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Venture capital company, Sequoia Capital, has decided to pump in USD 30 million in leading snacks food company from Indore, Prakash Snacks Pvt Ltd. With the help of the new funds, Prakash has plans to add a new range of Indian namkeen or savouries and expand production capacities at its manufacturing plant. As part of the investment, VT Bharadwaj and GV Ravishankar of Sequoia Capital will now be joining the board of BCM Group's Prakash Snacks. […] Private equity fund Apollo Global Management LLC will invest about $500 million in Indian steel pipe manufacturer Welspun group, marking the second biggest private equity investment in India this year as firms take advantage of the rapid growth in Asia's third largest economy. Private equity deals are rapidly growing in India, with firms such as 3i Group Plc and Blackstone Group scouting for new investment opportunities, and many others selling their holdings as valuations improve. India saw 61 private equity buyouts worth $3.3 billion in the first half of 2011, up 21.6 percent from the same period last year. And private equity-backed M&A in the first six months of 2011 was the highest for the first half of any year so far. Earlier this year, Bain Capital and GIC invested about $850 million in Hero Honda in the largest PE deal in India this year. […] The KK Modi group is set to wrest majority control in cigarette maker Godfrey Phillips India (GPI) from American tobacco major Philip Morris as the Indian business house leads the company's charge into noncigarette segments such as beedi and chewing pan masala , potentially to the discomfort of the foreign partner. GPI, a Rs 3,000-crore publicly-listed company, is a joint venture between the Modis and Philip Morris who each held 36% stake originally. However, changing equations , and the new diversification plans-led by the Indian promoter-saw the Modis pick up an additional 11% stake from the foreign partner last year, taking up their holding to 47%. Modi, chairman of Modi group, told TOI that as per an agreement between the partners, he has the “right” to take up his holding to 51% by buying further into Philip Morris' holding to get a majority control of the company, India's second-biggest cigarette maker that sells the “Four Square” brand and also distributes the iconic Marlboro brand (from Philip Morris stable). […] Blackstone and Standard Chartered Private Equity are vying to acquire a large chunk of the promoter stake in Redington India Ltd, one of the country's oldest and leading distribution firm of telecom and IT products. Singapore-based NRI conglomerate Kewalram Chanrai Group is set to dilute just under 15% stake to one private equity investor for roughly Rs 500 crore, said sources familiar with the development. […] The fifth largest brewer in the world, Molson Coors is buying 51% stake in Cobra India, making it a lateentrant into one of the fastest growing beer markets in Asia. The NYSE-listed company, whose brands include Coors Light, Molson Canadian and Carling is investing $35 million in Cobra India, which will be christened as Molson Coors Cobra India. Karan Bilimoria, the founder chairman of Cobra Beer, will hold the remaining 49% in the new JV. This investment includes stake-purchase and capital expenditure for expanding the company's brewery in Bihar. TOI had reported about the deal in its edition dated November 25, 2010. […] It's play time for theatres in Chennai, with one of them catching the attention of angel investors (names withheld). Evam Entertainment, an English theatre group, received a funding of Rs 40 lakh for its venture Sideways Training. Sideways provides training to corporate houses using theatre as a medium. It has already conducted workshops for IT majors such as Google, Cognizant and Sify. The funding – claimed to be the first for a playhouse – is significant considering such moves will help theatre as a sector to move away from a patronage-based to a revenue-generating model. Most theatre groups are sponsorshipdriven . “We are moving away from the sponsorship model,” says Karthik Kumar, co-founder of Evam, whose major productions include Chetan Bhagat's Five Point Someone. […] Classteacher Learning Systems Ltd. has received $15 million from a Fidelity fund for a minority stake in the Indian educational content provider. The money from Fidelity Growth Partners India Ltd., a private-equity arm of the global fund management company, will be used to expand Classteacher Learning's product portfolio, the Indian company said in a press release. Classteacher Learning didn't specify the stake it sold. Two members of FIL Capital Advisors (India) Ltd., the private-equity advisory arm of Fidelity Growth, will join the board of Classteacher Learning. […] Carlyle Group, the Washington-based private equity firm yesterday invested Rs112 crore ($25 million) in India's Visen Industries Ltd, a manufacturer of water-based polymer emulsions. Carlyle has invested the money from its $1.04 billion fund, FCV III, a part of its Asia Growth Partners IV (CAGP IV), which invests in invests in in key Asian markets such as India, Korea and China. “Visen's business is a play on the strong consumption led demand growth across paints, textiles, adhesives and construction in India and other emerging markets. Visen has a clear track record of growth and a well defined strategic roadmap for future expansion,” said Carlyle Asia Growth Capital head and managing director, Wayne Tsou in a statement. […] In what could be a revival of investor interest in firms offering credit to the poor, microlender Janalakshmi Financial Services Pvt. Ltd (JFS) has raised '65 crore in its third round of funding from private equity (PE) firms. “Coming after a major crisis in the sector, this is a major transaction and is a clear sign that the tide is turning for microfinance,” said Ramesh Ramanathan, chairman of JFS, which focuses on lending to the urban poor. The number of deals involving investments in microfinance companies has fallen this year although the quantum has remained almost the same. In the first six months of 2010, seven investments worth $75 million ('336 crore today) were made in microfinance companies; between January and June, only four investments (including the one in JFS) worth $69 million have been made, according to Venture Intelligence, which tracks deals involving venture capital and PE firms. […] In one of the larger deals in the legal outsourcing industry, three venture capital firms have picked up the entire stakeholding of co-founder Ajay Agrawal in UnitedLex Corporation , a legal process outsourcing firm. Existing investors, Helion Venture Partners and Canaan Partners, along with private equity major Sequoia Capital have together invested 75.3 crore (about $17 million) to pick up Agrawal's holding in UnitedLex, according to a person with direct knowledge of the transaction. The deal which closed on Thursday, gives the three PE firms an 18.1 % stake in the company that has been valued at 400 crore (approximately $92.5 million). “The deal has been completed and I have received the money in my bank,” said Ajay Agrawal who will now exit the firm that he co-founded in late 2006. Executives at Sequoia Capital and Helion Venture did not respond to email questions sent by ET. […] |