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Kingfisher Airlines is discussing with international carriers a possible sale of stake up to 25%, the Economic Times reported. The move follows the centre's proposal of policy change to allow foreign airlines to invest in domestic carriers with a cap of just below 26%. The discussions are reportedly with British Airways, Singapore Airlines and Virgin as the investment is expected to fetch a higher valuation compared with the Private Equity investors. There remains uncertainty on when the government would permit foreign airlines to hold equity in Indian companies. The civil aviation ministry met the airlines on October 30 to discuss key policy changes including allowing foreign airlines to pick up stake in domestic carriers. […]
India's private carrier Jet Airways has bagged a loan of INR10 billion from the Mubadala Development Co, an Abu Dhabi-based investment company. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Jet Airways has said that the loan will help fund the working capital needs and expansion plans of the company. The influx of funds is expected to aid the airline which is seeking additional funds to tide over the financial constraints caused by overdues to the state-owned oil marketers, airport authorities and operators. […]
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has ruled that foreign investment can flow into private equity funds registered as trusts. The move opens up another window of funds for private equity players and venture capital funds registered as trusts. The department of industrial policy & promotion (Dipp) was opposed to FDI in trusts, but FIPB has overruled the argument. This can lead to a new channel of investment for India Inc, especially start-ups. The FIPB’s view is that FDI can be permitted in trusts which intend to carry out PE investments, provided they register themselves as VC funds. Following the FIPB ruling, Dipp is now planning to introduce guidelines for allowing FDI in trusts that invest in companies, especially start-ups, with the aim of long term capital gains. Apart from mandatory registration with capital market regulator Sebi, the foreign investor will also have to comply with the know-your-customer (KYC) guidelines, a Dipp source said. […]
A double whammy of adverse market conditions and a depreciating rupee is expected to hasten the consolidation process within the private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) space, say industry watchers. Many foreign players are likely to exit their investments altogether in the country, they point out. Alok Aggarwal, chairman and founder of Evalueserve, a firm that tracks PE and VC firms, expects nearly 20% of foreign PE and VC firms to pull out. “Out of 370 PE and VC firms active in India, about 260 are foreign players. With the financial market meltdown and rupee depreciation having dealt major blows to the PE industry, we expect 60 to 70 of them to exit the country within next 12 months,” he told ET. […]
Venture capital funds and private equity players continue to scout for investments in the Indian infrastructure sector but await Government initiatives to speed up investments, according to venture capital industry players. While there is continued interest from US and European investments funds in wide-ranging areas within infrastructure including airports, ports, roads and power projects, they want the Government, which is the main investor, to make first move. However, they warn that the overall investment during 2008 will come down compared to last year. While the exit options have come down due to market situation, the size of the deals and number of transactions will be lesser as investors are in a consolidation and wait and watch mode, according to Mr Sudhir Sethi, Founder and Chairman and Managing Director of IDG Ventures India. […]
PE firms are aggressively topping up earlier investments made in listed companies at a time when valuations are at a fraction of what they were a year ago. Among the big firms scooping up equity in listed entities to average out costs are ChrysCapital and Singapore-based Orient Global which have made direct secondary market investments. Also See Value Adds “There are some very attractive valuations. The corrections have taken place and depending on our investment thesis, we have an opportunity to take a position in listed companies, and top it up, too,” said Sanjiv Kaul, managing director of ChrysCapital, while declining to provide further details. Others such as Standard Chartered Private Equity Ltd and Blackstone Group Lp. have also been buying, the only difference being that these have had some promoter-level engagements at an earlier stage. […]
Two private equity firms — US-based Berggruen Holdings and UK-based Cycladic Capital — have picked up close to 80% stake in construction equipment service provider Gemini Equipment and Rentals (GEAR) for around $15 million (nearly Rs 74 crore). “This is part of the first round capital-raising programme. The proceeds will be utilised for expansion,” said GEAR managing director Rajiv Sethi. The construction equipment industry is growing at the rate of 35% and is likely to expand fivefold by 2015. The critical role of the industry in the infrastructure development has opened huge opportunity for entrepreneurs to enter the construction equipment rental business. […]
Raman Roy-led Quatrro BPO Solutions is planning to raise $100-150 million from private equity firms to fund acquisitions. The company is particularly looking at a large buy, in the range of $200-300 million. “This is the right time to raise money. There are some very exciting assets available at reasonable prices. We don’t think debt is a viable option at this point. So, our acquisitions will be funded through equity stake sales,” said Quatrro MD Raman Roy. He refused to specify the quantum of funding. Quatrro is a business process outsourcing (BPO) firm that provides finance and accounting services, legal solutions, mortgage solutions, risk management and business support services. […]
Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) is learnt to be in talks with GE Commercial Finance (GE), the financial arm of GE, to pick up around 25% stake in the latter’s construction equipment finance business in India. Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) will also hold around 35% stake in it. Sources close to the development confirmed the move and said GE is all set to hive off its construction equipment finance business into a separate Rs 650-800 crore joint venture company and is in talks with IDFC and IDBI for the same. When contacted, the GE spokesperson said: “We treat our business and customer discussions with high confidentiality and are unable to disclose any details.” An IDBI senior official did not respond to an e-mail ET sent addressing the query. […]
Rajasthan Venture Capital Fund (RVCF) on Thursday said it has raised Rs 75 crore for investment in technology focussed firms in the country and Rajasthan and the National Capital Region in particular. The fund, an arm of Rajasthan Assest Management Company and the only one in the northern state, also has the option of raising another Rs 25 crore to take the corpus to Rs 100 crore. RAMC CEO Girish Gupta said: “The fund is in touch with few foreign institutional investors and domestic institutional and private sector investors to achieve the final closure early.” He said that the new fund would undertake individual investment in the range of Rs one crore to Rs 25 crore. “The fund will provide both start-up and growth capital to companies with focus on IT/ITES, auto, biotech and other technology oriented industries,” Gupta said. […]
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