|
|
Making its debut in India, the US-based private equity firm Advent International has invested $90 million in Chennai-based mutual fund registrar Computer Age Management Services (Cams). Advent picked up a minority stake in the company from Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC). Sources said the buyout and growth equity fund, which made the investment out of its $12 billion global capital pool, acquired the shares in the unlisted Indian registrar through a combination of primary (new share issuance) and secondary (stake held by HDFC) shares. Cams, a leading registrar and transfer agent for mutual funds industry, presently enjoys a 60 per cent market share in the mutual fund market. […]
Singapore-based Standard Chartered Private Equity Advisory (India) Pvt. Ltd (SCPE) has deployed in India $115 million (Rs452 crore), or 16%, of the $700 million that it has spent from its current $1 billion pan-Asia fund. The amount invested in India excludes one undisclosed deal. The bank’s total investment in India, including from a $100 million local fund (the erstwhile Merlion India Fund in collaboration with Temasek Holdings Advisors Pvt. Ltd), stands at $222 million in five years. So far, the firm has invested $700 million of the pan-Asia fund, raised in 2002, across the region. Standard Chartered’s Mumbai-based private equity arm has been investing in the country since 2002, looking for companies that exploit India’s low-cost arbitrage, the growing domestic consumption and infrastructure. The India team was based in Singapore until 2005, when Nainesh Jaisingh, managing director, SCPE India, brought the team to Mumbai because the increasing competition required a local presence. Since then, SCPE has created a five-person team in India and done five deals from the pan-Asia fund. The most recent and largest disclosed deal closed last week: $50 million into genset manufacturer and power solutions provider Powerica Ltd. The firm has done three deals, totalling $107 million—ABG Shipyard Ltd, Sutherland Global Services and Punj Lloyd Ltd—from the erstwhile Merlion India Fund. The fund came up mid-2003 and was absorbed into SCPE’s operations in 2005. […]
Public sector Power Finance Corp. (PFC) is in talks with several US-based private equity players as it looks to recast the India Power Fund it floated in 2004 to invest in power projects. A senior PFC official, who did not wish to be named, as he is not authorized to speak on the subject, said the company was talking to funds such as Blackstone and Goldman Sachs among 8-10 others. The corporation spearheads the government’s investments in power projects. Launched in 2004, the original India Power Fund had an initial corpus of Rs200 crore and was expected to eventually expand to Rs7,000 crore. However, as not too many projects took off between 2004 and 2006, the fund has languished somewhat. The official said, “initially, we will be setting up a company to advise hydro and thermal power projects. And once all the stakeholders have decided what kind of investments are required, then we will decide on the fund size. At that time we will also bring in the domestic players.” PFC chairman V.K. Garg confirmed the company was talking to private equity players to raise an equity fund but declined to name any. He clarified the fund would be pure play equity investor in power projects that are set up during the 11th and 12th Plan periods. Under the 11th Plan, around 76,000MW of power generation projects are planned, which would require a mammoth investment of Rs10 trillion. ( Livemint) […]
The surge in capital inflows over the past few weeks, especially through the portfolio route, has prompted the central bank to move to discourage such flows. RBI has called for a ban on incremental or fresh issuance of participatory notes (PNs) to overseas investors by foreign institutional investors (FIIs), tightening of due diligence norms for issuance of PNs, and some controls on other forms of capital such as private equity, government sources said. However, they said the government may not favour such drastic measures. Instead, the government and capital markets regulator Sebi are working on a framework that will make investing in Indian stocks through PNs more expensive. The broad objective is to ensure that all investors come in a transparent way. In the next few weeks, Sebi is expected to unveil the names of some big-ticket foreign investors who until now had bought into Indian stocks through PNs, but are now set to register directly as FIIs and set up compliance offices here. Sebi sources said these are investors whose portfolios run into billions of dollars. […]
Last year, at the height of the buyout binge by private equity funds, German regulators waded into those managing such funds, dubbing them as a bunch of locusts. Some reckon that they are barbarians. RBI governor YV Reddy is not given to such outbursts. Yet on Monday, three weeks in the run-up to the monetary policy review — a silent period — he made a pointed reference to the role of PE in India. According to Mr Reddy, a significant component of foreign direct investment (FDI) is in the nature of PE or acquisitions of existing firms. What he meant was that foreign money was being poured not into greenfield or new ventures, which is what policymakers would expect out of FDI which ranks right on top of the hierarchy of preferred investment flows. Although there is no outrage like in the West here, given the incipient nature of PE investment in the country, the figures reflect the concern of India’s financial regulators. In FY07, close to 30% of the total FDI inflows were reckoned to be PE flows through just transfer of shares by locals to foreign funds. In the first three months of this fiscal, estimates are that more than $1 billion has again come into the country through this route. By the end of this fiscal, estimates are that PE flows could top the $13-billion mark. […]
Trikona Capital, a real estate fund management business, plans to raise $10bn (€7.1bn) over 10 years to invest in the India real estate and infrastructure sectors, as investment banks, hedge funds and others continue to pour billions into the emerging market. New York-based Trikona manages London -listed investment vehicle Trinity Capital, which raised about $500m in its London Stock Exchange debut in April 2006 for Indian acquisition targets. Ashesh Shah, head of Trikona's European office and global client services group, said the company has carried out 12 transactions from June 2006 to July 2007. He said: “We are the leaders in the space and are very committed to India.” Among its investments are: Pipavav Shipyard; a partnership with Lokhandwala Builders to develop residential housing in Mumbai; as well as a joint venture with Infrastructure Leasing & Finance Services to develop roads, ports and airports in India. It is also has an urban rejuvenation project to provide better housing to reduce the number of people living in slums. Private equity firms, hedge funds and banks seek high returns in emerging market investment and the Indian Government last year opened its property market to foreign investors. […]
Private equity funds are beginning to emerge as a major source of FDI for India. PE funds may invest as much as $13.5 billion this year, making India the seventh highest recipient of PE funds in the world. PE funds have faced opposition in many places. In Germany a politician once referred to them as locusts. They also faced political opposition in South Korea, Thailand and Japan. In the US, the home of private equity, they have always been controversial, often being accused of destroying jobs as companies acquired by them go through wrenching restructurings. In India, by contrast, there has been no problem whatsoever. There are many reasons for this. Some of the investment classified as private equity appears to be little more than portfolio investments, though somewhat more long term. In India the managements have usually tended to keep control. For example Temasek, the Singapore sovereign wealth management fund and a significant PE investor, has taken stakes in a number companies, but these have been minority stakes. […]
A clutch of investors are set to pick up 47% stake in the Intas Biopharmaceuticals, the biotech arm of Ahmedabad-based pharma major Intas Pharmaceuticals. Intas Biopharmaceuticals plans to issue about 62 lakh compulsorily convertible cumulative preference shares to four Mauritius-based foreign investors — Jarir India Investments, Kotak India Venture, BL Associates and Mordril Properties. One of the four investment holding companies — Kotak India Venture — has applied for a venture capital registration with Sebi. These shares will be issued at a face value of Rs 10 per share each, at a premium of Rs 20 per share. After the issue of shares, the percentage of non-resident investments in the company’s paid up capital will be 46.84%. Intas Pharmaceuticals is among the top 20 pharma companies in India with a turnover above Rs 600 crore in 2006-07. Its biotech arm, Intas Biopharmaceuticals, researches on recombinant therapeutic proteins and other biotech products and the company plans to use the fund for major capacity expansion for the same. It also plans to use the funds to expand its unit near Ahmedabad which manufactures biotech bulk drugs and formulations. […]
Leading global private equity and venture capital company, 3i Group plc,said it has raised 500 million dollar with the closure of first phase of the 3i India Infrastructure Fund. The fund was established to apply the successful investment strategy of 3i's global infrastructure business to the rapidly-growing Indian infrastructure market. 3i has, as part of first close, committed a minimum of USD 250-million to the fund, with 3i Infrastructure Ltd committing USD 250 million. The Fund, which is targeting USD 1-billion in commitments, will create a balanced portfolio of investments spanning the asset lifecycle and is managed by 3i's infrastructure investment team, a release issued here today stated. The fund is the first to be established within the framework of the strategic partnership agreement announced by 3i and the India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL) in April. […]
Infrastructure development finance company (IDFC) is now in the race to acquire stake in IFCI, reports Business Standard. It is now in competition with the Blackstone Group and General Electric Capital Corporation. The other companies looking at IFCI`s stake includes a group led by billionaire Wilbur Ross and comprising the Goldman Sachs Group, Standard Chartered and HDFC, Cargill Financial Services Corporation, Natixis and Newbridge Asia. The winner of the 26% stake in IFCI stake will gain access to a market where lending grew 28% last year, and where the central bank limits foreign banks` ownership of local private rivals to 5%. IFCI, was bailed out by the government in 2003 because of bad debts, in July it announced plans to sell stake to a local or overseas investor to bolster its capital. […]
|
Post your messages.Please refrain from posting offensive messages. IndiaPE accepts no liability for the consequences of your reliance on these postings and messages.
|