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Competitors are increasingly becoming collaborators when it comes to mergers and acquisitions (M&A) as the credit crunch has made it difficult for corporates to find bridge loans. These strategic buyers are now collaborating with private equity (PE) investors to access funds for big ticket overseas deals. Traditionally, strategic buyers compete with PEs. For example, Tata Motors last year had to compete with One Equity Partners, TPG and Ripplewood Holdings LLC in its bid to buy European luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR). The company took a $3-billion bridge loan to finance the deal. […]
In the largest acquisition by an Indian technology services firm, Infosys Technologies Ltd made a £407.1 million, or Rs3,269 crore, cash offer to acquire the UK-based Axon Group Plc. If the deal goes through, it would not only expand the Indian company’s key SAP software and consulting capabilities, but also enhance its footprint in Europe, equipping India’s second largest IT services company to bid for larger, transformational outsourcing contracts. The London Stock Exchange listed Axon reported a net profit of £20.2 million (Rs160 crore) on revenue of £204.5 million (Rs1,660 crore) for 2007. Axon, which has no debt on its books, provides consulting services to customers such as British Petroleum Plc. and Xerox Corp. that have chosen SAP AG’s business software as their company-wide platform. Founded in 1994, Axon has offices in the UK, North America, Malaysia and Australia, with about 2,000 employees. […]
Venture capitalists (VCs) raising new funds dedicated to the Indian market are not finding the going tough despite a global slowdown impacting availability of capital. For instance, Clearstone Venture Advisors, a global venture capital fund with over $650 million of committed capital for investment globally, plans to close its fourth fund soon. The fund, which could be over $200 million, will also have a larger share of investments in India. The company had raised $210 million for its third fund, of which 20 to 25 per cent was dedicated for investments in India.Similarly, Seed Fund, which invests in early start-ups, is in the process of raising its second fund. The fund, which will be in the range of $50-60 million, will be closed by the end of this year. […]
Pharmaceutical major Nectar Lifesciences on Monday said it will raise 50 million dollar through the issue of securities in international markets. The board of directors of the company at its meeting today approved to issue Global Depository Receipts (GDRs), American Depository Receipts (ADRs) or any other international offering of up to 50 million US dollars, the company said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Meanwhile, the company has received board of directors approval for issue of equity shares to Citi Venture Capital International and Everest Capital (M) Ltd and would sign a non binding term in this regard. […]
Rajeev Chandrasekhar-promoted Jupiter Capital has joined the likes of Wipro and Infosys Technologies, which have launched private equity funds — globally referred to as the family office funds, made famous by the Rockefeller, Rothschild and Ford in the US. The trend began in India with Azim Premji, the billionaire owner of Wipro who floated a $1-billion fund in India. Chandrasekhar, who exited BPL Mobile three years ago, is now mulling a $150-million private equity fund, which will probably be launched in association with an established private equity fund. Recently, N S Raghavan, among the co-founders of Infosys Technologies, took this route by aligning with an investment banking boutique to manage his family office fund. […]
Venture-controlled RFCL (formerly Ranbaxy Fine Chemicals) has emerged as a strong contender to buy the speciality chemicals business of Mallinckrodt Baker, a division of healthcare giant Covidien, in a deal which could be valued at around $450 million, industry sources said. The transaction is in the final stages of due diligence and could be finalised in about two weeks. This comes after speculation that RFCL was on the trail of a large US acquisition. If the transaction goes through it will be the biggest overseas M&A play for ICICI Ventures, which acquired RFCL around four years ago from Ranbaxy Labs for Rs 125 crore. A business TV channel had earlier reported that the deal was in the works. […]
Entertainment major, Shemaroo Entertainment, is in talks with private equity players to raise Rs 100 crore for fuelling its expansion programme, a top company official said. “We are in negotiations with both, domestic and foreign private equity players to raise Rs 100 crore,” Shemaroo Entertainment Director Hiren Gada told PTI here. Shemaroo hopes to seal transactions within the next six months, Gada said. The company is mulling over diluting a portion of its equity to raise funds from private equity players. […]
Private equity(PE) firms who have been largely focused on providing growth capital in India are now eyeing distressed firms, which has been a domain of the Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs). While some of the PE players such as Vision Global, Eight Capital and ClearWater have specialised funds, which are targeting distressed assets, other PE firms are also looking to invest in such companies during these troubled times. According to Vision Global MD Parth Gandhi, “We’re in talks with around 10 such companies. In the next two-months we’ll be able to close in a few deals. With the current slowdown in the economy, a lot of companies have not been able to meet their growth projections and are facing an acute credit crunch. The idea of the fund is to tap such opportunities.” […]
The Rs 600 crore Flawless Diamonds Ltd (FDL) is planning to acquire a Dubai-based diamond jewellery distribution company to set a foothold in the world’s fastest growing precious metals trading centre. The cost of acquisition is estimated at around $3 million (Rs 100 crore). “Currently talks are on to acquire this company which has a very strong distribution channel throughout Dubai and Europe. If plans goes favourably, all formalities for the acquisition would be completed by December this year,” said Rajeev Kamdar, director – Finance of the company without divulging name. Post acquisition, we would be able to access not only Middle East markets efficiently but also highly remunerative markets like Turkey, Europe and USA, he added. […]
California Software Co Ltd , a Chennai-based software services firm, is close to buying a UK-based firm for $60 million, said sources familiar with the development. Through the buyout, the company hopes to strengthen its business in Oracle-based business software system integration. US-based Oracle is a major provider of software for creation of databases and automation of various business processes in an organisation. With a workforce of 300, the target company has competency in deployment of Oracle-based business software that enterprises use to streamline and automate various processes. It also has expertise in deploying Microsoft business solutions. […]
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