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Bangalore-based real estate company Century Real Estate is planning to raise close to $50 million from private equity players to fund its Rs 900 crore project in the city. The project, coming up in northern Bangalore, will be spread over 20 acres. Industry sources said, the property would come up on an area of 3 million sq ft with a mix of commercial and residential segments. However, the time frame for this fund raising activity is not clear with the structure of the proposed deal. […] Gold loan company, Muthoot Finance, has raised Rs 157 crore by issuing shares to the extent of 4% of the firm’s capital to private equity firms Baring Equity Partners India and Matrix partners India. Both the private equity firms now have a 2% stake each in the company, which is valued at $1 billion in terms of the present deal, said KP Padmakumar, executive director of Muthoot Finance. The capital has been raised for meeting capital adequacy and business growth. Following the infusion of fresh capital, the company’s capital adequacy ratio has improved to 17%. Muthoot’s assets grew by Rs 2,000 crore from Rs 8,000 crore in the first quarter and is expected to touch the Rs 15,000-crore mark by FY11. The NBFC eventually plans to go public. […] Baring Private Equity Partners (India) Pvt. Ltd (BPEP), the private equity (PE) fund which has traditionally invested in the information technology (IT), healthcare and financial services space, is now planning investments in real estate. “Apart from the other sectors, real estate will be our new focus,” said Rahul Bhasin, managing partner, BPEP India. On Thursday, BPEP India along with Matrix Partners India invested Rs157 crore in gold loan company Muthoot Finance Ltd. In March, it hired Varun Batra, managing director and head of Citigroup India's global special situations group, to spearhead its initiative in real estate. […] US-based mobile chip maker Qualcomm today sold 26 per cent stake in its Indian broadband unit to Tulip Telecom and Global Holdings for USD 57.72 million (about Rs 268 crore). Telecom networking firm Tulip Telecom and Global Holdings, owners of telecom infrastructure firms GTL Ltd and GTL Infra, have bought 13 per cent each for a combined value of USD 57.72 million (about Rs 268 crore). Qualcomm now holds 74 per cent in the yet-to-be named unit and has sold the stake to conform with FDI rules under which telecom companies in the country should have a minimum of 26 per cent Indian holding. […] Bahrain Telecommunications plans to raise its holdings in local communications firm S Tel has been rejected by the Indian government, officials with direct knowledge of the developments told ET. Earlier this year, Bahrain Telecommunications had sought approval to hike its nearly 42% stake in S Tel by an additional 6.3% more for about $53 mn. If the deal had taken place, S Tel’s foreign holding would have risen to 54.61% because another foreign entity – Mauritius-based Telecom Investment Private already has a 5.6% stake in the telco. After deliberating the proposal for nearly six months, the India’s Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), the nodal agency for clearing all major foreign investments, rejected it in its last meet on July 12 on security grounds, documents available with ET reveal. […] IL&FS Investment Managers Ltd has announced that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on July 30, 2010, has granted its approval to the Company to acquire the shares of Saffron Assets Advisors Pvt. Ltd. (“SAAPL”) an, Indian entity, from Saffron Capital Securities Ltd. (“SCSL”), a Mauritius entity, thus making it a subsidiary of the Company. Further the Board has granted its approval to merge SCSL and its wholly owned subsidiary Saffron Capital Advisors Ltd. (“SCAL”), a Mauritius entity, into IL&FS Investment Advisors LLC (“IIAL”), the Company's wholly owned subsidiary in Mauritius. This merger would not in any manner dilute the Company's beneficial interest in IIAL. […] Ashok Leyland Ltd., the flagship company of the London-based Hinduja Group announced today that it had reached agreement with Optare plc, a leading bus manufacturer in the UK, to subscribe for a 26 percent stake as a part of long-term strategic cooperation. The investment is estimated at about USD 7.5 million. The deal is expected to further benefit Ashok Leyland in its endeavour to accelerate technology, new product development and to address new markets. Optare, founded in 1985, has a turnover of about USD 125 million. Optare has been recognised for its innovative, weight optimised 'Low Carbon' range of low-floor, mid-size buses as well as a modern range of city buses. Optare has been a pioneer of the low-floor double-decker in the UK. Their new electric bus product has already secured several orders as more countries in Europe promote cleaner, greener mobility. […] India and Vietnam will jointly pitch for taking over the energy assets of British energy giant BP in the Southeast Asian country, the Press Trust of India reported Thursday. India's flagship explorer ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), backed by public sector company Oil India Ltd and Vietnam's national oil firm PetroVietnam, will make a joint bid for BP's 35 percent stake in a Vietnamese offshore gas block, the news agency said, quoting Indian Oil Minister Murli Deora. Under its contract with Vietnam, BP has to give first preference to existing partners in the block, the agency said. OVL has a 45 percent stake in the gas block, while PetroVietnam holds the remaining 20 percent. BP's asset sale — to help pay for damages stemming from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster — presents an investment opportunity for energy-hungry India as the country looks to obtain more fuel supplies for its fast-growing economy. […] Evolvence Capital announced Thursday that it was planning to launch another India fund for a number of selected investments. According to the Dubai headquartered private equity company, it is planning to launch the fund named “Evolvence India Fund II” in the country and will raise the money from both institutional investors and high net worth clients globally. The announcement further outlined that the fund will be utilized for particular chosen investments in the mid-market growth capital division for the Indian private equity market and will be undertaken via both joint and direct investments. Evolvence’s latest fund is the third in a line of funds the Arabian company has launched geared for India. Its introductory fund was undertaken back in 2007 with the launch of Evolvence India Fund I that was about 250 million dollars. The company’s second fund was launched in the year 2008 and was named the Evolvence India Life Sciences Fund meant to support investments in the life sciences and healthcare sector. Further more, the fund will target diversified growth and will comprise a fund of funds at the 400 million dollars and will also target investments in high quality PE fund managers and already well grounded entrepreneurs in the country. […] Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB), the south-based, old private sector lender, is in talks with Citigroup to acquire CitiFinancial Consumer Finance India, the struggling non-banking finance company which gives retail loans to low-income borrowers. LVB has hired investment bank JM Financial to carry out due diligence of CitiFinancial, which has a `9,000-crore balance sheet, 116 branches and close to 1,600 employees. “It’s an interesting move for a conservative mid-sized bank which has stayed away from acquisitions,” said a person familiar with the proposal. The LVB board recently cleared a proposal to float a wholly-owned housing finance subsidiary. This new outfit intends to acquire CitiFinancial. A Citi spokesperson declined to comment. CitiFinancial is part of Citi Holdings, which houses the non-core businesses of the global banking and financial services group. Citicorp, meanwhile, controls core divisions such as Citibank, the investment banking arm Citigroup Global Markets and the private equity arm CVC. In early 2009, Citi took a decision to identify non-core businesses which would be hived off over time. […] |