March 2009
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Tata Tech talks to PE investors

Tata Technologies, the engineering design and technology arm of the Tata group, is looking to do a private placement and is in talks with some PE investors, said a source familiar with the Pune-based company's plans. The renewed fund raising exercise comes after the company cancelled its initial public offering proposal some months ago. The plan was to raise Rs 400-500 crore from the capital market. Details about its proposed private placement remain sketchy. Sources say the company, depending upon valuations, intends to dilute 10-12% equity stake. Tata Motors is the single largest shareholder of Tata Technologies, with holding of 82%. The design houses employees and other Tata entities hold the balance. The company serves automotive, aerospace and consumer durable manufacturers. […]

A K Capital buys 70.83% in NBFC for Rs 1.48 cr

A top Mumbai-based bond broker, A K Capital, has acquired 70.83 percent stake in a non-banking finance company (NBFC), Girdhar Vanijya, for Rs 1.48 crore. Through the NBFC, A K Capital plans to start an investment banking unit for the bond market. Talking to Business Standard, A K Capital’s Senior Vice-President Vikas Jain said, “There is tremendous opportunity in the corporate bond market, which is going to witness high activity in the coming days.” Recently, the Rs 500-crore bond issue of Tata Capital was a huge success. It received record subscription from the retail segment too. However, the NBCF business has been under consistent pressure after the meltdown in stock markets in 2008 as client defaults piled up. […]

IDFC Project Equity invests $68.5m in Indian power production firm

IDFC Project Equity, an Indian infrastructure equity investor, has put INR3.5bn ($68.5m) into Essar Power, a power production company headquartered in Mumbai. The capital will be used for ongoing expansion projects. Essar Power operates three power plants: two in Hazira with generating capacity of 515MW and 500MW each and one in Vadinar with a capacity of 125MW. The company is currently implementing four power projects which are under various stages of construction and are scheduled to be completed over the next three years, after which the total capacity of Essar Power would increase to approximately 6000MW. MK Sinha, president and CEO of IDFC Project Equity, said, “We find the power sector particularly attractive and are delighted to partner with a strong and credible group like Essar for our first large investment in this sector since the initial fund close in June 2008. What we particularly like about this investment is our partner's credible and measured project development and execution plans.” […]

PE fund Lumis Partners acquires stake in BNK eSolutions

Private equity fund Lumis Partners has just acquired an undisclosed controlling stake in eastern India’s first 24-hour international call centre, BNK eSolutions. An operating private equity fund with a sharp operational and domain focus, Lumis intends to operate and expand in verticals like healthcare, education, IT training and supply chain management. When contacted, BNK eSolutions president & COO Suresh Menon said: “BNK eSolutions’ parent company BNK Capital Markets has been looking to get access to overseas clients and offload its stake to a strategic partner for sometime now. It has now decided to offload its entire holding of 29,37,025 equity shares of Rs 10 each in BNK eSolutions to Lumis Partners for an undisclosed sum.” […]

Realty slump hits Trikona Capital, to be wound up

The slump in the real estate market has caused investors in the £250 million Trikona Capital, the India real estate fund of Trikona Trinity Capital, to demand that its fund managers “dispose of all its assets in an orderly fashion”. Trikona Trinity Capital is listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) on the London Stock Exchange. This is the first time foreign hedge fund investors have asked managers of a real estate fund to exit Indian investments. A couple of months ago, KSK Emerging Indian Energy Fund had to be wound up after shareholders, which included large hedge funds, demanded that the company be liquidated and the money invested by them returned. […]

Aditya Birla PE plans to raise $2 bn in five years

The private equity (PE) arm of Aditya Birla Group plans to raise about $2 billion in PE capital within the next five years. Sources close to the development said that the company would launch at least four PE funds, each of $400-500 million in size, over the next five years to reach the top-five slot in the industry. This, the company said, would make the forthcoming funds larger than its $250-million maiden fund, which the company is currently in the process of raising. Although the company has not finalised the sectors where the forthcoming funds will be invested, the latest PE entrant said that they are likely to be sector-agnostic, similar to the present one. […]

Crompton to pick up 41 pet cent stake in power generator Avantha news

Continuing its acquisition spree, electric equipment manufacturer Crompton Greaves Ltd said it will pick up a 41 per cent stake in Avantha Power and Infrastructure Ltd, a part of the Avantha group of companies. Crompton Greaves will invest Rs227 crore in APIL, picking up shares of the face value of Rs10 at a book value of Rs11. The Avantha group arm is an independent power producer engaged in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity. […]

Kuwait Zain Exploring Buy in India Telecom Sector

Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications Co., or Zain Group, said it is looking for an acquisition in India to enter the fastest growing telecommunications market in the world. “Whilst in 2008 Zain engaged in discussions with leading investment banks on (acquisition) opportunities in India, we were unable to conclude any transaction,” it said in an emailed statement to Dow Jones Newswires late Tuesday. “Zain will continue its evaluation of opportunities.” The company is still considering investments in Datacom Solutions Pvt. Ltd. or Loop Telecom Pvt. Ltd., two companies it had looked at last year as well, Zain said. […]

Novartis may buy 39% in Indian arm at Rs 351/sh

The parent company of Novartis is set to buy 39% additional stake in its Indian unit, which will take its stake to 89–90%. It is offering Rs 351 per share. However, there is no indication from the company with regard to delisting. CNBC-TV18's Archi Damania reports. With regards to delisting there is no intimation from the company on whether the company will be de-listed or not. We spoke to a few people who said that, possibly, the company falls into a 10% free-float requirement. However, at the moment the comment from the company is that it has not given any intimation as to whether it will be listing or delisting it. […]

ICRA arm acquires US-Based IT Company Sapphire International Inc

ICRA Techno Analytics Inc, New Jersey, USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of ICRA Techno Analytics Limited (ICTEAS) operating from Kolkata, has acquired 100% stkae in Sapphire International Inc. (Sapphire), a Delaware Corporation based out of Trumbull, Connecticut, USA. Sapphire, a Microsoft Gold Partner, is in the business of providing IT solutions to government agencies and large corporations in the US market. ICTEAS is a wholly owned subsidiary of ICRA Limited, a leading Credit Rating Agency in India. Briefing newspersons on the sidelines of the signing of Stock Purchase Agreement in Kolkata on Friday, ICRA Vice Chairman and Group CEO, Mr.P.K. Choudhury said, “the acquisition is expected to provide strategic synergies to the software initiatives of ICTEAS in the diversified field of .NET applications and Business Applications and Solutions. Sapphire specializes in .NET based applications and solutions and has an impressive client list including government agencies and large corporations. The acquisition will enable the in-house capability of ICTEAS to cater to a wider client base in USA.” […]