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Big-ticket private equity investments are set to see a revival in 2010, driven by an improved business environment and increased investor confidence. In fact, the trend seems to have already begun, if one looks at the deals closed in the first couple of months of the year. In mid-January 2010, a consortium of private equity firms, including Baring, Sequoia Capital, Fidelity and Deutsche Bank, acquired a 16% stake in infrastructure-EPC company Coastal Projects for $54.8 million. Early February saw the largest investment of the year so far, with Quadrangle Capital and a few others pumping $300 million into Towervision India. And that’s not all —the market is abuzz with more such deals that are in the final stages of negotiations and are expected to be closed in the coming months. […]
Multiplex chain operator PVR Ltd has terminated its agreement to acquire the cinema exhibition business of DT Cinemas Ltd, a DLF Group company. PVR, in a statement to the BSE, said that both parties mutually agreed not to extend the period for completion of the pact. PVR said the agreement was cancelled as the “condition for acquisition” has not been met by DT Cinemas. Both PVR and DLF officials remained tight-lipped on the specific conditions that were not met. […]
Life Insurance Corp of India (LIC) won't be allowed to increase its stake to more than 10 percent in Indian firms, but will be allowed to retain the stake in companies where it already holds more than 10 percent, a finance ministry official said on Tuesday. Sector regulator Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) does not allow insurers to hold more than 10 percent stake in any firm, leading to market speculations that the state-run insurer might be asked to pare its existing stakes. “The IRDA has not asked them (LIC) to pare it down. But they may do it for commercial reasons,” the official, who declined to be named told Reuters. […]
State Bank of India (SBI) may pick up a 49% stake in Tata Motors Finance Ltd (TMFL), the vehicle financing unit of Tata Motors Ltd, according to two persons familiar with the development. The deal will allow the country’s largest commercial bank by assets to expand into loans for trucks and buses. The persons familiar declined to be identified as the deal hasn’t been finalized. Shyam Mani, managing director, TMFL, the country’s largest non-banking finance company, declined to comment. “Only Tata Motors shall be able to comment on the matter,” he said. The parent company didn’t confirm or deny the news. […]
Tube Investments announced acquisition of a controlling stake in Sedis Group, France through acquisition of 77% equity of its holding company, Financiere C10. The stock opened at Rs 75 and touched high of Rs 81 on the NSE. As many as 736,175 equity shares changed the hands on the counter so far. The company acquired stake directly from the financial investors in FC10 (75%) and a few other shareholders. The management shareholders will continue to hold the remaining shares in FC10 and be associated with Sedis for a period of three years. […]
British energy major BP and Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries are in the race to buy a majority stake in a Canadian company Value Creation, a media report says. “The company (BP) is in talks to pay about $1.2 billion for a majority stake in Value Creation, a Canadian company that has substantial reserves of the oil-rich sand deposits,” the Sunday Times reported yesterday. The daily further said that “Reliance Industries, the Indian conglomerate, is thought to have made a rival $2 billion takeover bid, but BP is understood to be the preferred partner.” BP, however, is likely to face fierce opposition from environmentalists and some of its shareholders, as they believe that the deal is expensive and environmentally damaging, the report added. […]
Bharti Airtel Ltd.’s plan to buy most of the African assets of Kuwait’s Zain for $10.7 billion may face challenges even before it begins its due diligence. India’s largest wireless company’s plan can’t include Zain’s Celtel Nigeria B.V. unit until an ownership dispute with Econet Wireless Holdings Ltd. on that business is resolved, Econet Chief Executive Officer Strive Masiyiwa said. “Zain Nigeria is not for sale,” Masiyiwa said in an interview in Johannesburg today. Bharti’s third attempt to enter Africa highlights billionaire Chairman Sunil Mittal’s ambitions to expand overseas as competition intensifies at home, where call rates have fallen to less than a penny a minute. Mittal has tried to gain access to other fast-growing markets, including a second failed attempt last year to buy South Africa’s MTN Group Ltd. for about $23 billion. […]
Venture capital and equity (VC/PE) funds are likely to take up to two-years to regain their 2005-07 level, when fund-flow was at an all-time high, an industry official said. “The 2005-07 period was a great one as companies received maximum inflows through VC/PE funding. I think we will take another two-years to reach that level,” Indian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association President, Mahendra Swaroop, told. With India's economy bouncing back and the country on track to achieve an eight per cent GDP growth, interest in the Indian market is re-emerging, Swaroop said. […]
The board of Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications Co. approved the sale of most of the company's African assets to India's Bharti Airtel Ltd., India's largest mobile phone company by subscribers, for $10.7 billion, according to two people familiar with the deal. Bharti declined to comment Sunday. The Indian company is increasingly pursuing growth overseas in the face of price wars and regulatory challenges in the Indian cellular market. Bharti's bid for most of the Africa assets of the Kuwait company, known as Zain, which has over 70 million customers spread across Africa and the Middle East, comes after its talks with South Africa's MTN Group Ltd. for a deal valued at $24 billion fell through last year. […]
Tube Investments of India, part of the $3.14 billion Murugappa Group, has bought controlling stake in France-based 37 million euros Sedis Group, a leading manufacturer of industrial and engineering chains, for 6.8 million euros. This move is expected to help Tube Investments create its base in the European market. Besides, the acquisition will also enable Tube Investments access superior technology of Sedis for manufacture of special and engineering class chains and make products that are today being imported into India. Sedis Group has been associated with the Murugappa Group for last nine years. Tube Investments has acquired 77 per cent of equity of Sedis Group’s holding company, Financiere C10. TII acquired this shareholding directly from the financial investors in FC 10 (75 per cent) and a few other shareholders. The management shareholders will continue to hold the remaining shares in FC 10 and be associated with Sedis for a period of three years, according to a company statement. […]
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