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Kuwait's National Aviation Services (NAS), a subsidiary of logistics firm Agility, said on Wednesday it will buy a majority stake in India's NOVA Aviation Services. NAS will sign an agreement later on Wednesday with NOVA Aviation to acquire a 55 percent stake in the firm, NAS's spokesman told Reuters without giving the value of the deal. NOVA provides airport and ground handling services in five airports in India, according to a NAS statement.(Reuters) […] After life insurance and property services, $4.5-billion Old Mutual is planning to invest in retail-related real estate assets in India through a property fund. The property arm, the South Africa-based Old Mutual Investment Group Property Investments (OMIGPI) and a Mumbai-based real estate company ICS Realty, have promoted a $500 million property fund, which is expected to close by March 31. The fund, called Triangle India Real Estate Fund, is aiming at investors (both high net worth individuals and institutions) in Europe, West Asia and South Africa. ‘‘We are targeting returns of 20 per cent to 30 per cent,’’ said Deep Kantawala, director of Property Zone, the advisor to the fund in India. The fund has an eight-year term, with an option to extend it by two years. Though the fund has a mandate to invest in retail, commercial and hospitality sectors, it would put 60 per cent of its corpus in the retail sector to take advantage of the merchandising boom in the country. […] Advanta India Ltd has acquired Texas-based Garrison & Townsend, LP, (GT) Hereford, for $10.5 million. Announcing this to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Tuesday, an official communiqué from the company stated that GT has strong presence in Sudan vis-à-vis the cultivation and marketing of sorghum species of grasses, used for growing grains and fodder. The release states that in Sudan, about 67 per cent of revenue arising out of the cultivation of sorghum is carried out by GT. […] Brokerage firm Religare Enterprises has entered into a partnership with Vistaar Entertainment Ventures to launch India’s first regulated film fund — Vistaar Religare Film Fund (VRFF). It has filed for approval with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) as a Venture Capital Fund (VCF). The close-ended fund is expected to have an initial corpus of about Rs 200 crore, with a 5-year lock-in period. The plan is to look at funding and green-lighting various films, and each film will have a special purpose vehicle (SPV) with the stakeholders being the fund along with the producer, director and writer. The attempt is to provide a platform for new directors, talent and writers. […] Jain Irrigation Systems Limited (JISL) has acquired 69.75% stake in Switzerland-based Thomas Machines S.A., with full management and operational control. Thomas Machines is engaged in manufacturing of specialist machines and equipment including latest generation high technology drip irrigation lines, quality control and test equipment, automation equipment, laser machine centers and laser products and has been a supplier to JISL for over three years. The acquisition will help the Company and its subsidiaries all over the world to further invest in the field of irrigation to build its capacities and increase speed to market for new generation drip lines. JISL engages in the manufacture and sale of irrigation systems, polyethylene pipes, and plastic sheets primarily in India. The company will also have the call option on purchasing the remaining 30.25 percent of the shares of Thomas Engines. […] A Bahraini real estate firm has acquired 49 per cent stake in an information technology park in Noida at a cost of USD 69 million. Acacia Real Estate, a company spearheaded by Bahrain-based TAIB Bank, has acquired 49 per cent of Logix TechnoPark located in Noida. “We are proud to be able to offer our clients this unique opportunity to invest in India's real estate market,” said Acacia executive committee board member and TAIB Bank chief executive and vice-chairman Iqbal Mamdani. With a projected internal rate of return of over 24 per cent per annum, the deal was structured to provide investors with downside protection and an average cash coupon of 8 per cent per annum over a three-year holding period, he said. […] The Manipal group is close to acquiring a substantial stake and management control in Kochi-based Lakeshore Hospital, a super-specialty medical centre and a pioneer in medical tourism initiatives. Sources said Manipal is likely to pick up around 40% stake for about Rs 100 crore, thus putting up a tough fight against Thailand’s healthcare tourism major Bumrungrad and at least two private equity players. The deal is yet to be ratified by the board of Lakeshore Hospital, which was originally conceived almost a decade ago by a group of senior medical professionals. It is believed that Manipal Health Systems, a part of Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG) which operates a chain of tertiary- and secondary-care hospitals, has emerged as the front-runner to acquire the stake in Lakeshore. Nevertheless, interest from Bangkok-based and public-listed Bumrungrad International shows the growing importance of South India on the medical tourism map. The multi-specialty Lakeshore is one of the few hospitals to have air, water and surface ambulance services. […] With the growing attention on climate change and perceptible impact of global warming, the launch of Carbon funds is the order of the day. The latest to join the bandwagon is Green Ventures International, with its $300 million India Carbon Fund I. The fund happens to be the first of its kind in India. It will buy CERs (carbon emission reductions) or carbon credits from companies operating under CDM (clean development mechanism) and then sell them to buyers in Europe. On the other hand, most green funds generally invest in clean-tech companies. The fund has a five-year duration and the LPs (limited partners in the fund) are mostly institutional investors and fund of funds (FoFs) from the US. The Indian LPs have not been roped in, according to Vinay Bharthwaj, director, Green Ventures India, as “there is hardly any awareness in India about such funds and the carbon credit market. So it is better to have informed investors”. However, the fund is in talks with some well-known wealth management companies in India for future investments. It is expecting a return of 25 per cent from this fund and plans to launch another billion dollar fund focussed on the Indian market. […] Tata Communications Ltd may sell a stake in its retail and broadband business to Singapore state investment firm Temasek Holdings , the Mint paper reported on Monday. “Temasek is leading the race for a stake in the new retail business of Tata Communications,” the paper cited a person familiar with the development as saying. Tata Communications will “hold the majority stake in the retail business venture and Temasek will be a financial investor”, it cited the person as saying. Tata Communications and Temasek were “working out the structure of the deal and should conclude it shortly”, it cited the source as saying. Several private equity firms had also held talks about buying a stake, the paper said. […] Ahead of a proposed initial public offering (IPO), ICICI Securities Ltd, the broking arm of ICICI Bank Ltd, plans to sell about 3% of its equity to institutional investors through private placements, according to a person familiar with the development who did not wish to be identified. The person added that JPMorgan India has been given the mandate to manage the deal. This couldn’t be independently verified with JPMorgan over the weekend and the company did not respond to an email query. S. Mukherjee, managing director and chief executive officer, ICICI Securities, declined to comment. According to the person, the private placement is part of a larger plan that involves selling 10% of ICICI Bank’s equity in ICICI Securities. With 3% going to institutional investors, 7% will be sold to the public through a share sale. The person familiar with the development added that ICICI Bank is looking at a valuation of around Rs18,000 crore for ICICI Securities. This means a 10% sale will fetch it around Rs1,800 crore. In January, the bank’s board approved the listing of ICICI Securities. The bank has five other unlisted subsidiaries: ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co. Ltd, ICICI Ventures, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ltd, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Ltd and ICICI Securities Primary Dealership Ltd. While it could take a few months for the share sale to hit the market, interest in the financial services sector does appear to be rising. […] |