|
|
A majority of large private equity (PE) players are gearing up to raise fresh funds for investing in the infrastructure sector. According to a survey of the leading PE firms conducted by management consultancy Ernst & Young and industry body Asscoham, 84 per cent of the PE firms said that they found the present environment conducive to raise infrastructure-focused funds. “Investors are taking a long and hard look at their asset allocations and setting the wheels in motion for a change,” said Kuljit Singh, partner and transactions advisory leader for infrastructure, Ernst & Young. “In this process infrastructure has emerged as an asset class with long-term growth prospect providing relatively stable returns,” he added. […]
A deal between Bharti Airtel and South Africa’s MTN to create a transcontinental mobile behemoth may miss the stipulated deadline even as a team of officials from the Indian company travels to Johannesburg next week to try and crystallise financial terms that could include a sweetened offer. All efforts are on to seal the $24-billion deal by the last week of this month, but it may take a few days more as the two sides attempt to satisfy South African regulatory queries, mainly related to the management structure, two people with knowledge of the situation said. […]
The government is preparing guidelines for the participation of private equity (PE) funds in housing sector under the Rajiv Gandhi Awaas Yojana, minister of state for urban development Saugata Roy said. The scheme aims to make a slum-free India in five years with construction of over 10 lakh houses. “The ministry, in consultation with the Planning Commission, is currently processing guidelines to ensure PE’s participation in the Yojana,” he said at a national conclave on private equity in infrastructure organized by Assocham. The government wants to harness private funds to provide affordable housing to millions of households under the scheme, he added. […]
Biotechnology company Avesthagen Ltd plans to raise Rs 850-950 crore next year, and this includes a revived public issue plan and overseas funds. Of this, the company would raise Rs 600-700 crore from an initial offer in the first half of 2010. “[Funding] is going to be on two channels. In addition, we are also looking at raising a PE/pre- IPO overseas fund of $50 million [around Rs 250 crore], perhaps early next year, and have appointed US investment bankers to look into it,” Dr Villoo Morawala-Patell, Founder and Chairman and Managing Director of Avesthagen, told Business Line.Dr Patell said she would retain the promoter stake of 32 per cent. Of the ten-odd investors, private equities hold 28 per cent. They include ICICI Ventures, Fidelity and New York Life Investment Management India Fund. […]
NRI investor C Sivasankaran has decided sell a 6.3% stake in the Chennai-based S Tel to the Bahrain-based Bahrain Telecommunications (Batelco). The deal size is valued at Rs 125 crore, considering that Batelco Millennium India (BMIC), a Batelco-controlled company incorporated in Mauritius, had earlier acquired a 42.7% stake in S Tel for Rs 875 crore, valuing the company over Rs 2,000 crore then. However, Batelco may have had to pay a premium for acquiring this additional 6.3% stake in S Tel. […]
Infrastructure, including roads, power, highways, airports, ports and railways, has emerged as an asset class with long-term growth that can provide relatively stable returns, said an Assocham-Ernst & Young survey on Private Equity in Indian Infrastructure: Strengthening the Nexus. The joint study highlights that the global economic crisis has not dampened investor confidence in the sector. Last year’s crisis had limited or short-term impact on PE investments, and activities in the sector will pick up in the next 8-12 months, it said. The survey points out that PE funds have already invested close to $2,694 million in the country’s infrastructure sector in the past three years. […]
ICICI Venture Funds Management Co. Ltd, the private equity (PE) subsidiary of India’s largest private sector lender, is ready to float a $500 million (Rs2,420 crore) equity fund with an option of retaining another $300 million, its first attempt to raise money from investors after the exit of its high-profile former chief executive officer (CEO) Renuka Ramnath. ICICI Bank Ltd will chip in with 10% of the size of the fund. The PE firm has also received commitments of about Rs1,000 crore from domestic institutional investors and high networth individuals. Four months into her new assignment, Vishakha Mulye, ICICI Venture’s new managing director (MD) and CEO, is also planning to cap the size of the $810 million India Advantage Fund Series 2 at $583 million, 72% of its original corpus. […]
IDFC Private Equity, the country’s largest infrastructure-focused PE fund, is buying out energy giant BP’s wind power assets in India for Rs 650 crore, signalling the latter’s exit from India’s wind power business and underscoring its renewed focus on the US market, a person close to the development said. IDFC Private Equity, which is bullish on clean technology and has dedicated Rs 1,000 crore for this, will buy the entire wind power portfolio of BP in India. BP has 40 mw assets in Maharashtra and 60 mw assets in Karnataka. The fund will make the payment for BP assets in two tranches, with the first worth Rs 350 crore. This acquisition will give the PE player a foothold in the wind power space. […]
Axis Private Equity (PE), a fund sponsored by the third largest private sector lender Axis Bank, plans to invest Rs 200 crore in two more companies, while it lines up its second fund. The second fund will hit the market later this year. While its first fund with a corpus of Rs 600 crore was primarily raised from the domestic market, especially from some large banks and companies, it aims to raise the second fund from abroad. The company, however, declined to disclose the details of the forthcoming fund. Raising fund internationally is difficult at the moment as limited partners (LPs) are closely evaluating the performance of PE players. Of late, LPs have started buying interests of other LPs at a discount. […]
Advent International Corp., a Boston-based private equity firm, hired Shweta Jalan to expand its private equity business in India. The U.S. firm began investing in Asia’s third-largest economy two years ago when it acquired a stake in Computer Age Management Services Ltd., a transaction processing company. Advent appointed P.J. Nayak, former chairman of Axis Bank Ltd., as a partner in July to advise on Indian investments. Advent International has raised $24 billion in private equity capital and has completed over 250 transactions valued at about $45 billion in 35 countries, the release said. […]
|
Post your messages.Please refrain from posting offensive messages. IndiaPE accepts no liability for the consequences of your reliance on these postings and messages.
|