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Indian state-run power generator NTPC said on Monday it was buying a 44.6 percent stake in Transformers and Electricals Kerala Ltd from the Kerala state government. The country's largest power producer said the stake was valued at 313.4 million rupees ($6.4 million), although the final price was subject to valuation of assets as at end March 2009. Transformers and Electricals Kerala makes and repairs heavy duty transformers. (Forbes) […] LIC will divest its stake in UTI Asset Management Company (UTI AMC) along with other shareholders in the company. “UTI AMC has decided to rope in a strategic partner. The deal is yet to be frozen, and has not come to a critical stage. But all the four partners will take the same decision. We will be acting in unison. We will offload stake in equal proportion,” said Vijayan. […] Calamander Group Pte, a Singapore- based investment company, will create the first private equity fund focused on Sri Lanka, betting the nation’s economy will prosper after the end of three decades of civil war. Calamander plans to invest between $50 million and $75 million in the island nation’s rubber, tea, timber, coconut, bank and ceramics businesses in the next 18 months, Managing Director Roman Scott said in a telephone interview on June 19. The fund aims to earn a return of as much as 35 percent, he said. “It’s not a big fund by world standards but for Sri Lanka you can actually do a lot of damage with that kind of money,” Scott said. “There’s a huge opportunity to do a lot.” […] Prominent investor C Sivasankaran has re-entered the fledgling Indian telecom industry by acquiring a 51% stake in Chennai-based telecom firm S Tel, three-and-a-half years after it pulled out of Aircel. The deal size is estimated to be around Rs 1,150 crore, said a person close to the development. Sivasankaran’s investment arm Sterling Infotech Group (SIG) has bought the stake in S Tel, that has licences to operate in several northern and eastern states, from two private equity firms — Skycity Foundations and Telecom Investments. S Saravana, Mr Sivasankaran’s 22 year old son, has joined the S Tel board, post the transaction. ET on May 2 reported that Siva was looking for a presence in India’s telecom space and was in talks to acquire a majority stake in S Tel. […] Mahindra Holidays and Resorts India (MHRIL)has priced its initial public offering (IPO) at a price band of Rs 275-325, nearly 32 per cent discount to the price at which it sold over 3 per cent stake to State Bank of India (SBI) and Nylim Jacob Ballas India Fund last year. In a pre-IPO stake sale during January 2008, MHRIL sold 2.11 per cent stake to SBI and 1.05 per cent stake to Jacob Ballas at Rs 478 per share. It raised Rs 120 crore through the transaction, which valued the company around Rs 4,000 crore. Post IPO stakes of these two investors will go down marginally to 1.96 per cent and 0.98 per cent, respectively. […] Indian venture capitalists and private equities are expected to invest over $8.5 billion (about Rs 42,000 crore) in the next five years in sectors like biotechnology, life sciences, film production and education, an Assocham-Deloitte study said on Monday. As regulatory regime in these sectors are being gradually streamlined, Indian venture capitalists (VCs) and private equities (PEs) will have an added incentive to invest in these upcoming sectors, the study said. India has large opportunities in biotechnology and life sciences on lines of retail and real estate. The life sciences sector in India has been attracting specialists venture capitalists from global and local funds, it said. […] Direct-to-home (DTH) television service provider Big TV Ltd, a unit of the Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, is setting out on a content acquisition spree to win an edge over rival such as Dish TV India Ltd, Tata Sky Ltd, Airtel DTH and Sun Direct DTH Service.Big TV is looking to sell a minority stake and Behl confirmed that it is in talks with global DTH service providers and also a few private equity funds. Foreign Investment Promotion Board norms permit upto 49% foreign equity in the DTH sector. Foreign Investment Promotion Board norms permit upto 49% foreign equity in the DTH sector. Big TV plans to sell a stake of up to 49% to foreign private equity companies and global DTH service providers, the Business Standard reported in April, citing investment banking officials it didn’t name as saying the company expects to raise about Rs8,000 crore. […] Mortgage lender, LIC Housing Finance Limited (LICHFL), is looking at roping in a partner for its Rs 500-crore real estate venture capital (VC) fund which it plans to launch by end-September, a top company official said. “We are in the process of selecting a partner for our real estate venture capital fund. This will be completed in a month's time and by end-September, we will launch it,” LIC Housing Finance (LICHFL) Director and Chief Executive, Mr R R Nair, said here. The partner would be an Indian company, he said, without, however, disclosing the identities of the partners the company was in talks with. […] As declining portfolio value clips the market valuations of many firms, the secondary private equity market has swung into action. Exit options such as initial public offering (IPO) have dried up in the last three months, leading to secondary market sales emerging as a viable option for private equity players, feel market analysts. Secondary deals in the private equity (PE) parlance refer to instances where a PE or LP (limited partnership) firm buys out the stake of other PE/LP firms. According to Rupali Vasudev of market research firm Evalueserve, “Although the secondary market has been present in the PE/LP and venture capital space, it is only recently that a lot of attention is being focused on it. There is a paucity of exit avenues and, hence, many firms are looking to liquidate their investments through secondary sales.” […] Private equity players known for their investment acumen have been selling in the current rally. Ever since the equities’ rally gathered momentum, there has been a spate of exits by private equity firms and venture capital companies through open market transactions. Companies such as Techno Electric, Mundra Port and SEZ, Shriram Transport Finance, Lupin and Titagarh Wagons have reported selling by PE firms. Put together, PE players have sold over Rs 758-crore worth of equities since March this year. […] |