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Country's food processing industry, which is attracting the foreign investors, has received a record of 106.4 million euro (about Rs 600 crore) investments from private equity firms this year so far, a latest report says. The food and beverage sector which got PE investments of a mere 4.2 euro million in two deals last year, saw the funds soar to 106.4 million euro through 11 deals already this year, consultancy firm KPMG and industry chamber FICCI said in a joint report released here today. The report also said foreign direct investment (FDI) approvals in food processing sector more than doubled to 98 million dollar in 2006-07 from 42 million dollar in 2005-06. It also said the FDI in the F&B sector is likely to cross 2.1 billion euro in 2007-08. […]
State government-backed venture capital firms, once among the few sources of seed and early-stage capital for Indian start-ups before the current round of venture investing got under way less than two years ago, have started privatizing themselves in order to remain relevant in the changed environment. Their moves come ahead of a Rs1,500 crore fund-raising exercise—the largest aggregate corpus such funds have raised in the last 15 years. The new funds in the pipeline will see private asset management teams being brought in to invest and manage them. Some of this is already under way. Punjab Infotech Venture Fund (PIVF) and Kerala Venture Capital Fund (KVCF) have plans to privatize, while Hyderabad Information Technology Venture Enterprise Ltd (Hitvel), which is increasing its current fund corpus from Rs50 crore to Rs150 crore, recently entered into a partnership with Srei Infrastructure Finance Ltd. Srei holds a 76% stake in Hitvel. Other state government-backed outfits that are in fund-raising mode currently are those from Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. The last two are pioneers in the public-private partnership model and have set the rules of the game. […]
Leading mid-sized pharma company Glenmark Pharmaceuticals would soon enter the European market by acquiring a front-end pharmaceutical company for about Rs 100 crore. Glenmark MD and CEO Glenn Saldanha told ET that the target company is in Central Europe and the deal is likely to be through before the end of March. It has a strong marketing force and some approved products, Mr Saldanha said without disclosing the company’s name. Glenmark now has just an office in UK for business development. Merchant bankers said there are many small and medium-sized family-owned pharma firms in Europe that have a low profitability and are up for sale. They would suit the needs of Indian companies planning to enter the EU market, they said. Glenmark has presence in over 80 countries, including the US, in the business of finished products and key ingredients called APIs. It is strong in therapeutic segments such as dermatology, internal medicine, paediatrics, gynaecology, ENT, diabetes and oncology. […]
Mumbai-Based business process outsourcing company Accentia Technologies has acquired three US-based healthcare BPO companies for about Rs 80 crore, sources close to the deal said. It bought Florida-based GSR Physician Billing Inc and GSR Systems Inc and Oregon-based medical transcription services provider DenMed Inc, in cash-cum-stock deals. Confirming the development, Accentia director Pradeep Viswambharan said the stock portion of the deals would be issued in the form of global depository receipts. Sources said the company plans to go in for a $15-million GDR issue to be listed in Singapore. This issue would involve raising cash of $2.5 million and issuing GDRs worth $12.5 million to the promoters of the acquired firms.On Tuesday, the shares of Accentia Technologies rose by 5%, or the maximum gain allowed in a day, to Rs 221.90 on the BSE. […]
US-Based Bessemer Venture Partners, which recently closed its seventh global fund at about $1 billion, has earmarked $350 million for Indian investments, especially in companies that cash in on the rise of consumer spending, infrastructure development and intellectual property-based opportunities, a senior official said. The investment house is also in advanced talks with one company each in construction, power and renewable energy sectors, as part of a plan to increase its portfolio by as many as 25 investments through the India-specific fund from the current 17, BVP India managing director Devesh Garg said. The proposed investment in the construction firm could be in the order of $25 million while that in the other firms could be up to $15 million each, he added. “The consumer class in the country is definitely on the move up. Hence, we are more interested in investing in branded products and services,” Garg told ET in an interview. “Secondly, the country’s government looks dead serious about infrastructure development. Hence, there is scope for companies involved in construction, roads, power generation, which is why this sector also attracts us in India. Finally, we would like to invest in companies involved in exports of skill-based products, taking advantage of India’s excellent base of intellectual capital.” […]
According to sources, UTI AMC will sell 20% of its stake to private players ahead of IPO. UTI AMC promoters are LIC, State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Punjab National Bank will hold 49% post IPO. UTI AMC will file DRHP with SEBI by December 2007. India's third largest fund house will issue fresh shares of 20% of its equity to strategic investors. Global players such as UBS, StanChart and few other global investment banks have envinced interest for the strategic partnership with UTI AMC. The AMC also has international tie-ups for its offshore funds, but does not have a strategic partner. The company Chairman and MD, UK Sinha, said that the business is looking for a strategic partner for expertise in their expansion plans. In September, UTI received board approval to go public after which, the four stake holders will dilute about 49% stake, which will give them about 51% stake from their present holding. ( Money Control) […]
Wealth management company Merrill Lynch today said it has made a private equity investment of $55 million (about Rs 218 crore) in wind electric generators producer Vestas RRB. “It is our first and largest investment in the renewable energy sector in India,” Merrill Lynch Asia Pacific Managing Director and Head (Corporate Principal Investment) David Noh said in a statement. Vestas RRB would use the investment to meet capital expenditure being incurred in the setting up of the company's wind energy generator (WEG) blade manufacturing facility in Chennai. […]
US-based Caterpillar, the world’s largest manufacturer of construction & mining equipment amongst others, has just picked up a significant minority stake — well over 30% — in Polyhose India (Rubber), a Chennai-based privately held company, for an undisclosed valuation. Polyhose India (Rubber) manufactures rubber hydraulic hoses at its manufacturing plant in Sriperumbudur near Chennai. Almost 90% of the production is exported to the US, Europe and other developed markets. With brand Caterpillar backing it, Polyhose now plans to aggressively make its presence felt in the domestic market. Incidentally, Caterpillar happens to be the only equipment manufacturer to make their own hoses and couplings. Polyhose’ other arm, Polyhose (India) is the only manufacturer of high pressure thermoplastic hoses in south east Asia and has its manufacturing facility at Kelambakkam, also near Chennai. The decade-old Polyhose group expects a combined turnover of around Rs 105 crore from both the units this financial year, even as Polyhose (India) continues to remain a wholly-owned unit of the group. […]
The IFCI board on Monday decided to give an option to 30 financial institutions (FIs), including Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), to covert their zero-coupon convertible debentures issued in 2002-03 into equity to the extent of 50%. The debentures payable in 2022 were part of a revival package worked out by the government to rescue the financial institution that had accumulated high level of non-performing assets. IFCI chief executive officer and managing director Atul Kumar Rai said: “We have firmed up certain options that include the right to convert part of the optionally convertible bonds …. Outer limit for the conversion is 50%.” IFCI, which has recently been given the status of a non-banking financial institution, had issued Rs 1,479 crore zero-coupon optionally convertible debentures (OCDs) to 30 FIs. […]
IDFC Private Equity, a wholly owned subsidiary of Infrastructure and Development Finance Corporation (IDFC), plans to launch its third private equity fund by December 2007. It hopes to raise Rs 7,000-8,000 crore by the end of this financial year for this fund. The infrastructure company had raised Rs 7,000 crore for its first and second funds. “If the growth continues to be as strong as it is now, we will have to raise more capital,” said Rajiv Lall, managing director and CEO of IDFC, said in a conference call with analysts after announcing the financial institution’s second-quarter results. IDFC’s second quarter profit, including that of its units, rose 26%, to Rs 194 crore from Rs 154 crore a year earlier. Revenue rose 63% to Rs 657 crore. Net interest income (NII) has increased by 55% from Rs 213 crore during the first half of 2007 to Rs 329 crore 2008. […]
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