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Helion Venture Partners, an India-focussed venture fund, on Tuesday announced the closing of its second fund of $210 million. The company had raised its first fund of $140 million during late 2006. Helion also announced that it would now expand its focus sectors to include companies in the consumer services space. This would include high-potential companies in sectors like retail services, education and financial services. “Helion will continue its focus on technology-powered businesses even as we expand our focus into consumer services. Factors like the rapid increase in mobile and Internet penetration in India are further paving the way for innovative technology products and services that to cater to the domestic market. In addition, domain-focused outsourcing and technology products continue to be focus sectors,” said Ashish Gupta, managing director, Helion Venture Partners. […]
Piramal group firm Indiareit Fund Advisors Pvt Ltd plans to raise up to $800 million through a second global fund before April, a top official said on Tuesday. UK’s 3i has already committed $250 million to the fund which will invest in the Indian real estate sector, he said at a conference to launch the group’s new corporate identity. “Since it is a global fund … we need approvals to launch in different countries,” said group chairman, Ajay Piramal. “It should not be more than April, I guess.” Indiareit currently manages about $450 million raised through two series of funds in the domestic market and one in the overseas market. Separately, he added analysts had valued the pipeline of drugs under development at the research entity, which was recently spun off from group flagship Nicholas Piramal India Ltd at $480 million to $540 million. The research unit, to be called Piramal Life Sciences Ltd, is expected to be listed on the stock exchange by June. Piramal has said the founders could dilute about 10% stake in the research unit to private equity players or strategic investors, including international drug companies, over the next 12 months. Top Indian firms including Dr Reddy’s, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and Ranbaxy have chosen to spin off their research into separate units to help lower risk from high drug development costs and unlock value. Piramal group has decided to bring all its group companies under the Piramal brand name, subject to shareholder and central government approvals. Flagship Nicholas Piramal India will be renamed Piramal Healthcare Ltd and Gujarat Glass Ltd will now be Piramal Glass Ltd. […]
Sometime last year, the monetary policy authority wrote to the Government and the capital markets regulator indicating its uneasiness with private equity flows. In the overall hierarchy of flows, the Central bank places private equity well below other forms of capital such as remittances and foreign direct investment. In fact, it has said that the classification of private equity flows would have to be looked at closely considering that in some cases, investors had exited quickly without staying on even for the medium term. These concerns and estimates of private equity investments topping $10 billion in 2007 had prompted the Government to write to SEBI. The finance ministry wanted the regulator to collect data relating to investments by private equity funds and based on that, to ascertain whether there were any regulatory concerns. The aim was to revisit the issue after an analysis. But private equity fund managers here who were fretting at the thought of being policed, need not worry at least in the near term. For, the capital markets regulator has made it clear that it is not equipped to collect the data on private equity. Rather, the Central bank, which monitors all inflows and outflows, is far better positioned to carry out this task, it has said. Since private equity could come in several forms, such as through foreign venture capital funds, it has been suggested that the RBI could be mandated to track these flows […]
Private sector lender HDFC Banks merger with Centurion Bank of Punjab (CBoP) has driven India Inc's merger and acquisition deal volumes to 2.9 billion dollar in February this year. The total number of M&A deals announced in the month of February this year stood at 36 with a total announced value of 2.95 billion dollar and the most significant deal was the merger of two financial entities HDFC Bank and CBoP, global consultancy firm Grant Thornton said. The other most significant deal was the acquisition of 17.2 per cent stake by Walt Disney Company in UTV Software Communication for consolidating its stake to 32.10 per cent in the domestic media company. It is interesting to note that there were 102 M&A deals with a total value of about 36.80 billion dollar in January and February 2007. […]
Only professionals are likely to be allowed to float venture capital funds (VCFs) in the future . In what could be a big change in India’s venture capital regulations, no business house, financial services group or big corporate would be allowed to set up a VCF. The capital market regulator has veered around to this view, possibly driven by instances where large groups have used the funds they have sponsored to invest in companies where groups have strategic or business interests. “Since VC funds operate under a special regime in relation to taxation, foreign capital and investment lock-in , and are meant to encourage new entrepreneurs, the vehicle should not be misused by established players,” said a source. While no formal guidelines have been issued, the change in regulatory stance on VCFs follows views expressed by an informal panel to look into VC regulations. Some of the top names in the financial services industry figure in the panel. No final decision has been taken. Existing VCFs set by business houses and banking groups will not be affected. The perceived conflict of interest, though not applicable to all VCFs sponsored by big groups, is more apparent in sectors like real estate where institutional finance is difficult. […]
Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation (IDFC) will buy Standard Chartered Mutual Fund. IDFC will pay $205 million (Rs 830 crore), way above $135 million (Rs 542 crore), the amount offered by UBS for the AMC in January last year. Standard Chartered has agreed to sell Standard Chartered Trustee and Standard Chartered Asset Management, including the local minority shareholders. The UK major has a 74.9% stake in the AMC with the remaining being held by Atul Choksey, the former co-founder of Asian Paints. The consideration is before deductions of local taxes and deal expenses. ET had on Thursday reported that IDFC and Shinsei were ahead in the race. StanChart regional CEO (India and South Asia) Neeraj Swaroop said: “We will concentrate on the distribution side of the business.” This means the bank will continue to sell products of other fund houses. IDFC CEO Rajiv Lall said: “This is in line with our wider strategy of broadening our footprint in the asset management business and diversifying our fee-based revenue streams.” […]
The Tata group, which runs businesses from steel to hotels, plans to sell as much as 49% of its mobile-phone tower unit by May. The group has shortlisted 15 potential investors in the business, Anil Sardana, managing director of Tata Teleservices Ltd, the group’s telecom arm, said on Friday. Tata Teleservices Maharashtra Ltd, which is listed, offers services in Maharashtra. The Tata group is seeking similar, if not better, valuations as that of the tower units belonging to the Bharti group and the Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, Sardana added. (Livemint) […]
Yes Bank has announced that it would be raising up to Rs 1,100 crore in 2008-09, through a combination of debt and equity routes. While the bank would look at raising anywhere between $150-170 million through a qualified institutional or private placement between April and June. The balance amount would be raised through multiple tranches in the debt market later by September. YES Bank has already entered into talks with banks and private equity players to effect this fund-raising. Under the equity issue, the bank will be issuing 20 million fresh shares to the new investors, diluting the promoters’ stake further by 6.3%. Speaking to mediapersons on the sidelines of a press conference, YES Bank managing director and CEO, Rana Kapoor said, “Global Orients, a Singapore-based financial institution led by Richard Chandler picked up a 4.99% stake in the bank in December, for Rs 331 crore. We are now in talks with investment arms of two multinational banks, one which already has presence in India. We are also in discussions with few private equity arms and are looking at a strategic investor, not a strategic partner.” Mr Kapoor added that the funds raised would be used for setting up new branches, as the bank is targeting to have 250 branches in place by 2010. It would also help the bank raise the exposure limits both for single and group borrowers, he added. […]
Rel Cap, Aditya Birla in race to buy 44% stake from E*Trade. Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Capital, the Aditya Birla group, Religare Securities, Indiabulls and private equity investors ICICI Ventures and Barings India Private Equity are in the race to acquire a significant stake in Mumbai-based IL&FS Investsmart. The development comes after E*Trade, the US-based discount broking firm, which holds a 44 per cent stake in the Indian brokerage house, has decided to sell its holding following heavy losses in the sub-prime credit turmoil in the United States. IL&FS Investsmart, a listed entity, currently has a market capitalisation of Rs 1,200 crore. Sources said that apart from private equity investors all others are keen on entering as strategic partners. They are evaluating this option to expand their presence in the booming broking segment in India. […]
The stock markets are in a tailspin and private equity (PE) players have found the value of their portfolios declining. Good enough reason for them to latch on to the bull run in cricket — all thanks to the flames stoked by the emergence of the Indian Premier League (IPL). It seems franchisee owners are locked in talks with these players to offload a part of their stakes in their respective teams. Investment banking sources say, many team owners are in the market to raise funds. “We are given to understand that minority stakes will be diluted by the owners. Names of franchisees going around include Deccan Chronicle (Hyderabad), Vijay Mallya (Bangalore), Ness Wadia and Preity Zinta (Mohali) and Shah Rukh Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment (Kolkata),” an investment banker, who did not wish to be named, said. Chennai Super Kings, the team owned by India Cements (ICL), has been approached by private equity investors. Admitted N Srinivasan, vice chairman and MD, India Cements: “A few private equity investors met me. They were interested in knowing if I would be willing to dilute my stake in the team's equity. I have told them that we are not in favour of diluting to anybody for the moment.” […]
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