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IDG Ventures India and Microsoft India today announced a funding programme under which the former intends to invest up to Rs 100 crore in start ups.With this partnership, a start up gets Microsoft suite of tools and technologies free for three years, as well as access to funding of up to Rs 25 crore by IDG Ventures, officials of two entities said. The programme is open to technology companies that are under three-year old, and whose annual revenues are less than Rs 5 crore. Companies meeting the criteria would be offered access to development softare at no upfront cost through Microsoft's BizSpark programme, announced last December in India, providing start ups software and support during their first three years with no upfront costs. Start ups meeting the investment criteria of the venture capital firm would be provided access to funding of up to Rs 25 crore. […]
The world's biggest private equity firm, Blackstone Group is all set to invest around Rs 240 crore to purchase 10.38% stake in Mumbai-based logistics firm Allcargo Global. Besides, the US-based company has also expressed its intention to buy another 4.61% of the enhanced paid up equity from the open market. Allcargo will issue 1,000 equity shares and 1,081,081 fully and compulsorily convertible debentures (FCCD), convertible into an equal number of equity shares, at Rs 934 each to Blackstone. The company will also issue 1,513,514 warrants, convertible into equal number of equity shares at the choice of the investors from the date of issuance, between Rs 934 and Rs 1,284 per warrant. […]
Bangalore-based Cellworks Group Inc., which also has an office in California, has raised about $8-10 million (Rs41.44-51.80 crore) from a California private equity (PE) investor, details of which will be announced in the next few weeks, says its co-founder and chief executive Taher Abbasi. Still, in a financing environment that is getting more challenging by the day, if an Indian biotechnology start-up raises close to $10 million in private equity it doesn’t necessarily signal an uptick in the biotech fortunes, rather this sets it apart from the rest as many of them begin to look for government money. Abbasi, who has been negotiating this deal for some time, agrees that “investors are not issuing new term sheets and new deals are on hold”. […]
Private equity (PE) investments in India declined by over 50 per cent, between April 2008 and February 2009, to $6.6 billion (around Rs 33,000 crore) from $14.3 billion (Rs 70,000 crore) a year ago. Total number of deals also dropped 33 per cent, to 292 from 436. According to industry experts, investment activity would pick up slowly through the year although they do not expect 2009 to be much better than 2008. Arun Natarajan, founder and chief executive officer, Venture Intelligence, a Chennai-based PE research firm which compiled the data, said that, except for media and entertainment which reported a 96 per cent growth in value terms, all industries have reported a drop in investments. Some of the big-ticket investments during the period include a $428-million investment by Providence in Adiya Birla Telecom in May 2008, followed by $225 million by GIC in Reid & Taylor India in June 2008, $190 million by a PE consortium led by IDFC in Quippo Telecom Infrastructure in August 2008, $175 million by Goldman Sachs in Mahindra & Mahindra in May and $174 million by Masdar in WinWind in September 2008. […]
ASK Investments is reportedly raising INR5bn for the vehicle, with plans to invest mainly in uncompleted residential real estate projects across the country’s top seven cities. ASK Investment Holdings, the private equity wing of financial services group ASK, has reportedly launched a real estate fund targeting INR 5 billion ($97 million; €76 million). The fund will primarily invest in the residential sectors of India’s top seven cities, with a focus on 200 real estate developers, according to The Economic Times. […]
CDC Group Plc, the UK government-backed private emerging markets fund, is all set to partner with agri-business specialist Rabo Equity Advisors for investment in the Indian food and agri-segment. It is planning to invest around $10 million in Rabo's India Agri Business Fund, taking the fund's kitty to about $100 million, according to sources. CDC would be the fifth limited partner to join the Rabo fund, which was launched in July 2008 and has IFC, FMO, DEG and Rabobank as lead investors. An announcement for this is expected to be made soon. […]
UB Group Chairman Vijay Mallya said in a statement that four global spirits makers including Diageo, the world's largest, evinced interest in acquiring a stake in United Spirits Ltd. or USL, the country's largest liquor manufacturer. UB Group holds around 38% in USL, reports media. Mallya declined to reveal the names of the other three interested parties, as it would be inappropriate to disclose further details at this stage. According to company officials, the group is planning to sell up to 14.9% of a total of 17% of treasury stocks in USL to strategic partners. […]
Pyramid Saimira Theatre Ltd is in talks for a stake sale in its subsidiaries to raise working capital, a top official said. “We have lost close to 100 crores (1 billion rupees) of cash in some divisions and also because of the general recession in the occupancy rates,” Chairman P.S.Saminathan told television channel NDTV Profit. “So we have lost some 100 crores of cash flow which we thought we should replenish.Instead of borrowing more money we have decided to sell off stake in our subsidiaries to put our main company on a growth trajectory,” he said. The company is in talks with strategic players for stake sale in two of its foreign subsidiaries and an Indian subsidiary, he said.(Reuters) […]
The Lavasa hill station project of Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) is set for a private equity injection, according to people in the know. Details of the investor or the quantum of investment could not be ascertained. However, a source said a group of investors were taken for a site visit to Lavasa over a week ago and the placement is expected by June. HCC officials refused to comment on the private equity infusion. However, they said a likely reason for private equity interest may be that work on the Lavasa project was running one year ahead of schedule at a time most other real estate companies were deferring their developments. […]
Sterlite Industries (SIL) has agreed to buy troubled US copper miner Asarco for $1.7 billion. The company on Saturday said it will pay $1.1 billion in cash and a promissory note for $600 million, payable over nine years, for the acquisition. The deal consideration is way below the $2.6 billion SIL had offered Asarco in May last year, when copper prices were at the all-time high of over $8,000 per tonne. It later cancelled the offer citing falling copper prices (currently $3,685 per tonne). On the face of it, this appears to be a good bargain. […]
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