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Business space provider Ascendas has launched its first ever development fund for India – to tap into the country's booming real estate sector. Totalling S$500 million, the private fund will invest in the development of integrated property projects like business … […] The Bombay Stock Exchange Ltd. has offered to buy a 26 percent stake in Ahmedabad-based National Multi-Commodity Exchange of India (NMCE), a source close to the development said on Tuesday. Incidentally, one of NMCE's founders, Neptune Overseas Ltd., is also … […] ICICI Financial Services, ICICI Bank’s subsidiary which owns its insurance and asset management businesses, will offload 5.9 per cent stake to five investors for around Rs 2,650 crore. At the current price, ICICI Financial Services is valued at Rs 44,600 crore on a post-issue basis. The placement is subject to regulatory clearance. The private equity investors likely to buy the stakes are General Atlantic, Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), Temasek and Crown Capital. […] Since Blackstone Advisors Pvt. Ltd’s debut in India back in May 2005, which it flagged off with a hefty $1 billion (Rs4,300 crore then) allocation—the largest by a single private equity investor at the time, the firm has not made significant inroads in the Indian private equity market. It has made just two investments so far: $50 million (Rs205 crore) in Pune-based Emcure Pharmaceuticals Ltd and $275 million in Ushodaya Enterprises Ltd, the Hyderabad-based media group which owns Telugu newspaper Eenadu. The two deals are a far cry from the $300-400 million-plus deals that the firm had stated as its investment mandate for India two years ago. […] NRI venture capitalist Vinod Dham’s New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has picked up a minority stake in KK Birla-promoted mortgage BPO ISGN for about $25 million. According to market sources, the VC has picked up about 22-25% in ISGN, valuing it at about $100 million. When contacted by ET, New Enterprise Associates’ partner Ravi Viswanathan declined to confirm the equity percentage. ISGN is the third largest mortgage servicing KPO in US after Fidelity and Fiserve. In the US loan origination software market, however, it claims to the largest in with a share of 18%. […] India’s first Shariah-compliant infrastructure fund is on its way. The 2i Capital Group, which operates in India, UK and Mauritius, in a consortium with Oman-based Amwal Investment SAOC has launched a $300-million offshore Shariah-compliant Indian Infrastructure Development Fund. The seven-year fund, registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), is based in Mauritius. The fund’s investments will be made in accordance with Islamic Shariah principles; Shariah law forbids some of the standard features of typical private equity deals, including charging interest on debt. […] IDG Ventures and SoftBank China & India Holdings have invested in Kreeda Games, a company focused on massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs). The investment is learnt to be less than $10 million. The VCs bring international experience to Kreeda — IDG’s portfolio includes VinaGames, a gaming company in Vietnam, while SoftBank has invested in the South Korea-based Gravity. The VCs see immense potential in the Indian online gaming market, which, as of January 2007, was pegged at Rs 21 crore by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). Kreeda’s first product, Dance Mela, is to be released by mid-August and it aims to release three games by the year-end. And when the market is ‘ready’, Kreeda plans to introduce more games. […] The Apollo Hospitals Group will tie up with two private-equity players to bid for Capio Healthcare, the UK’s fourth-largest independent healthcare provider, chairman Dr Pratap C Reddy told DNA Money on Tuesday without disclosing the names of the companies. The biding for Capio, which is valued in the range of $2.36 billion, is set to open in August. […] |