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A clutch of private equity funds, including Softbank Capital and Blackstone, are in the race to acquire a minority stake in Flag Telecom, the submarine cable arm of Reliance Communications. Reliance Communications is planning to raise over $500 million by diluting a 20-25 per cent stake in Flag Telecom. The company is planning to go in for a private equity placement prior to a public offering. “The unlocking of value in Flag Telecom, which operates our undersea cable network, will be done through a private equity placement of equity and/or international listing of shares of the company by the end of this year,” Chairman Anil Ambani told Reliance Communications shareholders at the company's annual general meeting on Tuesday. […]
Avestha Gengraine Technologies (Avesthagen), a Bangalore-based integrated systems biology company, has acquired Renaissance Herbs (RHI), a US dietary supplement company, for $11 million. The acquisition will support Avesthagen’s bio-nutritional business strategy through vertical integration and provide access to key markets. RHI is a Delaware-based company, which is a global supplier of proprietary nutritional products. The company also sources its raw materials from India and South East Asia for processing in its contract facilities outside Bangalore. […]
The temporary overheating of the Indian markets has led private equity (PE) investors opt for the cooler environs of south-east Asia. “The valuation of Indian companies is very high. But since this is a temporary phase, we are looking at SE Asian markets instead for tactical reasons. In India, we see a lot of capital chasing limited numbers of deals, but we get better deals outside India,” said Electra Partners’ Hong Kong-based head of Asian markets John Levack. Mr Levack is the UK-based private equity company’s representative on the board of directors of Zensar Technologies. He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the IT company’s AGM. […]
Private equity (PE) is pouring into India. PE investment worth $5.7 billion has already come in the first half of calendar 2007, which amounts to three-fourth of total inflows in last year. In 2006, the country witnessed PE investment of $7.5 billion. If that's not enough, PE flows jumped nearly 70% in the second quarter April-June this year to about $3.2 billion, across 76 companies, as against 67 deals totalling $1.9 billion in corresponding April-June period in 2006. In the first quarter this year (January-March), PE investments were pegged at $2.5 billion. As regards venture capital, firms invested about $112 million across 19 deals during the second quarter of 2007, as against nearly $40 million during April-June previous year. […]
With $35 billion in investment capital, DE Shaw and Co., the world’s fourth-largest hedge fund, has set its eye firmly on India. This September, DE Shaw will open its second office in India, just 14 months after it started off in Gurgaon, outside New Delhi. Having already done $561 million in announced private equity deals, DE Shaw will have invested well over $1 billion in India by June. Not surprisingly, the firm, which is famous on Wall Street for being very reclusive about its trading methods, is unwilling to give out much detail about its gameplan for India. However, three clear patterns emerge from the four deals that the fund has disclosed so far. First, while it is largely sector-agnostic, it will likely broadly focus on companies that exploit India’s cost arbitrage advantage (think auto ancillaries, animation); opportunities that arise from deregulation (think media companies) and public-private partnerships (think infrastructure and real estate businesses). Second, deals will also be size-agnostic, from as little as $8 million up to $400 million or more. […]
Private equity firms invested around $3.2 billion in 76 Indian companies during April-June, Venture Intelligence, which tracks private equity investment in India, said Tuesday. The amount invested during the second quarter was up 68.4% from the same period last year when India drew $1.9 billion in 67 deals, Venture Intelligence said in a statement. Carlyle Group and Citigroup's joint investment of $700 million in Housing Development Finance Corp. was the largest deal reported in the just-ended quarter, followed by a $500 million investment by U.S. Avenue Capital Group in SKIL Infrastructure, the statement said. […]
Reliance Technology Ventures Limited (RTVL), led by Mr Harshal Shah, played a pivotal role in Reliance Communication's acquisition of US based Yipes Holding, Inc (Yipes), the leading provider of managed Ethernet Services. Reliance Communications, through an affiliate, is acquiring 100% of Yipes, in an all cash deal valued at Rs. 1,200 crore ($300 mn). RTVL has advised and/or invested in deals to the tune of over $700 million. Yatra.com, India's largest on-line travel portal is one of its portfolio companies. RTVL has also led the investment in an unnamed technology company which formed the basis of the largest venture capital transaction in India. […]
US-based Internet giants such as Google and Yahoo are eyeing Rediff.com India Ltd, which runs one of India's most popular consumer Internet portals, for a possible acquisition. Investment banking sources told Hindustan Times that the management of Nasdaq-listed Rediff was in talks with the global companies for a negotiated takeover deal. Rediff, Google and Yahoo officials could not be immediately reached for their comments. Talk of the deal is emerging in the context of a general worldwide rebound in the Internet business, and India emerging as a hot story in the global economy with strong growth in both telephone penetration and the Internet in urban areas. Leading US-based investment journal Barrons reported this month that Rediff is seeing speculation that it could be a takeover target. Rediff’s stock has witnessed a sharp jump in share price and volume on Nasdaq over the past week, when it also launched a Website to help consumers upload voice, video and photographic content for free. […]
Engineering company RSB Group on Monday announced private equity placement worth Rs 154.35 crore by IL&FS Investment Managers as lead investor along with Evolvence. RSB will use the funds for capital expansion and to grow organically through joint ventures and acquisition, the company said in a release here. “We believe that auto ancillary and construction equipment sectors in India are high growth areas, driven by increased infrastructure spending, development of roads and highways and rising exports,” IILM's Vice Chairman and Managing Director Shahzaad Dalal said. […]
Standard Chartered and IL&FS Investment Managers are close to signing an agreement to raise a $1 billion India-focused infrastructure private equity fund, the Business Standard said on Tuesday. The two companies are expected to finalise a joint venture to manage the fund, which will be announced by the end of the month, the newspaper said, in an unsourced report. A spokesman for IL&FS declined to comment. A spokesman for Standard Chartered did not immediately return a call. […]
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