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Tata Group company, Tata Communications on Monday said it has invested $11.5 million in a next generation content delivery network (CDN) company BitGravity. A company statement said Tata Communications entered into a strategic partnership with BitGravity and invested USD 11.5 million in convertible debt of BitGravity. With the strategic tie up, the company launches CDN services including high quality content and video. (ET) […] Three global alcohol beverage firms, including world's largest spirits firm Diageo, have evinced interest for a strategic stake in the Rs 3,200-crore United Spirits, the spirits arm of the UB Group. UB Group Chairman Vijay Mallya talking to the media in Bangalore on Wednesday on the sidelines of United Breweries AGM, said that there is serious interest from at least three global players who are in discussions with him to pick up stake in United Spirits. “The interest is of strategic nature. We have a strong distribution network in India and global players wanting to enter India are keen on this. In turn, we will look to leverage our partners' global network for an international footprint. The talks, including with Diageo, are on,” he said, declining to outline a timeframe for this strategic move. […] Technical textile manufacturer SRF Ltd on Monday said it has completed the acquisition of Thailand-based Thai Baroda Industries (TBIL) for Rs 100 crore. In a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange SRF Ltd announced the closure of the acquisition of TBIL. “All financial dues as per the restructuring plan have been paid,” the SRF Group subsidiary said. Aiming to become a global player, the domestic firm, in May, had signed a definitive agreement with the Thai firm. TBIL has an annual production capacity of 12,000 tonnes of dipped nylon tyre cord fabric with annual sales of about USD 50 million. […] An Asia-focused private equity (PE) fund, Olympus Capital Holdings, that has already invested around $1.5 bn in growing economies such as Japan, Korea and Greater China, is setting up shop in India. The PE fund till now had a representative office here, but has now decided to set up full-fledged office with a six-member team. It has appointed Gaurav Malik as the MD for its India operations, which would be based in the Delhi NCR region. Mr Malik was earlier based out of the firm’s Hong Kong office and has worked with it since the last six years. “India is emerging as a very important market for PE players like us. We are hopeful that the country will see a huge inflow of investment,” said Mr Malik. […] Duncan Goenka group company, Stone India, is eyeing an acquisition in Europe to capture the European railway components market. The company is close to acquiring a controlling stake in an European firm manufacturing products for railways for little less than Rs 200 crore. Speaking to mediapersons at a meeting held in Kolkata on Monday, Stone India chief executive officer & managing director Amitava Mondal said: “We are trying to buy the company through the bidding process. A special purpose vehicle (SPV) will be formed and registered at either Cyprus or Netherlands to buy the assets of the European firm.” […] New York-based private equity firm Jina Ventures plans to raise up to $200 million by end-2008 to invest mainly in manufacturig firms in India, its managing partner told Reuters on Tuesday. “We are talking to investors from Switzerland, the U.S. and Japan and should be able to wrap up the fund by end-2008,” Ron Shah said on the sidelines of a capital markets conference. Jina Ventures had raised $50 million in 2005, which it invested in 12 Indian firms and had exited these investments, Shah said.(Reuters) […] Retail chain Subhiksha continues to be in news. This time it is about the substantial investment attracted by the company from leading Singapore-based FIIs. According to sources, the company has almost struck a deal with 3 or 4 FIIs for raising $100 million through the issue of fresh shares at high premium. The FIIs are slated to pick up 9 to 10% stake in the company. It comes close on the heels of Wipro chairman Azim Premji acquiring 10% stake by investing Rs 230 crore in Subhiksha through his investment arm. […] Property developer and fund manager Tishman Speyer plans to raise up to $1 billion in a private fund in 8-10 months for Indian realty projects, its managing director and head of finance Revathy Ashok said on Tuesday. “We still have some money left over from a previous one and we are already talking to investors for our next fund, though we haven't started roadshows yet,” she told reporters on the sidelines of a capital markets conference. Tishman has raised $350 million in a private fund this year and is funding three projects in south India.(Reuters) […] Ports in India, a country with a coastline of around 7,600km, have attracted private equity, or PE, capital for some years. Now, the number of such deals is increasing and PE firms are moving beyond ports and shipyards when it comes to investing in marine infrastructure. With India’s cargo-handling capacity at ports expected to double to 1,500 million tonnes by 2011-12, PE experts say a network of strong ancillary businesses are required to promote trade and transportation activities as both ports and shipyards need accessibility and linkages to the main land. “We need to view marine infrastructure in a holistic manner. It requires a complete ecosystem around itself,” says Aashish Kalra, co-founder and managing director, Trikona Capital Ltd, a real estate investment company. “We are not only interested in marine infrastructure but also the real estate around it.” Trikona has invested in Pipavav Shipyard Ltd, which is expected to be the largest shipyard in India and among the largest in Asia. […] Pune-based Kam-Avida Enviro Engineers Pvt Ltd (Kam-Avida), a manufacturer of waste management equipment, has announced that it has raised equity from Peepul Capital Fund II LLC (Peepul), one of the leading India-focussed private equity funds. Kam-Avida intends to use the funds to set up a state-of-the-art manufacturing, assembly facility which will help it ramp-up production capacity and to strengthen its sales and marketing presence. The company will also invest part of the capital to strengthen its balance sheet to foray into wet-lease services for large scale sewage cleaning and maintenance, said a press release. Kam-Avida manufactures and offers a range of highly mechanised equipment for large- scale garbage, waste collection and transportation, sewage cleaning and sweeping, cleaning machines. It specialises in design and system integration of equipment that optimise garbage collection and disposal for domestic and commercial waste. […] |