September 2007
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Tata in talks to buy UK's Liberty Tea-paper

Tata Group is in talks with Britain-based speciality tea firm Liberty Tea to expand its share of the global beverages market, the Economic Times reported on Monday, quoting group sources. The discussions are at an initial stage and Tata Tea Ltd , the world's second-biggest branded tea firm, is examining the synergies that an acquisition could bring to Tata's current presence in Britain, the newspaper said. A spokesman for the Tata Group, which has diverse interests including steel and cars, could not immediately respond to the report. Tata Tea, which acquired Britain's Tetley for $432 million in 2000, has been expanding its overseas presence and buying herbal and fruit tea brands in the United States and eastern Europe to boost its market presence. In June, Tata Tea said it would buy almost 26 percent of Mount Everest Mineral Water Ltd and make an open offer for another 20 percent in a deal it said was worth up to 2.1 billion rupees ($52.8 million). The deal for a controlling stake was announced one week after Tata Tea said it would receive about $1.2 billion for selling its 30 percent stake in U.S. vitamin water maker Glaceau to Coca-Cola Co. ( Reuters ) […]

PE firms exit big in 9 months of ’07

Private equity investors have pushed through exit transactions in India worth $534.7 million (Rs2,133.5 crore) in the first nine months of 2007, just a few notches short of the $589 million worth of transactions concluded in all of last year. It is estimated, based on potential deals in the pipeline, that before the year closes, the total value of exits would have scaled $1 billion. This would, however, still be well below the peak in 2005 when the total value of exits concluded by private equity investors stood at $3.3 billion. These numbers do not include exits by early-stage venture capital investors. The internal rate of return (IRR) on these exits—IRR is the profit earned after returning money to the limited partners and settling fund manager fees—cannot be ascertained yet. However, the growing size of deals and multiple exit routes used indicate that India is fast gaining credibility for returning value to investors and augurs well for future fund-raising for this market. Three of the eight disclosed exit deals this year are over $100 million against just one in 2006. ICICI Venture Funds Management Co. alone has pulled off three significant exits—from ACE Refractories Ltd, Subhiksha Trading Services Ltd and Deccan Aviation Ltd, and currently leads the pack in terms of total value of exits this year, at $161 million. […]