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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. […]
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