|
|
Jain Irrigation Systems Limited, the agriculture major announced today that it has agreed to acquire control in Aquarius Brands California, USA from Habasit Holding USA Inc for $21.5 million in all cash deal. Aquarius is a debt free company. With the acquisition, Jain Irrigation will become second largest drip irrigation company in the world. Jain Irrigation is a diversified company with more than 3,800 employees and market capitalization in excess of INR 25 Billion and a product portfolio encompassing Irrigation Products, Piping Products, Plastic Sheets, Dehydrated Foods, Fruit Puree and Juice concentrates. Jain Irrigation has pioneered drip irrigation for small farmers in India and has the major market share in one of the fastest growing irrigation markets in the world. Jain Irrigation had acquired Chapin Watermatics, a leading manufacturer of drip tape located in Watertown, New York in May 2006. Aquarius is a designer and manufacturer of micro-irrigation systems for agriculture, landscape and nursery applications. Aquarius’ divisions include Agricultural Products (API), PEPCO and Acu-Drip. The company has been providing fittings, filters, air vents, tubing, emitters and accessories to the irrigation industry for more than 35 years. […]
Agrochemicals firm Punjab Chemicals and Crop Protection (PCCPL) is once again on the prowl. The Mumbai-based PCCPL is in the final round of negotiations to acquire a 30% stake in PSD Chemicals, a privately-held firm in the US. This will pave the way for the Indian company’s entry into the lucrative North American market. Sources close to the development said the stake deal could be worth Rs 100 crore. Only a fortnight ago PCCPL announced the acquisition of the Netherlands-based Pegevo Beheer for Rs 225 crore. The deal will give the company a presence in Europe’s herbicides, insecticides and fungicides markets. Sources said that PCCPL has been eyeing the US market for some time and had finally identified PSD Chemicals as the potential target. “PCCPL has a technological tie-up with PSD Chemicals and the acquisition of a strategic stake in the US company will take the relationship forward,” said sources. According to industry estimates, the size of agrochemicals market in North America at around $7 billion — the largest in the world. When contacted, PCCPL managing director Shalil Shroff said, “We are scouting for acquisitions in the US and European markets. We are in negotiations with various firms so cannot comment on individual deals.” PCCPL is one of India’s leading manufacturers of basic chemicals used for industrial purposes and production of active ingredients in crop protection including insecticides, herbicides, fungicides. […]
Bangalore's new found entrepreneurial affair with product-led start-ups is on a roll. Medical devices start-up Perfint Engineering Services, founded by six former GE Medical Systems professionals, seems to have grabbed the attention of Silicon Valley-based VCs as well as global industry biggies. Informed sources said US-based $280 million Artiman Ventures, along with Erasmic Investments, is circling over Perfint for pre-revenue stage investments estimated at $4-5 million. It is believed that more funds may be in the picture even as unconfirmed information suggested that PE arms of Seimens and Philips had also shown interest in the new entity. The start-up, which will focus on the imaging and CT scan medical devices, is close to launching its first product which will be specific to the Indian market. Besides these, Perfint also offers engineering services like product development, verification & validation and consulting. “Perfint is amongst many other companies under consideration. We are still quite a distance away from a decision,” M J Aravind of Artiman Ventures, told ET, when contacted. This could probably be amongst Artiman’s initial investments in India. […]
Old Lane Mauritius IV Ltd, a vehicle of Old Lane Opportunities Funds, has invested $26 million (Rs107 crore) for a 26% stake in a new unit of Chennai-based logistics firm Sical Logistics Ltd. Sical Infra Assets Ltd has been formed to park the company’s asset-heavy, capital-intensive, longer gestation infrastructure-based business such as the logistics hub at Nagpur, the iron ore terminal at Ennore port, a container rail project, Sical Distriparks and the container terminals at Tuticorn and Chennai ports. The Old Lane investment will be subject to approval by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board. The decision to segregate the short-cycle service oriented business from the longer duration build, operate and transfer type assets was to crystallize the value of investments made by Sical into its special purpose vehicles and then invite equity participation as was done in the case of the Old Lane investment. Sical Logistics would in future look after only the bulk logistics business of the group as well as its services business such as stevedoring, ship chartering, shipping agency, trucking, warehousing and offshore logistics. Sical Logistics also plans to list its new subsidiary on the stock exchanges to raise funds to finance the company’s growing infrastructure business, a company spokesperson said. […]
Private equity funds General Atlantic, Blackstone and Warburg Pincus have shown interest in ICICI Venture’ 63% stake in Infomedia (formerly Tata Infomedia), the publisher of business directory Yellow Pages and some well-known niche magazines. Given the fact that whoever buys the stake will have to make an open offer and also pay a controlling premium, the buyer should sell out upwards of Rs 400 crore. Infomedia’s market capitalisation is Rs 474 crore and its shares closed at Rs 240 at the BSE on Wednesday. When contacted, the ICICI Venture spokesperson said, “We don’t comment on market speculation.” Infomedia India CEO Prakash Iyer could not be reached despite repeated attempts. ICICI Venture acquired Tata’s 50% stake in Infomedia India in 2003 for Rs 123 core. It later acquired an additional 13% through an open offer. […]
Gaja Capital Partners, an India-focused private equity firm, is in talks with the Mumbai-based Kaycee Group to pick up a 49% stake in Kantilal Chhaganlal (KC) Securities, according to a source familiar with the development. The deal size for the the Mumbai-based broking house is pegged at roughly $40 million (around Rs 160 crore). Kantilal Chhaganlal Securities managing director Jayesh Sheth confirmed that he is in talks with more than one prospective investor. However, he refused to divulge more details “We have been looking for a partner and have kept all options open. We are looking at strategic business in all segments. We are talking to private equity players, domestic and foreign broking houses and also our close associates,” he said. Gaja Capital Partners, too, refused to comment on the issue. Gaja has investments in companies Educomp and Vishal Retail. Sources involved with the deal process said KC Securities had been in talks with a UK-based firm. However, the deal fell through as both parties could not reach an agreement over valuation. […]
Satyam Computers is on the prowl in the global market. The Nasdaq-listed IT services major is scouting for a third acquisition in the consulting space in the US and Europe, in line with its commitment to strengthen this vertical. It is looking at spending anywhere between $50 million and $100 million for this buy. Satyam had flagged off acquisitions in the consulting space in April 2005 when it took over business consulting firm Citisoft with presence in London, Boston and New York. The deal was valued at around $38.7 million. This was followed up with the company buying Singapore-based Knowledge Dynamics, a consulting solutions provider in the business intelligence space, in July 2005. That was an all-cash deal involving a consideration of $3.3 million. “We are constantly looking at different opportunities for our inorganic growth. Companies in the enterprise business consulting space are on our radar as it will help strengthen our consulting vertical,” Satyam head (global marketing & communications) Hari Thalapalli told ET. Satyam, which the fourth largest software exporter from India, is currently evaluating half a dozen niche players in this segment. The proposed move ties up with its strategy to offer integrated business solutions to customers. It is specifically looking at companies that will add value in expanding its expertise in enterprise resource planning (ERP) business solutions. […]
|
Post your messages.Please refrain from posting offensive messages. IndiaPE accepts no liability for the consequences of your reliance on these postings and messages.
|