|
|
The bear market has led to resurgence in private equity deals. “More than 150 deals are expected in the third quarter of 2008. Investors from Mauritius, Europe and Middle East are poised to strike deals with Indian companies with good valuations,” said YEN Management Consultant Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Sunil Shirole, who recently visited 10 countries meeting 50 private equity investors. Investors still believe in the strong fundamentals of Indian economy and they are coming to India with a 5-7 year time horizon, Shirole said. Axis is currently evaluating investments in healthcare, renewable energy, hospitality, and logistics.Bangalore-based Lightspeed is also looking at investments in infrastructure-derived industries, media & entertainment, and financial services. YEN Consultant is also mediating 2-3 deals between Middle East and Indian companies in the education and health care sectors. […]
A Choppy market and hardening interest rates may have taken the sheen off bank stocks. But that hasn’t put off deal makers. Federal Bank, a Kerala-based private sector bank, has bought 5% shares of Catholic Syrian Bank (CSB) and is in the process of winning the support of other CSB shareholders to go for a full-fledged takeover. Federal Bank is said to have acquired these shares at Rs 250-300 per share. CSB is a small, unlisted private bank, also based in Kerala. The Federal Bank management has entered into an understanding with Chawlas — the NRI family which is the single largest shareholder group in CSB. Chances are that Federal Bank may buy out the Chawlas at a later stage, said a senior bank official. The bank has already spelt out its plans to Reserve Bank of India and on Saturday afternoon general managers of Federal Bank were briefed on the development by the management in a closed door meeting. […]
The largest Indian newpaper publishing house Bennett, Coleman & Company Ltd (BCCL), which owne the Times of India group of newspapers, is planning to acquire UK-based newspaper group Trinity Mirror, newspaper reports quoting market sources said. BCCL is in talks with some large shareholders of Trinity Mirror to pick up their stakes before launching a formal offer, the reports said. Trinity Mirror Plc, one of the UK's largest newspaper groups, publishes papers like the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror and has a portfolio of more than 350 media brands, including five national newspapers, over 150 regional newspapers and 200-plus websites. The group employs over 9,000 people in more than 150 centres across the UK, including nine major printing sites, its website said. […]
JM Financial Ltd said on Friday it will sell a 12 percent stake in its fund unit, JM Financial Asset Management, to raise 1.12 billion rupees to fund expansion. “We want to increase our distribution muscle across India and that requires capital,” Vishal Kampani, director of the fund house, told Reuters in an e-mail. “We want to maintain a 25-30 percent plus growth in the AUM over the medium term,” he said, adding he was not looking at raising more capital for at least two years as the business plan was funded. The fund house has seen average assets surge more than 200 percent to 116.55 billion rupees in the last one year, far higher than the 38.1 percent growth of the industry, according to data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India. […]
Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd (BCCL) has picked up a stake in Naaptol Online Shopping Pvt Ltd, owner of the portal naaptol.com , India's new entrant in the comparison based shopping portal. This web portal has brought interactivity and innovation to make purchases more exciting. Speaking about the tie-up with BCCL, Manu Agrawal, CEO Naaptol Online Shopping Pvt Ltd, said, “Our association with the media conglomerate BCCL is a strong step forward in creating the best foothold. With this association, we look forward to carve a space for naaptol.com among the best portals for online shopping.” Listed on the site are a reputed network of sellers and a trusted circle of consumers. With over 20,000 clicks each day, naaptol.com constantly endeavours to cater to the pan India shopping audience. […]
Leading e-learning solutions provider Educomp Solutions on Thursday said it would acquire 76 per cent stake in A-Plus Education Solutions for Rs 10.75 crore in the next two years. A-Plus Education is operating under the brand name 'Purple Leap' and focuses on the area of improving employability of college graduates, Educomp said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. “The company will focus on preparing students currently studying in over 15,000 colleges in the country and will make them workplace ready,” the filing said and added that Educomp would leverage its very large customer base across five million students in India, going up to 10 million by financial year 2009-10. […]
Milestone Capital Advisors, the real estate venture capital fund promoted by Ved Prakash Arya, is planning to launch a private equity fund with a corpus close to Rs 600 crore. The announcement will be made in a few weeks. The PE fund, the first from Milestone's stable, will focus on sectors such as education and infrastructure. “Right now, I am bullish on these two sectors as there is lot of scope for companies to expand and reach a mass base,” said Ved Prakash Arya, managing director, Milestone Capital Advisors. Its fourth real estate fund — Milestone Domestic Fund Part-II — has raised Rs 430 crore and will close shortly. The fund house is proposing to raise Rs 500 crore from this fund. Despite the rough market weather, the fund house's track record and investment strategy have helped in getting investor commitments, Arya said. Realty funds have been finding it difficult to raise funds from high networth individuals (HNIs) and institutions owing to a credit crisis in the US, the impact of which has been felt in India as well. […]
With the economy slowing down Indian players are looking at setting up distressed funds. Edelweiss Alternate Asset Advisors (EAAA), an arm of Edelweiss Capital is looking at launching a $200-million distressed asset fund. Other players, who already have an ARC licence, are also looking at setting up these funds. Till now, only foreign funds have been active players in this market. Siby Antony, executive VP and head-distress investments, EAAA told ET: “We propose to put in a vehicle over the next 6-9 months. We should have everything in place by December. We are not looking at retail NPAs, but SMEs and large corporates. We hope to create value in potentially viable units,” he adds. EAAA is initially looking at $200 million fund which could go up to $400 million depending on investor demand. Edelweiss is in the process of applying to the Reserve Bank of India for an asset reconstruction company (ARC) licence. Mr Antony said initially they would go with a single asset and once ARC is approved, they would go for portfolios. Others, who are in the market to raise funds, include Vision Global which has launched a $200-million fund. […]
Global drinks giant Diageo has emerged as a surprising contender for acquiring a stake in Karan Billimoria-led Cobra Beer. Sources said Diageo is in fairly advanced discussions with the UK-headquartered brewer to buy about 30% stake for about $100 million. The India-born international beer company is seeking a valuation of about $400 million. NM Rothschild is advising Cobra on its fund-raising plans, which have also attracted private equity biggies like Goldman Sachs. However, Diageo is seen as a serious suitor at the moment, sources added. Cobra Beer may decide on a suitor in the next few weeks. Diageo is the world’s largest drinks company and a predominant player in the spirits segment. But it has substantial interest in the brewing sector with iconic stout beer Guinness and specialty Irish beer Kilkenny. If the deal goes through, this will be one of the rare instances of Diageo taking a minority exposure in an alcoholic beverage company. Earlier this year, the drinks behemoth took 50% stake in the Netherlands-based super-premium vodka maker Ketel One for $900 million. […]
Rolta India Ltd, an information technology firm which specialises in geospatial information systems and high-end engineering, has finalised a deal to acquire a US-based company that specialises in business intelligence. The move is seen as the company's effort to bolster its enterprise information & communication technology business. “The business intelligence acquisition will enable us to offer various types of analytics over our existing ERP (enterprise resource planning) offering as well as over the GIS solutions. This would create a synergic mix of technology with intellectual property rights (IPR),” Kamal K Singh, chairman, Rolta India Ltd told DNA Money. […]
|
Post your messages.Please refrain from posting offensive messages. IndiaPE accepts no liability for the consequences of your reliance on these postings and messages.
|