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Evolvence Capital announced Thursday that it was planning to launch another India fund for a number of selected investments. According to the Dubai headquartered private equity company, it is planning to launch the fund named “Evolvence India Fund II” in the country and will raise the money from both institutional investors and high net worth clients globally. The announcement further outlined that the fund will be utilized for particular chosen investments in the mid-market growth capital division for the Indian private equity market and will be undertaken via both joint and direct investments. Evolvence’s latest fund is the third in a line of funds the Arabian company has launched geared for India. Its introductory fund was undertaken back in 2007 with the launch of Evolvence India Fund I that was about 250 million dollars. The company’s second fund was launched in the year 2008 and was named the Evolvence India Life Sciences Fund meant to support investments in the life sciences and healthcare sector. Further more, the fund will target diversified growth and will comprise a fund of funds at the 400 million dollars and will also target investments in high quality PE fund managers and already well grounded entrepreneurs in the country. […]
Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB), the south-based, old private sector lender, is in talks with Citigroup to acquire CitiFinancial Consumer Finance India, the struggling non-banking finance company which gives retail loans to low-income borrowers. LVB has hired investment bank JM Financial to carry out due diligence of CitiFinancial, which has a `9,000-crore balance sheet, 116 branches and close to 1,600 employees. “It’s an interesting move for a conservative mid-sized bank which has stayed away from acquisitions,” said a person familiar with the proposal. The LVB board recently cleared a proposal to float a wholly-owned housing finance subsidiary. This new outfit intends to acquire CitiFinancial. A Citi spokesperson declined to comment. CitiFinancial is part of Citi Holdings, which houses the non-core businesses of the global banking and financial services group. Citicorp, meanwhile, controls core divisions such as Citibank, the investment banking arm Citigroup Global Markets and the private equity arm CVC. In early 2009, Citi took a decision to identify non-core businesses which would be hived off over time. […]
Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Steel may sell about 14 per cent stake to Japan's JFE for Rs 4,700 crore to cut the company's debt. “Talks between the two companies for stake sale have more or less concluded. JSW Steel may sell around 14 per cent stake to JFE,” a source in the know of the development said. An announcement on stake sale by the company is expected next week. JSW Steel's Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Jindal is to make an “important announcement” on July 27 after its quarterly results, the company said today. The country's largest private steel producer by domestic capacity had yesterday informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that the company would consider a share sale to “a strategic investor” to raise long-term funds. […]
Three-year horizon; sequel to Rs 1,350-cr investment in Tata Power. Olympus Capital, the Asia-focused private equity (PE) fund, is exploring more strategic investment deals with Tata Power and infrastructure supply chain companies. This follows its Rs 1,350-crore deal a month ago in which it bought 15 per cent in two Tata Power-promoted companies which own coal mines in Indonesia. The Hong Kong-based firm, with $1.3 billion under management, will invest about $600 million (Rs 2,800 crore) in India in big and established companies in infrastructure supply chain management. In mind were boilers and turbine makers, balance of plant and engineering, procurement and construction companies, besides environmental-friendly technology, agriculture and food processing, information technology and business process outsourcing companies within the next two to three years, Daniel R Mintz, founding managing director of Olympus Capital, told Business Standard. […]
Food processing and agri-based companies seem to have caught the attention of private equity (PE) investors, if the recent investment numbers released by accounting and consulting firm Grant Thorton are anything to go by. PE players have invested $300 million in these companies during January-June this year, according to Grant Thorton. In 2009 calendar year, PE investments in these sectors were about $398 million. The comparative figures in 2008 and 2007 were $187 million and $4.3 million, respectively. “The writing is on the wall. PE activity is growing in the space,” said C G Srividya, partner, specialist advisory services, Grant Thorton. According to Srividya, PE players are attracted by greater professionalism and accountability, openness to outside investment, and fairly attractive valuations of these companies. […]
The government is set to limit foreign direct investment (FDI) in private security services at 49%, a decision likely to trigger consolidation and ownership change in the Rs 10,000-crore domestic security services industry. Several foreign security firms currently have presence in India. The development is expected to help home-grown security firms like SIS and Tops to consolidate their position in the fast-growing sector and force foreign players like Group4S to restructure their holdings and offload the surplus FDI in favour of domestic players. The domestic private security industry, growing at 25% annually, employs over 7 million. Thanks to the lack of specific rules, any foreign company can hold up to 100% stake in Indian security companies. The Union home ministry has now stepped in to limit their participation in Indian companies citing security reasons. […]
Attracted by the rapidly-growing Indian demand for new kinds of packaging in food products, Rabo Equity Advisors, the private equity arm of Rabobank, has agreed to pick up 20% stake in Agra-based integrated packaging company Vacmet India. The PE firm, through its Indian Agri Business Fund and Real Trust, will invest Rs 50 crore. “We are excited about packaging because demand is growing in India for new and innovative technology to help companies extend the shelf life of their food products. The cost of packaging contributes more than 10% of a food product’s MRP. So this investment is in line with our overall focus on the food sector. We will assist Vacmet in sourcing latest technology in the world,” said Rajesh Srivastava, managing director, Rabo Equity Advisors. […]
Digital advertising and e-commerce firms in India are catching the fancy of private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) firms. PE and VC investments in the online advertising and marketing space, which had gone down to $16 million in the first half of 2009, have shown a recovery and touched $28 million, or Rs 129 crore, in the first half of this year. Talking to ET, Mahendra Swarup, president, Indian Venture Capital Association, said: “Both PE and VC firms are active in the online advertising and marketing space. In fact, VC funds are more active in the sector as returns are higher. Typically, expectation of VC and PE firms is three-to-five times of their investments. But, in the case of digital advertising and marketing, which largely deal with mobile ad network, the expectation is 8-12 times of the investments.” The deal size in this sector varies between $5 million and $15 million. […]
Logistics firm AFL is likely to get at least Rs.100 crore from a U.S. private equity (PE) firm for a minority stake. The money will be used by firm, promoted by Cyrus Guzder to build warehouses and distribution infrastructure, reports P.R. Sanjai and Shraddha Nair of Mint. According to industry analysts, with inflow of cash and management expertise from a PE firm, AFL could elevate its third-party logistics (3PL) infrastructure, including warehouses, fleet and IT systems. The logistics industry, which is estimated to contribute around 13 percent of gross domestic product, is divided into ocean freight, air freight, rail freight, trucking and 3PL services. According to Sunil Devrani, Managing Director of Direct Logistics India, logistics is a business that has a high working-capital and low-margin with no huge reserves for further expansion in most of the cases. […]
IL&FS Investment Managers (IIML), one of the country’s oldest private equity funds, plans to invest $300 million, or around Rs 1,400 crore, in real estate and urban infrastructure projects by the end of 2010. The PE arm of Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS), with $2.8 billion assets under management, has already invested an equal amount in the last six months and evaluating some of the big-ticket projects for investment in the country, said a senior official. “We are in the advance stages of finalising 3-4 deals in residential real estate and urban infrastructure space like roads and hospitality,” said IIML vice-chairman & MD Shahzaad Dalal. According to industry sources, IIML has recently made commitments for an equity investment of Rs 110 crore in Palais Royale, a 75-storey luxury residential tower being built by Vikas Kasliwal-owned Sree Ram Urban Infrastructure. The project may entail investments of around Rs 1,800 crore, which is scheduled to be completed in the next two years. […]
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