|
Private equity fund Red Fort Capital will pick up around 50 per cent stake in a Noida residential project, a source familiar with the development said. The project —Lotus Boulevard, is spread over 40 acres in Sector 100 of Noida and is being developed by the 3C Company. 3C Company has already delivered over 12 million square feet of commercial projects, which includes Wipro’s Gurgaon campus and Patni Computer Systems Noida office. […] Existing institutional shareholders are likely to hold a total of 20 per cent in the bourse. The MCX Stock Exchange (MCX-SX) would offload 47 per cent of its stake in the next two months with the intention to mop up around Rs 3,000 crore, a senior merchant banker said on Monday. MCX-SX, promoted by Financial Technologies, currently runs only currency derivatives trading and is awaiting approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to start trading in equities. “Banks are speaking to several investors to offload 47 per cent stake of MCX-SX. The talks are at an advanced stage and we hope to complete the process in the next two months,” said Rakshad Kapoor, investment banking head of Antique Capital Market. […] Financial services major Kotak Group on Tuesday (August 4) purchased 51% stake in Ahmedabad Commodity Exchange (ACE) and plans to convert the regional exchange to a national one within a year, a senior exchange official said. “Kotak purchased 51% stake in ACE after getting an approval from the regulator Forward Markets Commission (FMC),” the Exchange's Director S A Narayan said. The group today also informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that it is an anchor investor in ACE. “Kotak Mahindra Group has invested in ACE today, having obtained all necessary regulatory and other approvals,” the company said. The Ahmedabad Commodity Exchange, which deals in castor seeds futures, has an average daily trading volume of about 5,000 tonnes. […] Four private equity (PE) majors — Providence, Carlyle, Bain and StanChart — are in the fray to buy a $225-250 million stake in broadcast network Multi Screen Media (MSM) with a fresh share sale process getting underway, said people familiar with the development. MSM broadcast network includes Hindi general entertainment channel Sony Entertainment Channel (SET), cricket and Hindi movie channel SET Max, SAB and SET Pix. A new investor will get roughly 42% stake in the company as the parent Sony has decided to dilute 10% stake along with Indian promoters who hold 32% and are seeking an exit. Sony will cut its holding to 51% to help MSM raise $60-70 million in capex. MSM’s investment bankers are holding talks with PEs with an expected valuation of over $500 million, a source added. […] Venture capitalists/PE (private equity) funds are now looking at investing in micro finance companies in India. According to industry observers, around Rs 1,000 crore is expected to be invested by venture capitalists/PE funds in the Indian micro finance space (MFIs) this year. In fact, of the 50 private equity deals worth $1 billion in banking and finance in the last 18 months, MFIs alone accounted for 20 deals amounting to $200 million. There are some funds like Aavishkaar and Bellwether Microfinance Fund that primarily invest in MFIs in India. “Apart from MFI focused funds, other venture capitalists and PE funds who consider opportunities in the financial services space are now adding micro finance to their portfolio,” says Mona Kachhwaha, director, Bellwether. […] Essar Oil, through its arm Essar Energy Overseas, has picked up a 50 per cent stake in Kenyan Petroleum Refineries through the acquisition of stakes from Shell, British Petroleum and Chevron. The Kenyan Government will hold the balance 50 per cent in this four-million-tonne refinery located in Mombasa. While there were no details on the cost of acquisition, Mr Prashant Ruia, Chief Executive, Essar Group, told presspersons in a conference call that the refinery would be upgraded by adding secondary units at a cost of $400-450 million. In the process, the capacity would increase to five million tonnes. The company would also pay the Kenyan Government $2 million for not exercising the buyback option of shares owned by Shell, BP and Chevron. […] Exits by venture capital (VC) firms slumped to their worst since 2007 in the first half of this year as mismatched valuations soured deals, and an overall liquidity crunch took a toll on the buying and public issue plans of Indian companies. Between January and June, only four firms saw exits by their VC investors, compared with five exits in the first half of last year and 14 in the same period in 2007, according to a study by Venture Intelligence, a research firm focused on private equity and merger and acquisition (M&A) deals in India. […] For private equity (PE) arms of big Indian corporations, fund-raising, such as charity, seems to be beginning at home. The Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-Adag) will invest Rs400 crore in a PE fund being floated by group company Reliance Capital Ltd. This will include a contribution from R-Adag chairman Anil Ambani, a senior official of the group said. Similarly, Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla will invest around Rs300 crore in the group’s PE fund. The R-Adag PE fund may raise Rs2,000 crore while the Aditya Birla Group’s PE fund will have a corpus of about Rs1,500 crore. […] Large Indian banks and financial institutions such as State Bank of India (SBI), Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), General Insurance Corporation (GIC), Bank of Baroda (BoB) and IDBI Bank have helped Reliance Equity Advisors, which is of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, mop up around Rs 1,500 crore. While this has been tied up in less than three months, the company is expecting to raise another Rs 500 crore over the next two weeks, Reliance Equity Advisors Chief Executive Officer Ramesh Venkat told Business Standard in an interview. He, however, did not disclose the investors. Although the company has not announced a closure date, Venkat is confident of achieving the target. […] State-owned telecom service provider BSNL plans to pick up a 10-15% stake in Essar Group’s Kenyan subsidiary as it looks to gain a foothold in Africa, one of the fastest-growing telecom markets in the world. The Essar Group, with interests in telecom, shipping, steel, power and oil, holds 80% in Essar Telecom Kenya, while the remaining 20% is held by local shareholders. A BSNL official confirmed that talks are on between the two companies. “Valuations are being discussed. We are doing the due diligence,” the official told ET NOW, requesting anonymity. The Essar Group declined to comment on the development. […] |