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The downturn is prompting Private Equity and Venture Capital funds to look at offbeat sectors, as evident in the spurt in investment interest in education, health and microfinance areas in the past ten months or so. With traditional favourites such as real-estate, infrastructure and IT drying up, funds are focusing on sectors where the outlook is still upbeat to insulate themselves from segments directly exposed to the global financial market turmoil. Education, for instance, has caught the fancy of PE fund managers, with high returns, scalability and huge mismatch in supply and demand being the key drivers. PE and VC funds have already made over 30 investments worth $300 million in education-related companies in the past 24-months, with much of the activity coming in the recent months. […]
Helion Venture Partners, a $350 million India-focussed venture capital fund, has invested Rs 16 crore in Brand Calculus, a start-up venture aiming to bring international chains of quick service restaurant brands in India. Brand Calculus has already introduced Canadian juice and smoothie chain, Jus Booster Juice, in India. Brand Calculus aims to set up 20 Jus Booster Juice outlets across eight cities in India this year. At present, Brand Calculus operates three outlets across Delhi and Bangalore. Globally, Booster Juices operates over 200 outlets in North America, West Asia, the Netherlands and India. […]
THE Future Group, which owns India’s largest chain of retail stores, has started formal discussions with private equity (PE) funds to sell equity stakes in new companies that are formed by splitting the operations of its flagship Pantaloon Retail (India). The group plans to raise Rs 1,100-1,200 crore through this divestment exercise, helping it to expand retail footprint from 12 million to 30 million sq ft by 2013. Over a dozen PE funds are participating in a road show organised by Future Group’s adviser Enam Financial Consultants. The road show started two days ago. Apax Partners, TPG Capital (formerly Texas Pacific Group), Temasek, Bain Capital and Eton Park are among the PE players that are discussing the prospects of an equity investment. […]
The Indian competition law regime, first enacted in 2002 and amended in 2007, has gained momentum in 2009, with the appointment of a new chairman and other members to the Competition Commission (CCI), amidst speculation that the rules on cartels, abuse of dominance and merger control will come into force later this year. Whilst the current economic climate means that M&A activity has inevitably taken a back seat, the new competition rules signal significant changes for foreign and domestic deals. In summary, once the law is in force, domestic and foreign mergers which meet certain turnover or asset thresholds must be notified to the CCI for clearance. According to the regulations, a deal is not likely to adversely affect competition in India unless at least two parties to a deal have a presence in India, namely (1) each party generates Rs 600 crore turnover in India or (2) each party has assets to the value of Rs 200 crore in India, in addition to satisfying other worldwide turnover/asset requirements. The 210-day wait —a deal breaker for many transactions — has been reduced to 30 days or 60 days for most deals, on par with international standards. […]
India-based wind-turbine maker Suzlon Energy Ltd. said Monday it paid EUR30 million ($39.6 million) to Portugal's Martifer Group to raise its stake in Germany's REpower Systems AG to 76%. This is the second installment of a total EUR270 million that Suzlon had in December said it would pay to buy Martifer's 22.4% stake in REpower. The Indian company had paid the first installment of EUR65 million in December to raise its stake to 73.1%. […]
Freight and logistics company Toll Holdings has expanded its presence in India by acquiring a 40 percent interest in New Delhi-based BIC Logistics, with the option of upgrading to a majority holding over the next two years. BIC operates road, rail and air transport across India, with a company-owned fleet of 250 trucks and agreements with rail and air operators. BIC's annual revenue was US$26.17 million for the year ended March 2009. Toll managing director Paul Little told The Australian BIC was a strong fit with Toll's existing operations in India. […]
IDFC Capital (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., the newly formed fund of private-equity funds unit of India's Infrastructure Development Finance Co, is raising a US$500 million Asia-focused fund, a person familiar with the situation said Thursday. The fund will be focused on mid-market, growth-focused private-equity funds in Asian emerging markets, particularly China and India, the person said. There will also be some allocation to other Asian emerging markets and Southeast Asia as well as an allocation to other emerging markets such as Sub-Saharan Africa. IDFC is expected to commit US$50 million to the fund, the person said. The fund's first closing is expected sometime later this year. […]
After a series of forgettable outings despite big hype in the second edition of the Indian Premier League, is Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan selling his Knight Riders franchise? According to speculation, SRK is in talks with Subroto Roy’s Sahara Group and the Anil Ambani Group for selling around 20% stake in the franchise. However, the biggest hurdle to any deal could be the high valuation of the team, industry sources said. Shah Rukh’s company bought the Kolkata franchise last year for around Rs 300 crore and he would expect the brand to be valued at least around Rs 500 crore. Unfortunately, that expectation appears too high in the current economic climate. […]
Venture capital firm Sequoia Capital India and Silicon Valley Bank have together picked up a minority stake in web-based advertising company Ideacts Innovations for an undisclosed amount. For Sequoia, this is the second round of investment in the Mumbai-based firm. In 2007, it had picked up a minority stake in the company for $5 million. Although the exact quantum of this year’s investment could not be ascertained, it is believed to be $5-9 million, said a person with direct knowledge of the development. When contacted by ET, Ideacts Innovations co-founder & CEO Rudrajeet Desai confirmed the second round of funding and said: “Sequoia is our first investor who funded us in 2007. […]
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