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Financial services firm Religare Enterprises on Wednesday said it will acquire 50 per cent stake in Sri Lankan brokerage firm Bartleet Mallory Stock Brokers(BMS). Religare on Wednesday announced its intention to acquire a 50 per cent stake in Sri Lanka's BMS, engaged in stock broking, online trading, and investment advisory, the company said in a statement. However, Religare did not disclose the financial details relating to the deal. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals in India and Sri Lanka. Commenting on the transaction, Religare Group CEO Shachindra Nath said, “With the upsurge in economic and capital markets indicators over the last one year, Sri Lanka is positioned as an attractive frontier market and this addition would give strength to our Emerging Market Investment Banking platform.” The transaction would help Religare leverage its strength in retail stock broking in India and expand the leading position of BMS in retail broking as well, the statement added. […]
Enam group, a closely held financial boutique in Mumbai, is raising a $750 million ('3,473 crore) infrastructure fund–its first private equity (PE) fund–to invest in the power, port, road and airport sectors, said a person familiar with the development. The fund will target infrastructure assets for 75% of its investments and allied sectors for the balance 25%. It will equally invest in new and existing infrastructure projects. “The fund has been recently launched and there is a lot of interest in it,” said the person, who asked not to be identified. Akash Bhansali, director, Enam Holdings Pvt. Ltd, the group's investment management arm, declined to comment on the fund. The PE fund's team comprises Arun Srivastava, former managing director and chief executive of Essar Power Ltd; Parvez Umrigar, former managing director and chief executive officer of Gammon Infrastructure Projects Ltd and Ajay Munot, former executive director of Kalpataru Power Group. […]
Vishal Retail will sell its retail trading business to Shriram Group and its wholesale division to private equity firm TPG for a combined value of Rs 100 crore. “The company was not performing well for quite sometime. The market was expecting better valuation than what was offered by the buyers, which led to the fall in the stock,” Geojit BNP Paribas Assistant Vice-President Gaurang Shah said. In a filing to the stock exchanges, the company said its board has decided to conduct a postal ballot to seek shareholders' approval for the deal. […]
Aqua Logistics will be acquiring upto 60 per cent stake for an undisclosed sum in Chennai-based Star Distribution Logistics, the company said here today. The acquisition will help Aqua, a third-party logistics solutions provider, strengthen its distribution and reverse logistics capabilities as also get new clients in the FMCG, pharma and consumer electronics space, currently serviced by Star, read a press release by the company. Aqua will pick 40 per cent stake in Star initially and subject to business done by Star and other conditions, it will acquire an extra 20 per cent within two years, giving it complete control over the target company, the release said, without specifying the deal size. “The acquisition would help us strengthen our pan-India presence and address a wider customer base,” Aqua's Vice- Chairman M S Sayad said. […]
Private equity firms have invested over $1 billion in Indian companies in August, more than seven per cent from the year-ago period, with investors increased preference towards telecom and financial services sector. “Total private equity (PE) investment in India grew 7.5 times to $1.3 billion as against $179 million in August 2009,” according to data compiled by deal space research firm VCCEdge. While comparing from July, deal value in August was up 60 per cent due to some large deals during the month. “August 2009 had seen the lowest monthly deal value since the beginning of 2009, with the exception of March' 09 which was at $136 million. Since then an upward trend has been witnessed with deal value peaking during August 2010, suggesting a recovery from last years slowdown,” the report noted. Upturn was also witnessed in terms of the number of deals recorded in the last month. In August this year 35 PE transactions were posted, against 24 deals registered in same period in 2009. […]
Axis Bank is in discussions with the limited partners (LPs) of its Rs 600 crore private equity fund for a suitable way forward as the third largest private sector lender wants to exit the PE fund, said Shikha Sharma, MD & CEO, Axis Bank on Thursday. “We are in talks with the LPs. The PE fund business is not one of our strategic business areas. There is no timeline for the exit to happen. It could be three, six or even more than 12 months before a decision is reached. We want the LPs to be comfortable with the new promoters who will be coming in,” she said on the sidelines of the launch of its first urban financial inclusion initiative in Bangalore. Although Sharma did not disclose the name of the LPs, she said the PE fund is doing well with a professional team on board. Responding to whether Axis Bank is comfortable with the present management of the PE fund buying out the stake, Sharma said: “We are not closed to that option. We will keep the interests of our LPs before taking any decision on this matter.” […]
The race to acquire Ahmedabad-based Paras Pharmaceuticals is growing more intense, with healthcare majors such as Piramal Healthcare throwing their hats in the ring. While Piramal confirmed its interest, sources familiar with the developments said Glaxo, Sanofi-Aventis and Abbott are also eyeing the Rs500-crore Indian firm. Fast moving consumer goods companies such as Emami, Dabur and Marico are already in the race to acquire a controlling stake in Paras. “The target is of interest to us,” confirmed Piramal Healthcare Group President and CFO N Santhanam, adding: “The product profile of Paras is similar to ours. There is a fit,” he said. Like Paras, Piramal has a combination of over-the-counter and personal-care products in its portfolio, which falls under the consumer products division. This includes strong brands such as Saridon (a tablet for headaches), Lactocalamine (a lotion), Polycrol (an antacid), Supractiv (a nutritional supplement) and i-Pill (an emergency contraceptive pill) among others. i-Pill was acquired in April from Cipla for around Rs100 crore. […]
Three-wheeler maker, Atul Auto, is interested in acquiring a “not-less-than 51 per cent stake” in Scooters India, a public sector undertaking in which the Government is mulling a divestment. “We are interested in acquiring a majority stake in Scooters India. We will not go ahead with the deal if the Government sells us less than 51 per cent stake,” Atul Auto's Director, Vijay Kedia, told PTI here. Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh, had earlier said the Government was scouting for a joint venture partner to revive Scooters India. “We are going for a joint venture (for Scooters India) and there are many companies which have shown an interest,” Deshmukh had said. […]
State-run miner NMDC Ltd is keen on picking up 10 per cent equity in Australian mining firm Riversdale Mining, in which Tata Steel also has 19.38 per cent stakeholding, a top official of the company said today. “We are interested in picking up equity in Riversdale,” NMDC chairman and managing director Rana Som told reporters on the sidelines of CII function here today. Asked how much stake was NMDC eyeing in Riversdale, he indicated that it would be 10 per cent. Tata Steel had joined hands with Riversdale for developing mining activity in Mozambique. Som said that NMDC had also tied up with Tata Steel for jointly developing assets in that country. […]
Power transmission contractor KEC International said on Tuesday it has signed a $95 million agreement to acquire SAE Towers Holdings from a unit of US-based private equity firm, Acon Investments. The acquisition, expected to close this month, would be on a cash-free, debt-free basis and would add to KEC International's earnings from 2010/11, the company said in a statement. The deal will strengthen KEC's foothold in the markets of North America and Latin America, where transmission and distribution spends are increasing, it said. […]
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