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PTC India Ltd, a power trading company, said on Thursday it has selected Ashmore group as its joint venture partner for setting up a third-party fund. The fund structure and joint venture agreement is under negotiation with the partner, the company said in a statement to the exchanges. In May, PTC India had raised 5 billion rupees through a private placement for launching the fund. (Reuters) […] The founding family of India’s largest real estate company has reached a deal with DE Shaw to buy out the hedge fund’s stake in DLF Asset (DAL), an important step presaging transactions that could lead to a Singapore listing for the DLF affiliate in the first quarter of 2010. DE Shaw will get a little less than $500 million from KP Singh and his family and privately-held DAL will most likely become a majority-owned subsidiary of listed property developer DLF, two persons directly involved in the transaction said. DAL, which buys completed commercial assets from DLF, was set up as a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) controlled by the Singh family. A Singapore listing for DAL, which was to have happened in 2008, was shelved following the crash in the global equity markets. […] The government may consider selling its 8.9% L&T stake it holds via Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India(SUUTI) to BHEL, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting Newswire18. When contacted, BHEL’s Chairman this morning said that he is not aware of any such move. But sources indicated that this is part of a larger plan by the government to sell its key holdings in Axis Bank, L&T and ITC, which it holds via SUUTI in case money from auction of 3G spectrum does not come in this financial year. […] Syndication might have been an oft-used investment strategy for large deals, but it is now finding its way into small and mid-sized transactions too as venture capital (VC) funds try to diversify and de-risk their portfolios. Several recent transactions with a value up to Rs 75 crore have seen participation from two-three investors. For instance, Aavishkar Goodwell co-invested $10 million (around Rs 47 crore) in Basix along with Lok Capital and others. Similarly, JustDial received $16 million (around Rs 74 crore) from three investors — SAIF Capital, Sequoia Capital India and Tiger Capital. […] Coffee Day Group, the Bangalore-based company with interests in coffee plantations, coffee retailing, infrastructure development and technology investments, has detailed an investment appetite for about Rs 1,700 crore to expand its businesses over the next 3-4 years. The group, better known for its Café Coffee Day chain of coffee bars across the country, in its roadmap has said it will grow its plantation (coffee and banana) by investing Rs 200 crore, retailing business will absorb close to Rs 700 crore and infrastructure development and SEZs will envisage an investment of another Rs 750 crore. Coffee Day Holdings as part of these efforts to expand its business, is closing in on a private equity deal to raise $100-$150 million. “We are talking to 4-5 large private equity funds that have the capability to write $100 million cheque and the deal should be finalised within two months,” Siddhartha added. […] Standard Chartered Plc said Thursday it invested INR500 million in Indian agri-input and fine chemicals company PI Industries Ltd, through its units including Standard Chartered Private Equity. “Both the domestic agri-inputs space and the Contract Research and Manufacturing Services sector offer solid prospects for Indian companies,” Rahul Raisurana, Managing Director, Standard Chartered Private Equity said in a statement. The investment is in the form of convertible preference shares and debentures, Standard Chartered said. […] Private Equity (PE) activity may have shuddered to a halt since late last year after the global financial turmoil and India’s economic slowdown put brakes on dealmaking, but a slew of funds are now quietly piling on ammunition to move in for the kill in an economy that’s slowly but surely on the mend. The PE industry in India spanning VC funds, new PE firms — some of them founded by high-profile executives now on their own — and established funds such as AV Birla PE, Reliance PE, Milestone Capital, Samara Capital, Kubera Capital, Tano Capital, Axis PE, ICICI Venture and India REIT plan to mop up over $8 billion over the next 12-18 months. The situation has worsened from Q3FY07 when India-specific funds raised commitments worth $4 billion. A hot area that’s attracting new capital is sustainability and clean technology. […] Many entrepreneurs wanting to sell a stake have unrealistic valuations of their companies. This is a major block for private equity (PE) players to close a deal. Also, many do not have a second plan if talks fall apart, according to speakers at the Private Equity Conference at the Indian School of Business. KK Iyer, partner, India Equity Partners Fund, says many target companies have suspended their plans to seek PE funding during the year 2008-09 due to market conditions. Those that have taken the deals forward are now involved in number crunching. Many promoters are also emotionally attached to the companies and do not want to give up their stake and this hampers the growth plans, he says. […] Chennai headquartered TVS Capital has bought a 25% stake in Tata-owned bookstore chain Landmark, report CNBC-TV18’s Divya Rajagopal and Komal Chowdhary. TVS Capital's private equity arm TVS Shriram has opened its cheque book and bought a 25% stake in Trent-owned bookstore chain Landmark for Rs 65 crore. This is the fund's first big deal and its second since its inception two years ago. Gopal Srinivasan, Chairman, TVS Capital Fund, says, ”From the beginning our approach has been that we have been very focused on our core thesis, which is to do, consumer driven opportunity and specialty retail was one area we looked at. We always focused on that as it represents the new India, modern large format retailing, very specialized in books and gifts.” […] Financial Technologies Group-promoted stock exchange MCX-SX on Monday said it will reduce its stake in the bourse to about 5 per cent by September 2010, to meet the requirement of market regulator Sebi. “We are working on it (dilution of stake), we have found some investors. We have been given time till September next year and we will definitely meet the target,” MCX-SX Chairman Ashok Jha told reporters on the sidelines of the India Economic Summit. As per Sebi's norms, no single entity can hold over 5 per cent in an exchange barring few stock exchanges and banking organisations that are allowed up to 15 per cent stake. 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