Hospitality firm CGH Earth is looking at raising Rs 350 crore through private equity to fund its long-term investment plans, which include setting up 30 new resorts by 2012. “Leisure tourism is catching up fast in the country and we want to be a part of this growth. We will invest Rs 300 crore over the next five years to set up 30 new leisure resorts across the country by 2012,” CGH Earth Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Jose Dominic told PTI. He said the company is presently in talks with various PE investors to raise the amount required for expansion. “We are looking at raising nearly Rs 350 crore and are in talks with various PE investors to dilute a part of our stake in the company,” Dominic said. CGH Earth may also tap the stock markets through the IPO route. […]

US-based Avenue Capital, a hedge fund that focuses on distressed and undervalued debt and equity opportunities, is in an advanced stage of negotiations to pick up an equity stake in Delhi-based loss-making pharma company Morepen Laboratories. Sources indicated that Avenue Capital could pick up 15% stake for around Rs 80 crore, and the deal which is expected to be completed by the middle of this month. The fund is offering Rs 20 per share of Morepen Labs, which works out to a 28% premium to Friday’s market price of Rs 15.6. However, it is about 40% higher than the share price when negotiations between the two began. When contacted, Morepen Laboratories chairman and managing director Sushil Suri confirmed the development. He, however, refused to divulge details saying, “We cannot disclose the name of the investor.” Sources close to the deal also said Avenue has the option to subscribe 5% more of the equity by way of warrants in the future. For this, they will have to make a down payment of 10% of the agreed price upfront, while the remaining will be paid up in 18-months. This will trigger off the mandatory requirement of an open offer. […]

In the first private equity deal struck by Chennai-based, Rs 1,400 crore auto component group ,Rane, Mumbai-based private equity investment firm Blue River Capital has picked up 10.22% stake in Rane Holdings (RHL). Blue River has invested $4.7 Million in the holding arm of the Rane group and the Rs 10 paid up share of RHL was valued at Rs 192. On Friday September 31, RHL scrip closed at Rs 156 on BSE. It has acquired the stake from the promoter group through a secondary market transaction. The PE firm has made the investment in the holding arm of the family business group through its Mauritius-based investment company. Its representative is expected to join the board of Rane Holdings shortly. “After RHL made the preferential allotment to promoters followed by a open offer to the public, the promoter stake had touched 72%. As we did not expect the stake to such a high level and wanted to bring down the holding to around 60%, we looked around for investors. Blue Metal showed interest in picking up the promoter' stake,” Rane group chairman L Ganesh told ET. He said the PE investment will help in enhancing shareholder value of Rane companies. As a long term investor, Blue River is expected to hold its stake for four to five years, Mr Ganesh added. Stating this is the first private equity investment which has taken place in the Rane group, Ganesh noted after the current final phase of the consolidation of the holdings of group companies into RHL, to be completed by March 2008, the promoter stake in RHL will stabilise at 45-46%. It has no plans to further dilute stake. Also, the group wants to retain 50% stake in all the companies through RHL. […]

International Finance Corporation today said it will invest 12 million dollars as equity in fibre glass maker Owens Corning (India) to help it expand its manufacturing facility in Maharashtra. The expansion of glass melter and related downstream equipment capacity by Owens Corning will result in significant energy and efficiency improvements, IFC said in a release. With Owens Corning's expansion of capacity at Taloja facility, India's installed glass-fibre capacity will increase to 67,000 tons a year by the end of 2007. The demand for glass-fibre in India is expected to increase by 18 per cent a year over the medium term, driven by growing infrastructure and automotive sectors, IFC said. IFC's investment will help the company continue to improve efficiency and competitiveness, Owens Corning Managing Director Satish Kulkarni said. Owens Corning is a joint venture between US-based Owens Corning and India's Mahindra and Mahindra. (ET) […]

Srei Infrastructure Finance acquired a 76 per cent stake in Hyderabad Information Technology Venture Enterprises Ltd, a venture capital outfit. The venture capital firm was set up in 2000 jointly by the Andhra Pradesh Development Corporation, the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation and the Small Industries Development Bank of India. The exact amount of the deal could not be known. The Hyderabad firm floated its first fund with an initial corpus of Rs 15 crore. It came out with a second fund of Rs 50 crore. After the shareholders’ approval, Srei will pick up a 51 per cent stake in the initial fund and another 25 per cent in the second. Hemant Kanoria, vice chairman and managing director of Srei, said the corpus of the fund would be hiked to promote investments in Andhra Pradesh. The firm invested Rs 12 crore in seven IT companies from the first fund.(The Telegraph) […]