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Religare buys 55% in US asset mgmt firm for Rs 770 cr

al Services firm Religare Enterprises on Friday said that its arm has acquired 55 per cent stake in US-based private equity and real estate fund-of-funds asset manager Landmark Partners for $172 million (about Rs 770 crore). Landmark has total assets under management worth $8.3 billion and the deal values the company at 3.8% of its total assets. “The parties have signed a definitive agreement for Religare to acquire a 55% stake in the business of Landmark Partners for a consideration of up to $172 million,” said the company in a statement. With the acquisitions of Northgate (earlier this year) and Landmark Partners now, Religare expects to garner a total revenue of $70 million in 2010-11 and an EBIDTA of $35 million. […]

Maharaja Whiteline may sell 20% stake to fund expansion

Home appliances maker Maharaja Whiteline is in preliminary talks with a host of foreign investors to sell up to 20% stake to fund its expansion in the domestic market, said two persons in knowledge of the development. The Delhi-based firm is completely owned by Harish Kumar, who started it in 1976 when he was still a teenager with a bank loan of Rs 10,000, and his wife. Kumar confirmed the fundraising plans, but refused to give any details. The proposed stake sale will happen through issue of fresh shares and the funds raised will go into expanding product portfolio and market reach, besides a new manufacturing facility, two persons said on condition of anonymity. Maharaja Whiteline makes more than 60 products across 18 categories including food processors, electric kettles anKd toasters . Although the deal size could not be independently confirmed, industry insiders peg it at close to Rs 100 crore, considering most companies in the home appliances sector have market cap equal to or little more than their annual revenues . […]

Stable markets prompt PE exits

StanChart PE to exit Powerica through an initial public offer. This year’s stable market has given private equity (PE) investors an opportunity to profitably exit their investments in India. Standard Chartered Private Equity Ltd (SCPEL), the PE arm of the global banking major, is set to exit its investment in Powerica, a Mumbai-based genset manufacturer, through the company’s proposed initial public offer (IPO). According to sources in the know, the genset maker plans to float an IPO in the range of Rs 800 crore and is likely to submit the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) next month. It has mandated Kotak Mahindra Capital and Citi Group for the fund-raising and is also in talks with JM Financial for this. In 2007, SCPEL had invested about $50 million in Powerica and acquired about 10 per cent stake. It could not be acertained how much stake SCPEL would sell in the IPO. […]

Govt plans Rs 2,000-cr VC fund

The government plans to set up a Rs 2,000-crore venture capital fund to promote drug discovery and strengthen pharma sector infrastructure. “Initially the corpus would be about Rs 500 crore and it would grow over a period of time,” said Mukul Joshi, secretary, department of pharmaceuticals, on the sidelines India Pharma Summit-2010 organised by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). “The government is in the process of appointing a consultant for the fund which will be run by a board of professionals.” The department of pharmaceuticals will also set up 740 Janaushadhi outlets (low-cost medicine stores) in the country over next two years. “As of now there 79 Janaushadhi outlets operational and we plan to have at least one in each district of the country.” The government will invest Rs 90-95 crore for these stores, which will sell non-branded generic drugs. […]

Dewan Housing in race to buy Indian ops of Deutsche Postbank

Deutsche Postbank, the German lender being acquired by Deutsche Bank , is close to selling its Indian operations for about Rs 1,100 crore ($240 million), according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Dewan Housing Finance Corp, based in Mumbai, is the frontrunner to buy Deutsche Postbank Home Finance and the talks are at an advanced stage, said the person, who declined to be identified before an announcement. The purchase would boost Dewan's outstanding loans by more than 40%, helping narrow the gap with larger rivals including HDFC . Deutsche Postbank is selling the unit, which has a market share of about 2%, as the Bonnbased lender cuts spending and bolsters capital while combining operations with Germany's largest bank. “Many international players got into India because of the India growth story” as expansion in their domestic markets slowed, said Jagannadham Thunuguntla , strategist and head of research at SMC Global Securities in New Delhi. “While the growth story is definitely on, it is not as fast as anticipated.” […]

3i to launch $3bn India infra fund

With the economic gloom over Europe refusing to lift, UK's leading private equity player 3i is looking at India with hope. It is set to launch its $3billion (around Rs 14,000 crore) infrastructure fund for India next year. This is its second India fund in two years. To begin with, the London-headquartered company is exploring possibilities of picking up stakes in companies in ports, power, roads and water management. In fact, the growing infrastructure sector in India is catching the attention of leading investors from across the world. In 2008, 3i had floated its first Indiaspecific fund of $1.2 billion and the company has invested over $505 million in Indian infrastructure. The PE player, one of the oldest in the UK, already has stakes in companies like Mundra Port & SEZ, Adani Power—both controlled by Ahmedabad-based Adani group—Vijai Electricals, International Tractors and Krishnapatnam Port to name a few. While Mundra Port was 3i's first investment in India, earlier this month, it picked up 21.1% stake for Rs 1,200 crore in GVK Energy Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of GVK Power and Infrastructure Limited (GVKPIL), one of India's leading infrastructure developers. […]

CIL To Buy 10% Stake In Peabody's Australian Asset

State-run Coal India Ltd., or CIL, on Wednesday said in New Delhi that it was in advanced discussions to buy 10 per cent stake in the US-based Peabody Energy Corp's asset in Australia, say reports, quoting Chairman Partha Bhattacharya. The Navratna company, which has been eyeing for coalmines abroad, has earmarked Rs.6,000 crore for this purpose in the current fiscal. He said Peabody was going ahead, it was narrowing down something (that) may get finalized this fiscal. Last month, the company put the deal cost at less than $200 million. […]

Gammon India acquires 84.16% Metropolitan Infrahousing stake

Engineering and construction firm Gammon India today said it has successfully acquired an 84.16 per cent stake in Metropolitan Infrahousing Private Ltd. Consequently, Metropolitan Infrahousing is now a subsidiary of Gammon India, the company said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. The company, however, did not disclose the price at which it acquired the Metropolitan Infrahousing shares. Recently, the company received a Rs310 crore order for supply of steam turbines and boilers for the Nagai power plant. […]

ChrysCapital acquires 12% stake in Pratibha for `100 crore

ChrysCapital Investment Advisors has bought a 12% stake for Rs.100 crore in Pratibha Industries Ltd, a Mumbai-listed infrastructure firm that lays water pipelines, builds roads and develops real estate. “We don’t comment on the specific strategy behind the investment, but all I can say is that we are quite positive on the company and hence recommended this deal to our investors,” said co-founder and senior managing director Ashish Dhawan of ChrysCapital, an Indian private equity (PE) fund which manages $2 billion (around Rs.9,000 crore). The fund invested in Pratibha through Van Dyck, a subsidiary of ChrysCapital V Llc, which values the 28-year-old firm at Rs.833 crore. ChrysCapital invested Rs.50 crore in an issue to qualified institutional investors, Rs.35 crore to buy preferential shares and Rs.15 crore in compulsorily convertible participatory preferential shares. […]

ICICI Venture in talks with Japanese firms for infra fund

Investors drawn to emerging markets but fund-raising gets more competitive. In the changed scenario of Indian private equity, where institutions and individuals are busy with fund raising, the fund houses are exploring untapped markets. ICICI Venture (I-Ven), India’s largest PE firm, is in talks with a couple of Japanese investors such as major banks and insurance firms to raise money for its infrastructure fund, say sources. The names of the Japanese majors could not be ascertained. I-Ven’s infra fund, aiming at a $750-million (Rs 3,425 crore) corpus, was launched this year. Though Indian GPs (General Partners or fund managers) are busy with raising funds from traditional markets such as the US and Europe, it is rare for them to explore markets such as Japan. According to industry experts, total pension assets in Japan for 2009 were $3 trillion. Japanese institutions invested close to $20 billion in private equity funds in 2009. […]