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With a staggering increase in capital invested across social ventures—$404.58 million in 2010 as compared to $150.36 million in 2009—private equity/ venture capital players are finding a fortune beyond the tip of the pyramid. And, in a turn of focus, interstitially more and more mainstream PE/VC funds are also venturing in this hitherto reserved space of social venture capital funds, making the investment play in the segment dynamic like never before. Fathom this: If social VC funds such as Acumen Fund, Gray Matters Capital and Omidyar Network, in tune with their goals, are investing in a lighting and power company D.light Design, which delivers affordable and quality solutions to serve families living without adequate electricity, it’s being matched up by investments made by mainstream players such as Draper Fisher Jurvetson India (DFJ), who are driven solely by commercial gains. So what is fuelling this growing interest in the social investing space by mainstream players? Draper Fisher Jurvetson India has made recent investments in environmental & facilities services firm Attero Recycling Pvt Ltd and D.light Design Pvt Ltd. […]
Giving shape to his plans to launch a private equity (PE) fund, Mukesh Ambani, chairman of India’s most valuable company Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), has contributed $200-250 million (Rs.902-1,127.5 crore) in proprietary funding to jump start investments, according to three persons familiar with the development. Ambani, 53, India’s richest man, has appointed Vivek Gupta, former managing director of consulting firm AT Kearney in India, to lead the venture, said the persons, one of whom is directly involved in the venture. None of the three persons wanted to be identified. Gupta could not be contacted immediately. An investment committee has also been formed to evaluate and approve potential investments. Apart from Ambani, the committee comprises Raghunath Anant Mashelkar, scientist and a director on the RIL board, and Ambani’s trusted aide and key RIL executive Manoj Modi. […]
Group CEO of Religare Enterprises Shachindra Nath has claimed the acquisition of Landmark Partners in the $171.5 million deal on Friday has pushed his company to the fourth position among India’s asset management companies. It now manages assets of over $ 15 billion. Speaking to FE, he said Religare plans to reach a turnover of $70 billion in the next two years globally. That should position it as a leading emerging markets financial services group. The approximately Rs 772 crore deal will give the company a strong presence in the secondary transactions market in the US, as Landmark is a private equity and real estate fund-of-funds asset manager, specialising in that market. A release issued by Religare said, “The parties have signed a definitive agreement for Religare to acquire a 55% stake in the business of Landmark Partners. Landmark Partners’ entire management team has made long-term commitments to its business as part of this transaction and will retain a significant equity stake in the business. […]
Japanese auto giant Honda has reached an agreement to dissolve their 26-year old joint venture, Hero Honda, with the Hero Group by selling its entire stake in India's largest two-wheeler maker. Honda Motor Co is expected to sell its entire 26 per cent stake in Hero Honda to its partner Munjals-promoted Hero Group and would earn $1.2 billion from the sale, Kyodo reported quoting Japanese Nikkei business daily. “Honda and the Hero Group have reached the basic agreement this week to dissolve the partnership,” Nikkei said, adding that the two companies will seek final approval from their respective board of directors later this month for the break-up. The parting of ways comes 26 years after the joint venture was set up in 1984. […]
Venture capital fund Sequoia Capital has invested in health insurer Star Health and Allied Insurance Co. Ltd, according to Sumir Chadha, managing director of the venture capital firm. “We are very excited about our investment in Star Health, India's leading health insurance company,” Chadha said. “The company has built a very strong market position in both the retail and government health insurance verticals.” Sequoia had picked up a 25% stake for $35 million ('157.85 crore), a person close to the deal said on condition of anonymity. Chadha refused to comment on the stake, but said his firm's investment was similar to ICICI Venture. ICICI Venture's investment was for a stake of 18-19%, said another person associated with the deal, who also did not want to be identified. […]
Private equity firms Carlyle and TPG are set to buy up Honda’s stake in Indian motorcycle company Hero Honda, according to reports. The Munjal family, who set up the Hero Group, are set to buy back the Japanese auto giant’s 26 per cent holding, before selling most of it on to the two firms. It is expected that the US private equity firms will end up paying $1.4bn for some 18 per cent of Hero Honda, a discount on the market price of the shares but more than the Munjals will pay Honda. The business has been run as a joint venture between Honda and the Hero Group for 26 years, but the two will become competitors once the Japanese company pulls out. Honda plans to ramp up the size of its subsidiary, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India. Honda’s exit has been held up by the objections of some shareholders, given talk of increased payments to Honda for the use of its technology. […]
Indian medical devices company Opto Circuits has acquired US-based Cardiac Science Corporation for around $64 million. Reports indicate that the Indian business has purchased 76% of the US business, with each shareholder being paid $2.30 for each common share. The company has acquired a number of healthcare businesses in the past year; purchasing US-based Unetixs Vascular Inc at $9.7 million in July, and Indian company NS Remedies, which is engaged in research and development, for $1.5 million in April. This deal will make Cardiac Science a wholly-owned subsidiary of Opto Circuits. Cardiac Science Corporation manufactures and markets advanced diagnostic and therapeutic cardiology devices and systems. They have a number of established brands such as Burdick, HeartCentrix, Powerheart, and have customers in over 100 countries. […]
Volvo Buses India Private Ltd (VBIPL) on Monday announced that it had bought out, for an undisclosed amount, the stake held by its JV partner, Jaico Industries of the Azad Group, thus increasing its ownership share from 70% to 100%. Akash Passey, managing director, said that the Swedish parent, Volvo Bus Corporation (VBC), intends to make India a global manufacturing hub for Volvo buses for exports to different regions, and that they had targeted reaching a revenue of $1 billion (Rs4700 crore) from Rs500 crore this year, in a time frame of five years. Rune Lundberg, senior vice president, VBC, said that the company would establish a “substantial industrial presence” in India with additional capacity, more local R&D, and ramped-up hiring from its current strength of 1000 personnel. […]
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