National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), the leading bank in Kuwait and the highest rated bank in the Middle East, announced today the launch of the first investment fund in Indian Private Equity with unique investment features. Salah Al Fulaij, Chief Executive Officer of NBK Capital, said that the Fund will offer Private Banking clients the opportunity to privately invest in Indian companies through a group of the best investment managers on a local and international level. Al Fulaij said that the Fund follows two main strategies, which is to invest in high quality private equity funds and invest in mature and attractive private equity funds that are listed on a secondary market. Both strategies offer investment opportunities in companies with attractive valuations, in addition to company and investment manager diversification.   more »

Reliance Communications, controlled by Anil Ambani, has agreed to buy the entire business except Vanco Direct USA, which is being sold separately. The parent, Vanco Plc, goes into administration today. Trading in Vanco’s shares was suspended at the beginning of the month, when the company gave a serious profit warning. Allen Timpany, the company’s founder and chief executive, who bought the company for £1 in 1988, resigned on the same day. Cable & Wireless had confirmed that it was talking to the company, and BT and T-Systems, a division of Deutsche Telekom, were also considered to be contenders. At its peak two years ago Vanco was worth almost £400 million, but its shares have tumbled over the past year and by the beginning of the month it had run out of cash. Analysts estimated that the group had burnt through £60 million in five weeks.   more »

Reliance Communications Ltd., India's second-largest mobile-phone company, may combine its operations with MTN Group Ltd. after the South African operator's talks with Bharti Airtel Ltd. collapsed. Reliance has exclusive negotiating rights with MTN for as long as 45 days, the Mumbai-based company said in an e-mailed statement today. There is no certainty on the completion or the timing of any agreement, it said. An agreement would help Reliance Chairman Anil Ambani form an operator with a combined market value of more than $65 billion and offer mobile-phone services to 1.7 billion people stretching from the Cape of Good Hope to the Himalayas. New Delhi-based Bharti said on May 24 it ended talks with MTN after failing to overcome differences over control.   more »

The IPO route of exit by a private equity (PE) player is seen as the most efficient way of exit, but in India, irrespective of a vibrant primary market, the number of exits through the IPO route is less compared to other exit options available. Data from Venture Intelligence shows in 2007, PE firms exited in 65 Companies, of which only 16 were through IPOs, while 2006 saw 19 exits through the IPO route from a total of 37 PE exits. The year 2005 saw 42 exits, but IPOs’ share was just 17. Experts attribute this to flexibility available to PE firms to exit through more lucrative routes than an IPO. Dhanraj Bhagat, partner, specialist advisory services, Grant Thornton, said, “While IPO exits may be less, many exited through strategic sales via the exchange after listing. They would have expected better returns post-listing. Also in the past few years, many Companies preferred strategic sales i.e. sale to financial investors, competition & joint venture partners, which is not possible in an IPO. Also, a presence of quality investors like PEs makes an issue more saleable. Many Companies in the past years opted to divest some stake during the IPO and some, post-listing.” Though PE firms exited 170 Companies since 2004, only 58 cases, or 34%, were through IPOs; the others took the M&A route or sold back shares to the promoters. The year 2007 saw 95 maiden share offers, while 2006 and 2005 saw 73 and 50 such offers, respectively.   more »