taylor, valuing it at Rs 3,540 crore. S Kumars Nationwide will own 74.6% of Reid & Taylor (India) post the investment from GIC SI. GIC SI's investment in Reid & Taylor will help to substantially strengthen Reid & Taylor and SKNL's businesses and their ability to grow in the luxury fabric and apparel and other textile segments of the textile industry, where it is already a market leader.   more »

Bangalore-based real estate developer Vaishnavi Infrastructures has received an investment of $25 million from private equity investor Actis for its Rs 350 crore Bangalore project, an investment bank official said. The proceeds of the investment will fund the construction and development of approximately 925,000 square feet of high-end residential and retail space at Yeshwantpur, a Bangalore suburb. This is the first investment by Actis India Real Estate Fund, a $300 million fund sponsored by Actis. “Actis has taken a significant minority stake in Vaishnavi’s Bangalore project as it is situated at the perfect location. With current realty market conditions … private equity players prefer to invest in projects as they can get the right valuations,” T R Srinivas, director at o3 Capital told DNA Money from his Bangalore office.   more »

Laqshya Media, a privately held, leading Out-of-Home (OOH) media advertising company, has announced that Warburg Pincus, a premier global private equity firm, is making an investment of up to USD 65 Mn in the company over the next 12 months. As an industry leader, Laqshya intends to continue to invest in developing world-class media assets, focusing on the top cities and infrastructure projects such as airports, transit systems and street furniture including modern bus queue shelters and pedestrian bridges. It has actively invested in developing state-of-the-art civic infrastructure such as pedestrian bridges and public toilets in Indore, Hyderabad, Chennai and other cities; and is underwriting such investments by winning long-term contracts for placing advertising on these assets. Having built a strong business in India, Sri Lanka and the UAE, Laqshya plans to expand its footprint across the Middle East, Africa and South-East Asia.   more »

Bangalore based Jivox, the first self-service, online video advertising platform, has announced that it has closed a $10.7 million Series A round of financing led by Opus Capital. New investor Helion Venture Partners, an India-focused venture fund, also participated in the round, along with Jivox’s existing investors. The funds will be used to continue development of the Jivox online video advertising platform, as well as to expand the company's sales and marketing efforts in both India and the US. The company, headquartered in California, USA, had commenced its India operations in March 2008, through a sales and development office in Bangalore. Naren Nachiappan, Managing Director-India, Jivox, said, “The Jivox online video ad platform enables businesses to harness the power of online video advertising by reducing the cost and complexity of developing and placing online video ads.”   more »

The Motilal Oswal-managed India Business Excellence Fund has invested Rs 40 crore in Dixon Technologies India to help the consumer durable manufacturing firm expand its existing production facilities and set up a new unit. The fund would also be used to expand Dixon's existing manufacturing capacities at Dehra Dun, Noida and Mohali. Besides, it would also be used to set up a new unit near Chennai to cater to southern India, a release stated. Dixon makes a range of consumer durables and appliances including digital TVs, set top boxes etc for domestic and global brands that are sold under its own 'Weston' brand.   more »