The Aditya Birla group’s plan to find a buyer for the insulator business has come a cropper after prospective buyers, primarily private equity funds, backed out of the deal over valuation differences. UK-based private equity fund 3i, which was ahead in the race to acquire the insulator assets, recently opted out of the transaction. The insulator business is part of the group’s holding company, Aditya Birla Nuvo. Foreign PE funds such as Bain Capital and Carlyle had earlier moved out of the race. Three months back, the group had mandated investment banking firm UBS to find a buyer for the insulator business, which was then identified as a non-core activity. UBS had circulated an information memorandum to the prospective buyers. […]