Future Capital Holdings announced today that the company acquired 50.1% stake of the paid up equity share capital of Centrum Direct and Centrum Wealth Managers, respectively, on Mar. 12, 2008. Future Capital Holdings, a subsidiary of Pantaloon Retail India, is the financial services arm of the Future group registered as a non-banking financial company. In agreement with PRIL, the company provides financial products and services at malls, stores and retail outlets in India which are owned, controlled or managed by PRIL and its subsidiaries. It has an agreement with ICICI Bank for marketing and distributing credit cards offering loyalty points to customers and is finalizing corporate agency terms with group companies for general insurance products and life insurance products. […]

Sarovar Hotels and Resorts, the multi-brand hotel management company, is in talks with strategic investors to raise about Rs 75-100 crore to fund its expansion plans. The company hopes to conclude a private placement of about 10 per cent of stake in three to six months. Sarovar Hotels is India’s largest chain of hotels operating in the mid-market segment. It operates 36 properties in India including, Hometel, and three, four and five-star hotels under the Sarovar brand, and is also the master franchiser for Carlson Hospitality Worldwide’s Park Plaza and Park Inn brands. It has around 33 properties under various stages of development, which will all come up in about three years. […]

CyberMedia, South Asia`s first and largest specialty media house with a strong presence in media services acquired the TDA Group, Inc., a California-based integrated marketing communications and custom publishing company, in a strategic move to expand the services business of the company. TDA Group Inc., with a strong track record of over 20 years, provides a wide range of value added services to an A-list of high-tech clients including several of the global leaders in the IT industry. Services provided by TDA include marketing consulting, content development, web and graphic design. TDA Group`s products encompass both print and online offerings and include magazines, newsletters, collateral, identity, customer reference programs, white papers, direct mail and websites. The TDA Group posted revenues exceeding USD 5 million in the year ending December 2007 with strong year over year growth at both the top and bottom lines and strong prospects in the current year. […]

Mumbai-based drug major Nicholas Piramal India (NPIL) is in talks with private equity funds for the sale of a ‘small’ stake in its research company, to be soon renamed Piramal Life Sciences, company’s top officials said on Tuesday. “We will get additional funding within one-year of listing of the company,” said Piramal group chairman Ajay Piramal. “We have been approached by several PE funds, but this is still early days.” Piramal Life Sciences will be listed in India in the first or second week of June. The company is seeking funds for its recently spun-off research company to mitigate the risks and costs involve in new drug development. The move may also allow the company to license out its new molecules at a later stage of development and, therefore, extract more value from its research. “For molecules targeted at niche therapeutic segments that typically require limited clinical trials, we would complete clinical trials and market the drug ourselves in certain countries,” said Mr Piramal. “But for drugs developed to treat common diseases like metabolic disorders, at a certain stage of clinical development, we will seek an outlicensing partner.” […]

Enamoured by the growth in the ship-building industry, engineering firm Larsen & Tourbo, shipping company Great Offshore and private equity funds Blackstone, Abraaj Capital and Apax Partners are eyeing a stake in the south-based Tebma Shipyards. Tebma Shipyards is India’s third largest private ship-building firm after ABG and Bharati Shipyard. Owned largely by ICICI Venture, Tebma, as part of expansion strategy, plans to build a facility in West Bengal. The project, spread across 150 acres, entails a cost of Rs 500 crore ($125 million). Sources say the company plans to raise this amount through a mix of equity and debt. Various parties, including strategic and private equity funds, have approached ICICI Venture to invest in Tebma Shipyards, as rapid growth in the domestic sector continues to lure firms. Ship-building players earn operating margins of 20-25% helped by 30% export subsidy. […]