Murugappa group firm EID Parry ( India) said it has received Rs 747.39 crore from Roca Bathroom Investments SL for offloading 47% stake in Parryware Roca, a JV between the two companies. Parryware Roca is a 50:50 JV with the bathroom ceramics major Roca of Spain. The JV company offers products of international quality and designs and enable Parryware to access international markets. EID Parry India in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange said "the sale has been completed and consideration of Rs 747.39 crore has been received. With this transfer EID-Parry (India) Ltd's equity holding in Parryware Roca Pvt Ltd is 3%." Board of directors had earlier approved the sale of EID-Parry (India) Ltd's 47% stake in Parryware Roca to Roca Bathroom Investments SL. Source: Times of India   more »

ITC Ltd has acquired about 2.3 million shares, or 0.5 percent of the equity, in paper maker Ballarpur Industries Ltd for 56 million rupees, the Times of India reported on Friday. ITC has interests in paper, through ITC Bhadrachalam Paperboard, which was doing well, the paper said quoting unnamed sources. Ballarpur, belonging to Avantha Group, is India's top paper maker. "We are not there to sell stake. Our shares are there in ITC's balance sheet, but it's nowhere close to 0.5 percent. This is just a story," Anil Pahwa, chief general manager at Ballarpur said. ITC officials were not immediately available for comment.(Reuters)   more »

Bangalore-based private equity (PE) firm Forum Synergies is launching one of the biggest India-focused SME funds. The fund, which will raise money from both overseas and domestic investors, is expected to have a total corpus of $150-200 million (Rs 650-850 crore). The PE firm is co-founded by former president & CEO of GE Consumer & Industrial for India Samir Inamdar. Though the exact corpus of the fund could not be ascertained, the PE firm is looking to bring in up to $135 million (Rs 580 crore) from an offshore entity--the India Knowledge Manufacturing Company, a Mauritius-based closed ended fund. This offshore entity will raise funds from high net worth individuals, NRIs besides corporate and financial institutions based in the US, UK, UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Hong Kong. The offshore fund will invest through the window provided for foreign direct investment. Besides, there will be other set of shareholders including Indian investors and the investment manager.   more »