|
John Bissell's export house of 1958 – better known as Fabindia today –has an unusual backer. Former World Bank president James Wolfensohn's private investment fund has picked up 6% stake in the country's marquee Indian ethnic wear company for $11 million. This puts the valuation of Fabindia at around Rs 750 crore. Confirming the move Fabindia director Sunil Chainani said: “We were approached by many investors, however, we were keen to choose an investor who shared our values and vision.'' […] The private equity (PE) juggernaut, which has been scorching the global deal street, has come of age in India. For the first time, the value of PE deals in a single month has overtaken that of strategic merger & acquisitions (M&A). June reported $1.8 billion worth of PE deals in the country — the highest in a single month — overtaking strategic M&A deals at $1.72 billion. As per the latest dealtracker by advisory firm Grant Thornton, there were 36 PE deals during June totalling $1.81 billion as against 24 deals worth $1.56 billion during May.Says Grant Thornton partner-corporate advisory services CG Srividya, “One of the reasons for this is the increasing number of buyouts and PE interest in the real estate and infrastructure sectors. Our estimates show that close to $1 billion worth of PE money went to the real estate and infrastructure sectors in June alone.” […] The country’s oldest financial institution, IFCI, will invite bids later this month for the sale of 26% stake to a strategic investor. “We will float global advertisement for inviting bids for strategic sale of stake in the next 10-15 days,” IFCI chief executive officer R M Malla told PTI here. The board has given approval to preliminary information memorandum prepared by Ernst & Young in consultation with IFCI, he said. The memorandum lays down the criteria for selection of bids, he said. E&Y would help IFCI in carrying out modalities related with stake sale. On whether the partner would be domestic or foreign player, Malla said the path has been laid out for the induction of a strategic partner, which could be local or global investor. […] NEA-IndoUS Ventures, the India-focused VC fund promoted by Vinod Dham, the father of the Pentium chip, Vani Kola, Silicon Valley entrepreneur & Kumar Shiralagi, the former head of Intel Capital in India, has just closed with $189.4 million in the kitty. “We had a target of $150 million and a cap of $200 million for the fund,” Vinod Dham, founder and executive MD, NEA-IndoUS Ventures, told ET from Silicon Valley. The fund for which co-founder and MD Vani Kola moved to Bangalore from Silicon Valley last year, has been set up in partnership with one of the world’s biggest PE & VC firms — the Menlo Park-based New Enterprise Associates (NEA) that has a committed capital of over $8.5 billion across 13 funds. […] India's Wipro group announced Friday its consumer care and lighting division was acquiring Singapore-based personal care products firm Unza Holdings Ltd for $246 million in an all-cash deal. According to a company statement here, the 100 percent takeover process will be completed by month-end. The deal will make the combined entity a force to reckon with across Asian markets in the personal care segment. 'The acquisition will double our addressable market size in terms of GDP. Unza has an excellent product range and a large portfolio of strong brands catering to Asian consumers,' Wipro consumer care president Vineet Agrawal said. […] Private equity firms Blackstone, Saloman Brothers and Goldman Sachs are reportedly eyeing the 49% stake that is up for grabs in PTC India's financial services arm, PTC Financial. The deal is likely to be worth around Rs1.5bn, according to a financial daily. PTC Financial is registered as a Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC), and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of PTC India. It intends to provide financial services for power generation projects. […] Emap plc on Wednesday said it has acquired a 40 per cent stake in India based magazine publisher Next Gen Publishing Ltd for about Rs 30.13 crore (3.7 million pounds) in an all cash deal. “As one of the fastest growing economies in the world experiencing a marked increase in wealth and consumerism, we see India as a prime market that will be highly receptive to our brands. […] Private equity funds are finally putting money in power generation. In the first-ever investment by PE funds in the local power sector, CVC International and UTI Ventures have picked up around 30% stake in the Hyderabad-based Ind Barath Infra for Rs 290 crore. Sources said Rs 250 crore was raised from Citigroup Venture Capital International Growth Funds, managed by Citigroup, while UTI Ventures invested the remaining Rs 40 crore. […] Japanese financial services major Nomura will buy 35% in Enam Financial Consultants for Rs 1,400 crore. The deal is expected to be announced as early as Wednesday, a sources close to the development said. In the process Nomura has pipped a host of other global financial sector majors like JP Morgan, Barclays and Credit Suisse to the post. The deal is being announced on the eve of the foundation day of Enam, sources said. […] Spentex Industries, the largest yarn manufacturer in India, has acquired Schoeller Litvinov KS in the Czech Republic for a consideration of $25 million. The acquisition gives Spentex access to a large customer base in over 30 countries. […] |