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Shriram Properties on Tuesday said it would partner with U.S. real estate private-equity firms Walton Street Capital and Starwood Capital Group to develop a $1.25 billion township in eastern India. The project in the city of Kolkata in West Bengal will cover about 20 million square feet of land and include residential, retail, office and civic infrastructure, the companies said in a release. Hindustan Motors previously owned the land. International architecture firm HOK has been signed on for the project. “Starwood Capital is committed to playing a strategic role in this alliance and creating a world-class integrated township. The group is focused on expanding its footprint in India both in real estate and the hospitality sectors, across asset classes and geographical regions,” said Balaji Rao, managing director of Starwood Capital India. Last year, it reportedly committed $500 million to investments here. Shriram Properties is the real estate arm of the $6 billion Channai-based Shriram Group that has interests ranging from insurance to technology. It has built over 4.5 million square feet of residential and commercial space in the cities of Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad. The company is developing 70 million more square feet of space across the country, including retail, hotels and civic infrastructure. […]
Neha International Ltd, a Hyderabad-based floriculture company that exports cut-flowers, plans to acquire three floriculture companies based in Ethiopia. Neha will acquire a 100% stake in the Mauritius-based Globeagro Holdings, which holds a 99% stake in Alliance Flowers Plc., and 50% stake each in Holetta Roses Plc. and Oromia Wonders Plc. “The acquisition has been valued at Rs41.32 crore by the Mumbai-based merchant banker Keynote Corporate Services Ltd and we are planning to fund the acquisition partly by equity swap and partly by cash,” says Neha managing director G. Vinod Reddy. Shares of Neha rose 5%, or Rs2.50 a share, to Rs52.75 at close of Tuesday trading on the Bombay Stock Exchange, reaching a 52-week high. The shares were trading as low as Rs4.93 a share in October. […]
US-Based private equity firm Ripplewood Holdings, currently pitted against Tata Motors in the race to buy Land Rover and Jaguar, is planning to enter India through a large-ticket fund. Ripplewood, which hasn’t ventured anywhere in Asia outside Japan, could be considering a $1-billion fund to invest in Indian securities, sources said. The New York-headquartered private equity is famous for its acquisition, quick turnaround and sale of Japan Telecom and also for the high-profile $2.4-billion buyout of Reader’s Digest in 2006. It was also involved in the turnaround of Shinsei Bank, a bank that has expressed interest in bidding for IFCI. Ripplewood’s move signals the continued interest of large private equity players in India, even as those currently active in the country have started taking equity stakes in large companies, opposed to the earlier norm of investing in mid-cap firms. US-based Blackstone is reported to be in talks to buy a minority stake in Bombay Dyeing. Ripplewood’s proposed $1-billion fund comes close on the heels of last week’s reported move by Actis to market a $1.25-billion global fund.Formed by its current CEO Tim Collins, Ripplewood is now talking to a number of capital market professionals with adequate India experience to head the proposed fund, it is learnt. A number of senior people in various Indian brokerages and financial services companies, have been sounded out for the chief post and for other appointments in the Indian team. […]
Corporate venture investing seems to be taking wings in India. After the $200 million healthcare fund by Piramal Enterprises recently, it’s now the turn of auto major TVS group to foray into private equity/venture capital. It’s not known whether TVS will invest only in ventures that have a direct bearing on the group’s businesses – auto and auto components, and electronics – or whether it will look at opportunities without any sector-bias. But what’s for sure is that the group is looking at hiring and operations are set to start soon. The website of IIM Calcutta hosts the company’s recruitment requirements. Gopal Srinivasan, whole-time director of TVS Electronics Limited, joint managing director of Sundaram-Clayton Limited and TVS Motor, and also director of various other TVS Group companies, is said to be spearheading the initiative. Srinivasan also serves on the board of ICICI Venture. The group’s foray into the venture capital/private equity space comes at a time when many Indian corporates have started getting into this space. […]
Venture capital investors globally, especially those in the technology space, like to invest in product companies. The risks are higher compared with services companies, but a successful product offers greater opportunities to scale up and, therefore, much higher returns. In India, investor play in product companies has been muted so far. However, several venture capitalists (VC) now believe that the market will gain momentum over the next four to five years, and are re-examining investment opportunities in the space. “Product innovation is in its infancy, but will accelerate over the next few years. It is a new area of interest for us, after consumer Internet and services sectors,” says Promod Haque, managing partner, Norwest Venture Partners. The firm recently set up office in India, after investing out of the US for the last three years. Firms such as Helion Venture Partners, Nexus India Capital, Intel Capital, Sierra Ventures, NEA-IndoUS Ventures and Peepul Capital Llc. are all looking to invest in technology product companies. […]
Indian Hotels Co. Ltd. said on Monday that it has acquired a 10% stake in Orient Express Hotels for Rs8.5bn (US$211.28mn). The Tata Group company made the acquisition through its wholly owned subsidiary called Samsara Properties, with a view to expand its brand internationally. According to reports, Indian Hotels has also written a letter to James B Hurlock, Chairman of the Orient Express Board, seeking an appointment to discuss a possible alliance with the company. “As part of this strategy, we have been pursuing alliances and relationships with leading hotel groups that have not yet up a presence in India, but have secured leadership positions in various geographies,” said R.K. Krishna Kumar, Vice Chairman of Indian Hotels. […]
Finnish telecom firm TietoEnator has signed an agreement to acquire Hyderabad-based Fortuna Technologies Pvt Ltd for about Rs 117.84 crore. Fortuna provides research and development (R&D) services and develops turnkey software solutions for major European and Asian mobile device manufacturers of 3G handsets. The acquisition supports TietoEnator’s strategy to build high and extremely qualified spearhead competence for telecom R&D. The impact on TietoEnator’s net sales for 2008 is expected to be about EUR 11 million and profitability of the acquired company higher than TietoEnator’s average level, Fortuna founder and President T C Ashok and TietoEnator marketing head Tommy Anst told reporters at a joint press conference on Monday. […]
The poster girl of India’s beauty business, Shahnaz Husain, is opening up her closely-held company, Shahnaz Herbal, to private equity (PE) players. The company, which dominates the premium product segment, is looking at private equity funding of around $ 43 million (Rs 175 crore) to build and promote new brands. “We are in talks with a host of Indian and foreign private equity firms for fund infusion, but nothing has been firmed up yet,” Sharik Currimbhoy, vice-president, Shahnaz Herbals, told ET. He is the grandson of Shahnaz Husain. Launched in 1970, Shahnaz Herbal has a turnover of around Rs 500 crore now and a valuation exercise is underway. The company proposes to use PE funds to promote new brands such as Shahnaz Forever that will be launched soon. This brand will have an entire range of products targeted at the mass market. […]
American International Group (AIG), Carlyle and General Atlantic Partners are in the final race to pick 10-15% stake in Bangalore-based Sobha Renaissance Information Technology (SRIT) for around $50 million. The deal could value SRIT, the tech arm of Sobha Developers Group, at $400-450 million, a source said. It is believed that AIG is the front-runner in the process managed by Edelweiss, while multi-stage venture capital giant Oak Investments Partners is seen as another possible player in the fray. “Out of the 11 interested suitors, the list has been narrowed down to three, or possibly four. The deal could be unveiled by this month end,” the source added. SRIT, with estimated current revenue of around $60 million, is an emerging player in digitized healthcare, telecom and enterprise solutions. The company is seen attracting 7-8 times valuation on revenues going by the details emerging on the impending transaction. The promoter $2-billion Sobha Group owns almost 100% of SRIT currently. When contacted, SRIT confirmed Edelweiss was running a mandate for picking up a partner, but declined to identify the suitors in the fray. […]
Mumbai-based financial services group, ASK, is planning to set up a $1 billion (approximately Rs 4,040 crore) private equity fund by the end of financial year 2009-10. According to industry sources, the group, promoted by brothers Asit & Sameer Koticha, is in the advanced stages of finalising the blueprint of the PE fund. The group, known for its broking business, is expected to make a formal announcement before the end of this calendar year. In fact, the group is also looking to start a mutual fund and real estate businesses in future. “They are currently in the process of making the white paper for this fund. In the next three or four months, the group would start the PE business. They are aiming to set up a corpus of $1 billion by the end of March 2010,” a source told ET. When contacted, Sameer Koticha confirmed that the group is in the process of setting up PE business but refused to elaborate. “Since things are still being worked out, the only thing I can say is that it will be rolled out soon,” he said. […]
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