Microsoft India has picked up 20% stake in Affle, a mobile application provider, its chief executive of Affle said. The company is also in advanced stages to close an acquisition deal with an Indian VAS player. "Microsoft's investment is important to us. We will be able to expand in regions like Europe, US and Australia where we don't have any presence," Affle CEO Anuj Khanna told ET. Earlier, the company had received investments worth $10 million from Singapore based PE firms and some individual investors in India.   more »

US-based investment banking and securities firm Goldman Sachs Group (GSG) announced that it has invested Rs 370 crore in its Indian wholly-owned non-banking fnancial company (NBFC) Pratham Investments & Trading Pvt Ltd (PITPL), taking the total capital base in the Mumbai-based firm to Rs 485 crore. GSG is looking at expanding its credit trading and investing businesses in the domestic market. This capital infusion furthers our objective of building a full-service investment banking and securities platform in India, said Goldman India MD and head of securities Jesse Lentchner in a statement.   more »

The private equity (PE) space is likely to see an increased activity in the coming days, as several PE firms are planning new investments. However, several PE firms feel that there will be some slowdown in deal making. Speaking on the sidelines of a seminar on PE funding in Kolkata on Monday, Gopal Srinivasan, chairman, TVS Capital Funds, said TVS Capital had raised close to Rs 600 crore, invested Rs 20 crore and lined up another rs 100 crore investment. The company invested in retail, social infrastructure, media and entertainment.   more »