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India Infoline announced the approval of an equity investment of USD 76.7 million (approximately Rs 3 billion) into its consumer finance subsidiary India Infoline Investment Services (IIIS) by the Singapore-based investment institution Orient Global, which will acquire a 22.5% stake. The capital will be primarily utilized for the expansion of IIIS`s subsidiaries, Moneyline, which is in the business of personal and auto loans, and India Infoline Housing Finance, which is in the business of home loans. Moneyline will make use of the group`s expansive network of 600 branches to provide credit to a large segment of the populace which currently does not have access to organized credit. Moneyline plans for an active presence in 60 cities by the end of 2008. With a combination of decentralized distribution and service, supported by centralized risk management and back office operations, Moneyline aims to leverage technology to reduce costs, deliver superior service and offer a pleasant overall borrowing experience to the customer. […]
Balaji Telefilms, Ekta Kapoor-promoted production house, plans to offload 10-15 per cent stake in its wholly owned subsidiary Balaji Motion Pictures. Sources said the company is valued at Rs 1,000 crore. Centrum Finance is said to be the financial advisor to the company. Sources added that the company is in talks with private equity investors. It is considering roping in only one private equity, instead of a cluster of investors. However, the plan is at a nascent stage. Balaji Telefilms CEO R Karthik said, “We are adequately funded to take care of our needs. We are weighing various options to fund our future growth. However, it is premature at this stage to comment on any specific instrument.” Balaji Motion Pictures in the past has produced films such as Kya Kool Hai Hum, co-produced Shootout at Lokhandwala with Sanjay Gupta and Sanjay Dutt’s banner White Feather Films. […]
Deutsche Bank, IL&FS, Lehman Brothers and Sabre Abraaj are looking to pick up an equity stake of around 10% in Ramky Estates and Farms, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Rs 1,600-crore Ramky Group. “We are in talks with these private equity funds to raise around $100 million (Rs 407 crore). The plan is to raise money in 2008,” said a company official. The Ramky group has raised around $128 million (Rs 532 crore) for two of its subsidiaries — Ramky Infrastructure and Ramky Enviro Engineers. IL&FS and Sabre Abraaj have picked up a 13.5% stake in Ramky Infrastructure for $28 million (Rs 125 crore), while Deutsche Bank, Lehman Brothers and IL&FS have picked up a 10% stake in Ramky Enviro Engineers for around $ 100 million (Rs 407 crore). “We are looking at a similar pattern for Ramky Estates and Farms as well,” the official said. Crisil is in the process of evaluating the real estate company. […]
Private equity firm Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, UBS, Citigroup, National Australian Bank and Shinsei Bank are likely bidders for an equity stake in India’s oldest fund house, UTI Asset Management Company (UTI AMC). Close to 25 overseas institutional investors have evinced interest in picking up a stake in the country’s third largest mutual fund. UTI AMC plans to offload 20% stake through a private placement and 29% through an initial public offer. However, no single investor would be able to hold more than 5%. “Merchant bankers are in the process of readying the information memorandum which will be given out to prospective investors as a part of the pre-marketing exercise before they give their bids. However, all institutional investors will have to match the initial public offer price if it is more,” a source involved with the process told ET. The private placement is expected to be completed by January while the initial public offer is slated for February-March. The listing process has to be completed before March 31, 2008. The fund house could raise about Rs 6,000-8,000 crore through the combination of private placement and initial public offer. […]
India's Reliance Communications (RCOM) is reported to be planning to sell another 5% stake in its wireless tower business (RTIL) by the end of this year. The Economic Times reports that JP Morgan has invited bids for the stake – which it aims to sell for more than the $345 million that the company got for the 5% it sold earlier this year. The sale at the time valued the tower operations at US$6.75 billion. Reliance wants the business to achieve an enterprise valuation of US$9 billion – which would require the extra 5% to sell for at least US$450 million. The tower business currently counts Reliance' CDMA network as its prime customer and also provides services to Reliance's GSM network. There have been regular rumours that several operators are considering merging their tower operations to create an independent rival to RTIL. […]
Reliance Entertainment, part of Anil Ambani's Reliance Group (ADAG) has acquired Anirights Infomedia, an animation company based in Pune. Reliance Entertainment is planning big investments in animation projects. This acquisition boosts Reliance Entertainment's plans for the entire value chain in the entertainment business, complementing its presence in movies, music, gaming, mobile portals and radio. According to Nasscom, the Indian animation industry was estimated at $354 million in 2006 and is expected to reach $869 million by 2010. The Indian gaming industry was estimated at $48 million and is expected to cross $424 million by 2010. Rajesh Sawhney, President, Reliance Entertainment said that the acquisition was completed sometime in the past three months, without giving a specific time or Reliance Entertainment's investment in the animation company. […]
Leading foreign investors like Goldman Sachs and Blackstone are in final stages of negotiations to buy 26% stake in India Infoline Distribution Co (IILD), the distribution subsidiary of the brokerage firm India Infoline. The investors are willing to offer $100 million for the strategic stake in IILD. The Mumbai-based broking firm’s move to offload stake comes after the proposed deal with Merrill Lynch fell through. Merrill Lynch, which had shown interest to invest in the subsidiary, later backed off citing technical reasons. When contracted by ET, India Infoline vice-president (planning and strategy) Harshad Apte confirmed that they are in talks with some funds. However, he refused to divulge any further details. “We cannot give any specific names,” he said. On Friday, shares of India Infoline rose 2.50% to close at Rs 1,114.90 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. […]
State-run Allahabad Bank plans to buy stake in a small bank in Africa to establish presence in the growing market, a top executive said on Monday. The bank would like to invest $15-20 million at the upper limit to buy about 74 per cent stake in a bank in Africa, chairman A.C.Mahajan said over telephone. “We will shortly appoint merchant bankers to find the possible target,” he told Reuters. “African economy is growing and we want to tap the potential there,” he said. Besides its operations in India, the bank has offices in Hongkong and Shangem (China). […]
While companies engaged in infrastructure may be the apple of the eye for investors making a beeline for Asia, a group of private equity (PE) investors think differently. They are looking to cash in on the growth of companies that focus on natural resources in India and China. A group of PE investors has appointed investment and strategic advisory company Origo Sino-India as their consultant. “Origo is raising at least $100 million (Rs 400 crore) for the proposed fund which is going to invest in companies that operate in iron ore, renewable energy, coal, wood/forestry and other relevant sectors,” a spokesperson told Business Line. […]
Traditional liquor powerhouse The House of Khodays is planning to acquire a winery in Australia. The deal, which is likely to be valued at around $50 million, would probably make it the biggest overseas wine hunt by an Indian company till date, a company official said. The move has surprised industry observers, as Khodays has been trying hard to revive its once-mighty spirits business that boasts of brands like Peter Scot and Red Knight whiskies. “We have kept aside Rs 1,000 crore for acquisitions and expansion over the next two years,” Khoday Group of Industries MD L Srihari Khoday told ET. He, however, declined to divulge more details. The share price of Khodays’ spirits flagship, Khoday India, has ballooned in the past one year from Rs 35 to a Friday closing of Rs 262, taking its market cap above Rs 1,000 crore. […]
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