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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. […] LIC Housing Finance Ltd, one of India’s leading housing finance companies that is currently testing the venture fund waters by partnering with a couple of venture funds, is evaluating plans to float its own venture fund focusing on the realty sector. LIC Housing has already invested Rs50 crore in Kotak Realty Fund and Rs10 crore in CIG Realty Fund. The proposed new fund would focus on financing projects such as shopping malls and special economic zones. […] Valuations of Indian BPO firms, among the most expensive globally, have undergone a correction since the beginning of the year making them more attractive to private equity players and others looking for BPO buys in the country. WNS, India’s largest third-party BPO after Genpact, is currently valued at 44 times its earnings, at a significant discount to the price it used to command six months ago, when it was valued at over 63 times its earnings. EXL Services, which is listed on the Nasdaq, has also seen its valuation drop from 36 times its earnings to 30 times its earnings in the same period. […] 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. […] India Hospitality Corp. said on Tuesday it would buy an Indian restaurant firm and an airline catering company for about $110 million to tap demand in the fast-growing economy. India Hospitality will buy Mars Restaurants Pvt. Ltd. and SkyGourmet Catering Pvt. Ltd. from affiliates of private equity firm Navis Capital Partners and private shareholders, it said in a statement. […] Bangalore-based travel portal VIA has sold an undisclosed stake to NEA-IndoUS Capital Advisors for $5 million (Rs21 crore). This is VIA’s (earlier known as FlightRaja) first round of funding after it was formed in November 2005. It joins the ranks of MakeMyTrip and Yatra Online in Delhi and Cleartrip in Mumbai, who also roped in venture capital funding recently. VIA offers travel services, primarily airline ticketing, through multiple channels, namely offline kiosks, mobile, travel agents and the Internet. Founder-CEO, Vinay Gupta was a consultant at Credit Suisse First Boston before starting VIA. Former Thomas Cook India chief, Ashwini Kakkar, is an investor. The company books 5,000 tickets a day and will use the funds’ infusion to expand its activities into railway and bus ticketing and car rentals. […] The U.S.-based Aptuit will invest $100 million (about Rs. 400 crore) in the next four years in the Hyderabad-based Laurus Labs. It will pick up a majority stake in Laurus Lab and the joint venture will be called Aptuit Laurus. This is the b iggest-ever overseas investment in the contract research and manufacturing services space in India. Addressing presspersons here on Monday from Atlanta in the U.S., CEOs of Aptuit and Laurus, Michael A. Griffith and Satyanarayana Chava said the new drug development company —– Aptuit Laurus — would combine the expertise and infrastructure of both companies to offer integrated services, technology and manufacturing capabilities that spanned the entire drug development cycle. […] 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. […] 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. […] Citigroup is keen on selling 80 percent of its business process outsourcing (BPO) arm in India for $700-$750 million, the Mint said on Tuesday, on the heels of Blackstone's acquisition of a back-office firm. Citigroup is in “advanced negotiations” with leading private equity firms for an all-cash deal for Citigroup Global Services, the newspaper said, citing investment bankers close to the deal. […] |