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US private equity giant Blackstone Group said Wednesday it expects to double its India investments to up to three billion dollars over the next five years. The company aims to target infrastructure and the fast-growing consumer sectors, said Akhil Gupta, chairman and managing director of Blackstone Advisors India Pvt. Ltd. “We are looking at two dominant themes: infrastructure, which includes ports, power and roads, and domestic consumption, like media (and) retail,” he told reporters. Over a five-year period beginning in September 2005, Blackstone has invested 1.25 billion dollars in India, of which 360 million dollars was earmarked for the power sector, Gupta said. It plans to invest as much as three billion dollars there in the next five years […]
Bluechip global private equity funds — J P Morgan and Baring Private Equity Partners — are in the race to invest Rs 180 crore in a 14-acre residential project being developed by Bangalore-based developer Embassy Group. Embassy Group is building the project near the Hebbal flyover, north of Bangalore with 2 million square feet of residential development. Embassy Group is developing the project on a land historically-owned by Kirloskar Group in a 67 : 33 revenue share agreement. This round of private equity fund raising comes close on the heels of the company detailing its intent to go public in the near future. Embassy Group during the past month filed for a Rs 2,400 crore initial public offer. Edelweiss Capital, Nomura, UBS Securities and Citigroup Global Markets are the book-running lead managers to the issue. According to information with PE funds, Embassy may also look at a pre-IPO placement of up to Rs 1,175 crore. The management of Embassy Group could not be reached for comments. […]
Venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, has invested Rs 60 crore in Quick Heal Technologies, provider of computer security software products. The firm will use this investment in growing its product portfolio, expanding its global distribution footprint and funding future acquisitions. The company registered revenues of more than Rs 100 crore in FY 09-10, all from its indigenously developed product portfolio. With this investment Sumir Chadha, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital India will join the board of the company.Quick Heal Technologies that competes with global security solutions providers like Symantec, McAfee and others has been growing at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of almost 100 per cent for the last three years, making it the fastest growing software product company in the computer security space in India. “When we were doing out due diligence we were surprised to find out the growth that the company has been able to achieve despite competition. I think what has worked for them is they have been able to get their product adaptable to Indian consumer,” said Sumir Chadha, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital India. […]
US-based private equity (PE) firm TA Associates is in advanced talks to buy half of Sequoia Capital’s 30% stake in the country’s largest diagnostics and pathology services chain Dr Lal PathLabs for around Rs170 crore, two persons familiar with the matter said. If the talks fructify into a transaction, it will value the Delhi-based diagnostic firm at over Rs1,100 crore. “Negotiations are at a fairly advanced stage,” said one of the persons privy to the talks. The stake sale will fetch Sequoia almost six times the money it had invested. The venture capital firm had acquired close to a third of the diagnostics chain for around Rs50 crore in 2005. Sequoia will sell the remaining stake when Dr Lal PathLabs comes out with a public issue of shares, which is expected over the next one to two years, said the second person. […]
“The capital raised from this deal will be used to fund expansion plans, including opening of 150 new stores by 2012 and a production unit in Noida,” Mr Ashwani Chawla, Chairman and Managing Director, Catmoss Retail, told Business Line. Catmoss now has 170 exclusive stores and 125 shop-in-shops pan India with every major retailer such as Lifestyle, Shopper's Stop, Globus, Reliance, Central, and Ritu Wear's, and is present in 300 multi-brand stores. They want to further concentrate in the metros. It is also looking at Tier-II and Tier-III cities as well. Catmoss has an existing facility in Delhi that manufactures 6,000 pieces a day and the up coming Noida unit will manufacture 15000 pieces a day. […]
Private equity fund, Baring Private Equity Partners is set to pick 10 per cent stake in Indian pharmaceuticals firm, Shilpa Medicare for Rs 80 crore ($17 million), two sources with the direct knowledge of the matter said on Monday. An in-principle agreement has been reached and an announcement is expected soon, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. As per the understanding, the management will issue shares on preferential basis to Baring, the source said. The company board is meeting on this issue on Monday and an announcement, if any, is expected later in the day, a company official, who did not wish to be named, told Reuters over the telephone. Baring and New Silk Route Partners were in talks with Shilpa Medicare's management for picking a stake, said another source. […]
London-listed mining group Vedanta Resources will acquire a majority of up to 60 per cent stake in Cairn India for $ 9.6 billion to gain access to the nation's largest onshore oilfield. Vedanta will pay $ 8.48 billion to buy Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy Plc's 51 per cent stake in the company, the two firms said in separate conference calls. The price of Rs 405 per share is a 32 per cent premium to Cairn India's average closing price over 90 days. This includes a Rs 50 per share non-compete premium for Cairn Energy Plc not entering into oil and gas business in India, Pakistan, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. The $ 9.6 billion deal value takes into account the open offer Vedanta would make to Cairn India stockholders for 20 per cent of issued shares at Rs 355 a piece (minus the non-compete fee), Vedanta Resources Chairman Anil Agarwal, 57, said. The acquisition “significantly enhances Vedanta's position as a natural-resources champion in India,” he said. […]
Reflecting recovery in investor appetite, private equity (PE) firms have already pumped in $67 billion globally in the first half of this year, just about $14 billion less than they invested in entire 2009, says a report. PE investments, which were at their peak in 2008, with an aggregate commitment of whopping $248 billion, fell to $81.6 billion in the full year of 2009, according to the data compiled by research firm Preqin. However, the first six months of 2010 have seen private equity deals valued at $67 billion on account of the increased investor confidence, after last year's dip in fund raising due to economic downturn, the report said. “H1 2010 has shown signs of a healthier fund raising environment, with funds exceeding their target capital commitments, ” it added. It said telecom, media and communications, consumer product and consumer services accounted for the major chunk of money invested by PE firms up to June this year. […]
Subhkam Growth Fund I, the maiden Domestic Fund from Subhkam Ventures, has made an investment in Nicheken Technologies Pvt. Ltd. The investment will be the first round of growth capital, and will provide Subhkam a substantial minority stake in the Company. Nicheken is promoted by two distinguished technocrats, Dr. M.V. Pitke and Dr. T. Chandrasekaran. Nicheken, a technology oriented company, specializes in the areas of telecommunications and power electronics. The Company focuses on creating cost effective innovative add-ons to the existing equipment which have the impact of reducing the overall cost in the eco system, either by decreasing the incremental capex requirement or by improving the efficiency. Mr. Rakesh S Kathotia Chairman, Subhkam Ventures said, “with the ever increasing appetite for telecom bandwidth and power and the inherent redundancy of such infrastructure equipment (due to technology upgradation), the need for cost effective add-ons, which enhance the efficiency and life of critical equipment, is immense. Such cost effective equipments could also be a great enabler in fulfilling the government’s objective of providing telecom and power in each nook and corner of India.” […]
Billionaire metal king Anil Agarwal-run Vedanta Resources is in talks to acquire a 51 per cent stake in upstream oil and gas company Cairn India in a $ 8-8.5 billion (about Rs 37,264-Rs 39,593 crore) deal, which may be announced on Sunday evening or Monday. Cairn Energy Plc of the UK, which holds 62.37 per cent interest in the Cairn India, is eyeing a 20 per cent premium for transferring management control of the firm to Agarwal. Cairn India chief executive officer (CEO) Rahul Dhir met petroleum secretary S. Sundareshan to apprise him about the ongoing negotiations as the deal will need the approval of the Indian government. “All production-sharing contracts signed by companies for oil and gas exploration have provisions for government approval if some stake in the field or the company were sold,” Sundareshan said. Dhir said he was not a part of the discussions that were being carried out Cairn's UK management. […]
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