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FDI in retail may be on the backburner for now, but private equity investors are ramping up investments in the logistics sector. The latest in the series of deals is a pact by New York-based private equity fund, India Equity Partners (IEP), to acquire the road operations of Dutch freight major TNT Express in India. While the deal value could not be ascertained, the road transportation business of TNT Express had a top line of Rs 200-220 crore. The segment […] About a third of PE investments are currently losing money, but the evidence is publicly hidden by many fund managers’ decisions not to divest underperformers India’s economic growth has propelled private equity (PE) investments in the country to $8.2 billion in 2010 from $470 million in 2003. Although the increase in deal volume and value indicates the attractiveness of India as a PE destination, the true measure of success of a PE investment is when the fund exits, makes […] Rising economic uncertainty will lead to several private equity (PE) firms closing their India operations in the coming months fear industry watchers. “”Due to the imminent slowdown in the economy, arising out of uncertainty in the global markets, decline in factory output and the weakening of the rupee, several PE firms are finding the going tough and a few could even shut shop in the months to come,”” said Rahul Bhasin, managing partner at Baring Private Equity Partners. […] Corporate guarantees given for 2007-08 deals facing high taxes now; industry presses for change in rules. Three years after the great Indian deals party of 2007-08 got over, the taxman is playing the party pooper. Indian companies that purchased assets abroad are facing an up to 10 per cent increase in deal costs due to transfer pricing adjustments raised by the income tax department. The department is raising these adjustments on commission or fees chargeable for corporate guarantees given by […] The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) hopes to finalise regulations for alternative investments in the next two months, UK Sinha, chairman of the capital market regulator, said on Tuesday. SEBI had put up a concept paper for regulation of alternative investment funds, or AIFs, on its website in August. AIFs have been classified into nine categories, including a category for private equity funds. Any fund operating as a hedge fund shall be required to be registered as ‘strategy […] The country’s private equity players who took advantage of the market crash by increasing stake in listed companies are in a dilemma. The share prices are, again, tumbling down — day by day. Though PE majors like Carlyle, Blackstone, ChrysCapital and Sequoia claim to be betting on Indian market with a long-term view, they seem to be in a tight spot. The shares of the listed companies they back have declined 20-50 per cent in the past few weeks. Carlyle, […] Sebi pegs minimum allotment size for anchor investors at Rs 5 cr, move to help companies bring in serious players. The capital market regulator appears to be in a mood to appease companies which intend to go public at a time when investor confidence is hovering at record low levels. To start with, it has created a separate set of disclosures for funds (venture capital and private equity funds), that will make it easier for PE-backed entities to go public. […] Private equity firms are deferring investment plans in India or bargaining for a bigger pie of the business citing global economic slowdown and growing uncertainty in domestic markets. “A lot of investments which are at the term-sheet level have been deferred as investors are now reluctant to buy stake at such high valuations in this tough market,” said Bala Deshpande, senior managing director at US-based venture capital fund New Enterprise Associates (NEA). PE deals fell to an eight-month low of […] Invests Rs 15 crore with a premium of about 100% over current share price. Belgium-based private equity player Incofin has picked up about 25 per cent stake in Arman Financial Services Ltd, a micro finance institution (MFI) and non-banking finance company (NBFC) for a consideration of Rs 15 crore (approx. US $ 3 million). The board of directors of Ahmedabad-based Arman has approved preferential share allotment to Incofin, which took the equity stake at Rs 56.95 per share, nearly 100 […] Private equity (PE) players in India, facing intense competition to find the right deals, have set their eyes on a relatively new sector — defence & aerospace. These firms are keen to invest in unlisted private companies and expect possible expansion in defence budget, as well as increased participation from the private sector. According to a recent report from Centrum Broking, Indian companies in the defence sector are poised for a sustained break out and address a $54-billion opportunity by […] |