Nakoda Textile Industries, the country's largest player in the fully drawn yarn (FDY) segment, is in talks with a London-based private equity player for equity dilution. Investment banking sources said the company will sell around 10% equity for Rs 30 crore to fund its expansion plans. The deal is likely to be sealed this year. The company plans to invest Rs 325 crore for enhancing capacity. It will raise Rs 225 crore as debt, Rs 30 crore through sale of promoters' equity and the rest from internal accruals, apart from PE funding. Babubhai Jain, chairman and managing director, Nakoda Textile Industries told DNA Money, “We are looking for PE funding, but nothing has been finalised yet.” […]

GMR Infrastructure has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary GMR Energy (GEL) has acquired 5 percent equity stake in South Africa’s Homeland Mining and Energy SA (Pty) Ltd, a unit of Canada’s Homeland Energy Group Ltd. GEL has paid Rs 60 crore ($15 million) for the 5 percent stake in the company. Further GEL has an option to purchase an additional 45 percent in the same company by September 2008 for $145 million. In this way, the total payout for the 50 percent stake is $155 million (approx. Rs 620 crore). In a statement, GMR Infrastructure said, “This acquisition would ensure fuel security for GMR group's power projects in India and such a transaction also acts as a catalyst in the development of the energy business of the Group.” […]

Tata Teleservices (TTSL) is planning to raise more than $1 billion by selling a chunk of its stake to private equity (PE) and strategic investors in one of the largest telecom deals in recent times. India’s second-largest CDMA operator plans to sell 15-30% to financial and strategic investors to raise money for its expansion in both CDMA and the soon-to-be-launched GSM services, people close to the deal said. The Tata Tele deal, which is being run by Lazard, could be bigger than the Bharti Infratel deal. Last December, the Bharti Airtel wireless tower offshoot raised about $1 billion from investors such as Singapore’s state investment firm Temasek. As Tata Tele wants to rope in a strategic investor and even PE funds, the stake involved could be as high as 25-30%, a person involved in the transaction said. “Tata Teleservices continues to seek appropriate and value enhancing opportunities that meet its overall business objectives but as a policy, Tata Teleservices doesn’t comment on speculation,” a spokesperson said. […]

The logistics arm of Future Group, Future Logistics Solutions Ltd, or FLSL, will raise $25 million (Rs10 crore) by selling stakes in the venture to private equity firms, the group’s chief Kishore Biyani said. “We are in talks with five Indian and foreign private equity companies and a deal is expected in a month,” said Anshuman Singh, chief executive of FLSL. “We have just entered the valuation phase,” he said, adding that the private equity companies are yet to figure out the actual valuation of the firm that takes care of most of Future Group’s logistical apparatus. How much stake it will off-load will depend on the final valuation, Singh said. Biyani has said in the past that he wants to raise money by selling stake in subsidiaries including Future Media India Ltd, and FLSL to fund the company’s retail plans. […]

Online services firm Info Edge (India) Ltd, which owns jobs portal Naukri.com and matrimonial website Jeevansathi.com, plans to join the ranks of venture capitalists, says a top company official. The Noida-based company, which made its first investment in Delhi-based education portal StudyPlaces Inc. earlier this year, says it has decided to acquire equity stakes in Internet start-ups as part of its growth strategy. “We are currently looking at a couple of companies in the Internet and mobile space,” says Hitesh Oberoi, director and chief operating officer of Info Edge. The company plans to target early-stage companies that can benefit from its distribution channels such as offline operations, business relationships, and site traffic. It is looking at potential investments between $1 million and $4 million per deal. In return, Info Edge can bolster its own offerings with services the start-ups bring to the table, and establish a presence in new niche areas. For example, the company, which plans to launch its own education information search portal later this month, might explore synergies between StudyPlaces and its own offerings. […]