December 2007
M T W T F S S
« Nov   Jan »
 12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31  

Contact us

Contact us

Indiabulls buys Piramyd Retail

Indiabulls Wholesale Services, the retail arm of Indiabulls Real Estate, has acquired Piramyd Retail, a company owned by the Ashok Piramal Group which runs 35 neighbourhood retail stores and seven lifestyle stores. Indiabulls Wholesale has acquired 63.92 per cent stake in Piramyd Retail at an enterprise value of around Rs 208 crore, said sources close to the deal. It will be making an open offer over the weekend to acquire an additional 20 per cent of the fully diluted paid-up capital of Piramyd Retail, at Rs 74.73 per share. Thus, it would shell out Rs 174.55 crore for 84 per cent stake in the company. Piramyd runs a lifestyle retail (Piramyd Megastore) and convenience store chain (Trumart) with 42 stores spread over 10 lakh square foot of retail space in states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh. […]

December 9th, 2007

CBDT reopens 400 PE, M&A deals

The spill-over effect of Vodafone’s battle with Indian tax authorities may prove costly for several other deal makers. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has reopened about 400 cases of big and mid-sized transactions that took place during the past six to seven years. According to sources close to the development, the cases include foreign corporates and PE firms selling stakes of companies based in India, and not paying any capital gains tax. One of the first such cases that the tax department is currently probing is Montreal-based Alcan Inc’s selling of the controlling stake in Indian Aluminium Company (Indal) to Hindalco Industries seven years ago, sources in the finance ministry told SundayET. Significantly, there were around 300 PE deals clocked in India in 2006 alone. The tax department had earlier slapped a notice on Vodafone Essar, demanding $2 billion as capital gains tax over its $1-billion acquisition of a majority stake in Hutchison Essar, India’s fourth largest mobile telephone company. The case is now locked in the Bombay High Court. […]

December 9th, 2007

PE players eye township projects

Integrated townships seem to be the preferred investment option for private equity (PE) players in India. In fact, a Cushman and Wakefield (C&W) report finds that 28% of PE investors favour investment through this route in the real estate market. According to the real estate global consultancy, till date, foreign funds and institutions have raised approximately $30 billion to be invested in Indian real estate with an estimate of $3 billion that has been committed. Integrated townships — as a low risk investment avenue due to their diversification benefits and low entry cost — are a highly attractive option. Agrees Sandeep Singh, national head, capital markets, C&W, “In today’s high land price scenario, integrated townships offer higher value creation opportunities due to low entry costs for land and synergies created by mixed-use development within them. Says Kunal Banerji, president, marketing, Ansal API, “Yes, it is true that private equity players are showing a lot of interest in this model. The returns on investment are good and the demand for integrated townships is ever increasing. An investor needs to look at both the micro and macro aspects and this model incorporates both.” […]

December 9th, 2007