Berger Paints bags Polish firm Bolix for $38 million

Berger Paints India on Tuesday acquired Polish firm Bolix SA, a leading provider of external insulation finishing system (EIFS) in the B2B segment, for a net purchase price of $38.6 million (around Rs 1,54.7 crore). The Kolkata-based paints major acquired the entire bloc in the Polish firm held by global private equity group Advent International.

The holding was bought by Berger Paints’ wholly-owned Cyprus subsidiary, the company’s media statement stated. While Ernst & Young and Tomczak & Partners of Poland assisted Berger Paints clinch the deal, Clifford Chance and CAG were advisors to Advent International.

The purchase is conditional and depends on the fulfilment of certain conditions, including clearance by the Polish Anti-Monopoly Office. The purchase price is also subject to the usual adjustments at the time of completion of the transaction.

Bolix products include adhesives, mortars, plasters, primers and paints. In combination with other insulation materials like polystyrene foam or mineral wool and auxiliary materials such as fibre glass meshes, Bolix’s EIFS products provide insulation solutions as well as a decorative finish for traditional brick and concrete structures.

Tata Power to refinance Indonesian acquisitions

Tata Power Company (TPC) on Tuesday announced refinancing of loans worth $850 million taken for funding its acquisition of 30% stake in Indonesian thermal coal producers, PT Kaltim Prima Coal and PT Arutmin Indonesia, as well as trading companies from PT Bumi Resources. It had taken $950-million one-year bridge loan to finance the $1.1-billion purchase.

The refinancing consists of a $580-million non-recourse loan and a $270-million recourse loan. The non-recourse facility has a door-to-door tenure of six years while the tenure of the recourse loan is one year more.

The financing has been provided by a group of banks led by five mandated lead arrangers including Barclays Capital, Bank of India, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. TPC will evaluate the option of refinancing the remaining $100 million of the bridge loan at an appropriate time.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

Dr Reddy's to buy BASF drug contract manufacturing unit

Drugmaker Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd has agreed to acquire BASF's drug contract manufacturing business and a related facility in the United States for an undisclosed amount.

The Hyderabad-based company said the deal was likely to be completed by June, subject to regulatory approvals. BASF's contract manufacturing business makes generic prescription and over-the-counter products for branded and generic companies in the United States.

The business had revenue of $43 million in 2007, it said. "The acquisition ... will enable us to strengthen our supply chain for North America and provide a strong platform for pursuing additional growth opportunities," Satish Reddy, managing director of Dr Reddy's, said in the statement.

Strides Arcolab acquires 17.7% more in Genepharm Australasia

Strides Arcolab has acquired over 17.7 per cent in ASX-listed Genepharm Australasia under a share acquisition agreement with a group of Cyprus-based shareholders that are associated with Genepharm's largest shareholder, Genepharm Asia Pacific Enterprises.

Strides will vend its Australian and Asian business in exchange for the issue of shares in Genepharm.Including the existing 2.1 per cent of Genepharm shares over which Strides currently has a relevant interest, the transaction takes Strides' total relevant interest in Genepharm issued shares to 19.8 per cent.

On successful completion of the Genepharm transaction, Strides may emerge with a shareholding of 55 per cent of the expanded capital base of Genepharm.The combined regional businesses are expected to have revenue of A$ 100 million on closing of the Genepharm transaction.

The purchase consideration for the acquisition of Strides' Australian and Asian operations has been reduced from A$65.0 million to A$61.0 million, with Genepharm proposing to assume A$4.1 million of existing debt within the business.The issue price of the shares paid to Strides as purchase consideration is A$0.55 per share compared to the original price of A$0.60 per share, reflecting Genepharm’s recent trading results and share price performance.

Repo rates untouched, CRR hiked by 25 bps

Local factors have taken precedence and the Reserve Bank of India has left the repo and reverse repo rate untouched. The central bank has, however, gone in for another 25 basis points (bps) hike in CRR to 8.25 per cent in the annual policy announced on Tuesday. This will drain the system of Rs 9,250 crore of liquidity.

The CRR has been hiked on the review of ongoing liquidity situation. RBI aims at bring down inflation to 5.5 pc in 2009.The money supply targets have been downgraded from 17 -17.5 per cent last year to 16.5 to 17 pc for 09. The policy aims at credit growth of 20 per cent in 2008. The bank is very optimistic on growth and had pegged GDP growth target at 8 - 8.5 per cent for 09.

Blackstone arm buys Synergy stake for Rs 72 cr

Blackstone Real Estate Partners, the real estate arm of Blackstone group, has taken a minority stake in Synergy Property Development Services by investing $18 million (Rs 72 crore).Blackstone recently closed Blackstone Real Estate Partners VI with capital commitments worth $10.9 billion, creating the largest ever real estate opportunity fund.

Synergy specializes in architectural design and fitouts, complete project management and turnkey contracts. The company's forte is in managing the entire process from start to finish and ensuring timely project delivery.

Synergy, which is based out of Bangalore, has delivered real estate worth more than 20 million square feet and currently manages over 100 million square feet across various asset classes including office, retail, residential, hotels and hospitals. The company is also planning to expand into infrastructure projects such as airports.

Read more in The Business Standard article

New delisting norms soon

After a wait of almost two years, the government and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) have firmed up their views on finalising the guidelines for delisting of companies from stock exchanges.The government has also kick-started the process of corporatisation of clearing corporations. Despite differences of opinion, the reverse book-building process remains the choice for finalising the delisting price of shares.

In its draft proposal, Sebi has mooted a fixed price for delisting, which will be a 25 per cent premium over a fixed floor price. The fixed floor price is to be calculated by an accredited rating agency.

Sebi has mooted the alternative price discovery method as it considers that the reverse book-building process has failed to serve its purpose of fixing fair exit value for shareholders, giving disproportionate powers to public shareholders for cartelisation in price discovery.Meanwhile, the issue of a threshold level of shareholding to decide on delisting still remains a bone of contention.

In its presentation to the finance ministry, Sebi has given two options. Promoters should either acquire at least half of the public shareholding in their respective companies or buy shares that will take their shareholding to a little over 90 per cent, whichever ensures a larger number of shares.The existing rules do not specify a minimum level of public participation for delisting. Sebi has further suggested that if half of the shareholders are not willing to participate in the buyback programme, the company should remain listed.

The government, however, is not in favour of this suggestion on the ground that delisting should not be withheld if the promoter has already acquired over 90 per cent of the shares.It will block the exit route for those investors who have sold their shares to the promoter and are not happy with the management.

Goldstone Infra in JV to set up solar fab unit

Goldstone Infratech Ltd on Monday announced a joint venture to set up a solar panel manufacturing facility in Hyderabad.The total cost of the project is estimated at Rs 28 billion over 4-5 years.

The initial capacity of the facility would be 52 mega watts with an investment of 6 billion rupees, it said in a statement.One of the joint venture partners is Jusung Engineering, a Korean equipment supplier. Goldstone will hold 54 per cent stake in the venture, the statement said.

ICICI seeks non-banking finance company licence, drops FoF plan

ICICI Bank has applied for a licence to set up a non-banking finance company (NBFC), even as it has decided to stick to its knitting in other areas. The country’s second-largest bank has shelved plans to get into the fund of funds (FoF) business. It has also dropped the idea of setting up an infrastructure fund by itself.

Last year, the bank had made plans to foray into the FoF business. It was looking to start with around $500-million fund and then expand it to around $2.5 billion with multiple closing. However, with international markets going into a tizzy on the back of the subprime crisis, the bank has decided to shelve its FoF business plans. The bank was also looking at setting up a $2-billion infrastructure fund.

On the investor appetite for funds, ICICI Bank joint MD Chanda Kochhar said, “The demand for such funds continues to be strong, because infrastructure in India is still attracting a lot of interest and investors are long-term players who are not affected by short-term movements in the market.”

Some other players like Citi, Blackstone, 3i and Axis Bank have set up infrastructure funds to invest in India. On the FoF, she pointed, “We haven’t really finalised all plans there. In the current market scenario, it doesn’t make sense.” The FoFs are essentially investor groups that invest in private equity funds in order to provide investors with a low-risk product through exposure to a large number of vehicles across sectors and even geographies.

The bank has applied for a NBFC licence to RBI. If RBI approval comes through, it will be the second private sector bank after HDFC Bank to set up a NBFC. However, the plans have not been finalised. The group is also looking at using its housing finance company to book more home loans from this year.

3i Infotech to buy Regulus Group for $80 mn

Software services firm 3i Infotech Ltd has signed an agreement to acquire US-based Regulus Group LLC for $80 million.The agreement provides for an additional $20 million as earn-outs based on certain performance agreements, it said in a statement. 3i is buying the US company along with its products, trademarks and brands.

Regulus provides remittance and bill processing services. For the year-ending December 2007 the company reported revenue of about $148 million. "The acquisition of Regulus Group is a strategic one and will enable 3i Infotech to strengthen its positioning in the payment processing industry," Managing Director and CEO of 3i, V Srinivasan, said in the statement.

Holcim buys 11% more in ACIL at Rs 589 cr

Swiss cement giant Holcim has decided to take complete control of Ambuja Cements India (ACIL), the local company through which it controls ACC, India’s largest cement major. Holcim will buy 11% from Ambuja Cement (ACL), formerly Gujarat Ambuja, for Rs 588.91 crore.Ambuja Cement, which created ACIL in 2000 and offered stakes to the Government of Singapore and American International Group (AIG) in what was then the country’s largest private equity transaction, will now completely exit the company.

The move will enable Holcim to own 100% of an entity that owns stakes in two of India’s largest cement players. ACIL controls 42.88% in ACC, India’s largest cement maker with a 13% market share.ACIL also owns 9.9% in Ambuja Cement, the third-biggest cement-maker with a 10% market share. Holcim directly owns 36% in Ambuja Cement.

Ever since French giant Lafarge bought Tata Steel’s cement plant in 1998, India’s growing cement industry — currently world’s second-largest — has long attracted global cement giants. Since then, both Lafarge and Holcim have expanded their presence here, with the aggressive Holcim garnering a large chunk of the market.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

IFCI board may discuss stake sale on Apr 29

After failing in its effort to rope in a strategic partner last year, IFCI Board may take up the stake sale process again at its board meeting scheduled for April 29.
It is not the part of the board's agenda but may come up for discussion during the meeting.

IFCI board had aborted the process for equity sale to a strategic partner, rejecting the demand for management control by the successful bidder in December last year.
NRI billionaire Anil Aggarwal-led Sterlite Industries, jointly with global investment banking giant Morgan Stanley, had emerged as the front-runner by quoting the highest price.

Speaking about the stake sale two months back, IFCI CEO and Managing Director Atul Rai had said it has no immediate proposal to go for another bidding, but in the medium term may require an "angel investor".

Finance Minister P Chidambaram had also backed IFCI's decision to reject the bid offer in December, but said the company could get more offers when a rebidding is initiated. He did not give a timeframe for the rebidding.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

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IFCI invites bids for 26% stake sale

Mallya says cheers to Heineken beer

Dutch brewing giant Heineken appears to have committed bringing its namesake beer, arguably the world’s tallest beer brand, into India through Vijay Mallya-led United Breweries (UB), as both the players completed “cordial first round of discussions” on their future business ties.

Heineken is set to inherit Scottish & Newcastle (S&N)’s 37.5% stake in UB following a joint acquisition with Carlsberg globally. Mr Mallya, on his part, may allow more room for Heineken in operational management than what S&N had in India’s largest brewer UB. However, the exact contours of the new business relationship will be clearer after subsequent round of talks.

Sources said Dutch brewer’s move to bring in the mainstay Heineken through UB fold was a clear indication that the latter was its preferred partner in the rapidly-expanding domestic beer market. Heineken’s Singapore-based arm Asia-Pacific Breweries (APB) was seen as the vehicle to uncork brand Heineken in India till now.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

More fund-raising options for co-op banks

In order to offer a level playing field to co-operative banks, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may allow them to use new products for raising funds from the debt market.
The co-operative banks could come out with subordinate debt structures like tier-II bonds, tier-III bonds and upper tier-II or perpetual bonds to raise finance.

At present, these banks get financed from the National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (Nabard) to on-lend. A part of its funding also comes from the state government. They do not have independent fund-raising options.

In a meeting held recently, RBI and the Securities and Exchange Board of India have in principle zeroed in on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) as the favoured platform for launching the currency futures trading in India.However, NSE may have to float an independent subsidiary to start currency futures. RBI has set up a committee to look into the operational details for launching currency futures.

M&M board meet on May 3 for pref issue

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) plans a private placement of equity shares by way of preferential issue.According to a release issued by M&M to the BSE today, the company's board is scheduled to meet on May 03 to consider a proposal from prospective investor(s) for private placement of securities by way of preferential issue at a price of to be determined in conformity with the terms of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Disclosure and Investor Protection) Guidelines, 2000.

Boeing to outsource F-18 components to India

US civil and defence aerospace major Boeing has decided to outsource two critical components of the F-18 Super Hornet combat aircraft to India and the order for one of them could go to the Tatas.

Lt Gen Jeffrey B. Kohler, Boeing vice president for international strategy, told the India Strategic defence magazine that as a “responsible world player in aerospace, Boeing wanted a long-term, trusted partnership with India and that the orders for these two components are being placed now irrespective of whether or not the company wins the tender for 126 Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA).”

Both the components are made with sophisticated composite materials, appropriate technology for which will be transferred to India. Details are to be given later.

Mr Kohler said that one of these two fighter jet components could be outsourced to the Tatas, with which it had earlier tied up a $500 million agreement for titanium floor beams for the hot-selling new generation Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft that Air India has also ordered.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

Tata Power ties up debt for $4.2 bln project

Indian power utility Tata Power Ltd said on Thursday it has signed agreements with a consortium of banks to part fund its upcoming 4,000 megawatt power plant in the Western state of Gujarat. Debt from Indian banks and multilateral agencies would account for three quarters of the project cost, which is estimated at $4.2 billion. Tata Power, part of the diversified Tata group, said in a statement the first of the five power units will be set up in September 2011 and the entire plant would be commissioned by 2012.

The power would be supplied to five states, it said. About $1.8 billion would funded via external commercial borrowings from agencies including the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the International Finance Corp. Separately, the ADB said in a statement on Thursday it has approved a loan for $450 million for the project. Another 55.5 billion rupees ($1.38 billion) would be rupee denominated loans from Indian financial institutions and the remainder would be equity.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

Mahindras have designs on Stile Bertone

Mahindra & Mahindra has set sights on Italian automotive style company, Stile Bertone — famed for designing iconic models like the Alfa Romeo, Lamborghini, Aston Martin and Ferrari.The Mahindra group, which developed close business ties with the Bertone group after the Italian company designed some of its utility vehicles, is learnt to be talking to the Bertone family to explore options of buying an equity stake.

The unlisted Italian company is estimated to post a revenue of E39.1 million in 2008.A deal with the Bertone family will give Mahindras access to high-tech design and also help the Indian auto company in its plans to build a global R&D centre.The move will also help M&M cater to global auto OEMs at a time when even the Tatas are planning to open a global R&D design centre in the UK.

Besides providing an European footprint, it would help M&M leverage technologies and skillsets, and enhance product development by harnessing the talent pool of designers and engineers, said analysts.

Read more in The Ecomomic Times article.

Nearly 50 brokers register for SLB

Though securities lending and borrowing (SLB) mechanism is yet to register meaningful volumes, almost 50 brokerages have gone ahead and registered with the stock exchanges to be a part of the new market.

Brokerages that wish to participate in SLB are required to enter into separate agreements with both the stock exchanges (BSE and NSE) and deposit a base capital. Interestingly, domestic brokerages have outnumbered their foreign counterparts in being amongst the first ones to register for SLB.

According to people familiar with the development, domestic entities like Edelweiss Securities, Geojit Financial Services, Prabhudas Lilladher, Sharekhan, BRICS Securities, Nirmal Bang Securities, Networth Stock Broking, JM Financial and Religare Securities are some of the entities that have registered for SLB.

Among the foreign brokerages, DSP Merrill Lynch, HSBC Securities, Deutsche Equities and ABN AMRO Asia Equities have taken the lead. The list also includes many niche brokerages like Marwadi Shares and Finance, BLB and MF Global which are well-known in the arbitrage arena.

It is also believed that on an average around four to five brokerages apply for registration every week with the stock exchanges to participate in SLB. However, if the volumes are an indication, it would be some time before SLB starts generating income for these entities.

As per NSE data, since April 21 (when SLB was introduced) only six trades have been reported in the SLB window. On April 21, there were four trades, while Tuesday and Wednesday witnessed one trade each. There were no trades on Thursday in the SLB window. The volume has also been quite low with no more than hundred odd shares being traded every day.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

IDFC arm to raise $700m

Indian infrastructure specialist IDFC Private Equity is raising a new $700 million fund to buy stakes in firms expected to thrive as the country modernises its rag-tag power and transport networks.

IDFC's MD for investment, Satish Mandhana, said fund would close in the next two to three weeks, with 85% of money from abroad. Foreign investors are increasingly drawn to Indian infrastructure, as government estimates about $500 billion will be needed to build new roads, ports, airports and power plants by 2012 to keep pace with a fast growing economy.

Around 30% of that spending is expected to come from private sector, with rest split between federal and state governments.

PE fund to invest in energy

A Norway-based private equity fund will invest Rs 400 crore (500 million Norwegian kroners) in India's energy sector that is expanding rapidly to meet the South Asian country's growing need for power and oil.

The Indo-Nordic Private Equity AS was launched last week in Norway's capital of Oslo by Indian Ambassador Mahesh Sachdev and that country's richest man Stein Erik Hagen.

Premji buys 2% in Koutons for Rs 20 cr

Azim Premji has picked up a two per cent stake in Koutons Retail, an apparel retail company, for about Rs 20 crore.According to information available, Premji picked up about 300,000 shares of the Rs 700 crore publicly listed retail company, from the secondary market, through his private equity fund PremjiInvest.

This is the second investment by Premji in a textiles related company after he had bought a little over three per cent in Bangalore-based Himatsingka Limited. The company which is into textiles exports, also has a growing retail presence in home furnishings.

Ajay Mahajan, chief financial officer, Koutons Retail, confirmed the purchase by Premji.PremjiInvest is said to have a corpus of $1 billion (about Rs 4,000 crore) which is expected to be drawn down over three years. This private equity set-up has a team of about 20 professionals who hunt lucrative investment opportunities.

In addition to Koutons and Himatsingka, PremjiInvest has also invested $10 million (about Rs 400 crore) in Cicada Resorts, another Bangalore-based eco-tourism operator.

Read more in The Business Standard article.

Bombay Rayon to acquire brand for Rs 208 cr

Textile company, Bombay Rayon Fashions (BRFL) today said that the company has entered into terms of understanding for taking over brand 'Guru' and other related retail business on going concern basis, with Italian company Jam Session Holdings Srl for a total consideration of 33 mn euros (about Rs 208 cr).

The acquisition is by excercising the call/put option within 42 months and till then operate the brand and business on a lease basis.The company has also approved the scheme of amalgamation of its wholly owned subsidiary Leela Scottish Lace into the company. BRFL had acquired controlling stake in Leela for Rs 155 crore last year.

UTI Ventures exits Excelsoft, earns 50 times its investment

In one of the biggest exits by a private equity firm in India, UTI Ventures has made 50 times its investment by selling its 35.5% stake in e-learning firm Excelsoft Technologies for Rs 125 crore to hedge fund DE Shaw.UTI Ventures had invested Rs 2.5 crore in 2001 in the Mysore-based firm. Other firms reportedly in the fray for the UTI Ventures stake were Sequoia Capital, Fidelity Ventures, Cisco Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank and Softbank.

The deal marks DE Shaw’s first investment in the education space, an area which has attracted a lot of investor interest. E-learning is the fastest growing segment of the $2.3-trillion global education market and is growing at a CAGR of 40%.

Excelsoft, set up in 2000, does consulting, product design & engineering, custom software development and provides content development services in the area of e-learning. It caters to corporations, universities, schools, publishers, e-learning portals and governments across the world. Its clients include Pearson, Wolter Kluwer, Thomson Learning, Harvard Press and Oxford.

The DE Shaw group is a global investment and technology development firm with more than 1,300 employees and about $35 billion in aggregate investment capital as of January 1, 2008. Some of DE Shaw’s investments in India include DLF SEZ, Soham Renewable Energy and Crest Communications, among others.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

Tata gets US antitrust OK for Jaguar, Land Rover

US antitrust authorities have cleared India's Tata Motors Ltd's purchase of Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor Co.Antitrust authorities completed their review of the $2.3 billion deal without taking any action to block it, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

In March, Tata announced it would buy Jaguar and Land Rover, giving the Indian automaker a line-up of products ranging from the world's cheapest car to some of the most expensive.

Related Stories:
Ford sells Jaguar/Land Rover to Tata-source
SBI, others to raise $3 bn for Tata Motors

Arvind Mills, Diesel may call off JV

Indian textile firm Arvind Mills Ltd and Italian denim brand company Diesel SpA may call off their joint venture in which Diesel holds 51 percent. The joint venture, which was announced in May last year, had plans to open 15 stores in three years. But Diesel is expected to put its plans on hold for the time being, while Arvind Mills' priorities have changed since signing the deal.

Arvind Mills may have to spend enormous time and resources for the joint venture, which is likely to have a limited retail universe. Officials at Ahmedabad-based Arvind Mills were unavailable for comment.

ENI makes open offer for 20 per cent in Hindustan Oil

Italian energy group ENI has made an open offer to buy up to 20 percent in India's Hindustan Oil Exploration Co Ltd for 3.77 billion rupees ($94 million).The offer, made by ENI UK Holdings Plc, a wholly owned subsidiary, is required by Indian law following ENI's acquisition of Britain's Burren Energy, which gave it an indirect stake of 27.2 percent in the Indian company.

The offer is for 26.12 million shares at Rs 144.2 per share.The offer opens on June 11 and closes on June 30, and is subject to regulatory approvals in India.It is not subject to a minimum level of acceptance. Eni has "adequate resources" to fund the offer. N.M. Rothschild (India) is the manager to the offer

PM`s council wants $5 bn sovereign wealth fund: FM

Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday said that the government has received a proposal from the Prime Minister’s Council on Trade & Industry for setting up a $5 billion sovereign wealth fund. The council consists of industry captains.


“The council has suggested that there is a need to create a sovereign fund of $5 billon to begin with for financing acquisition of companies abroad,” Chidambaram told the Rajya Sabha.He, however, did not disclose if the government was looking into the suggestion. In a recent interview to a newspaper he had said that the government was not looking at a fund at the moment.

Last week, Reserve Bank of India Governor Y V Reddy had said that India was still weighing the pros and cons of a fund. He went on to elaborate a possible mechanism for using foreign exchange reserves, estimated at $312 billion on April 11.Sovereign funds are owned by governments and are mostly formed out of large foreign exchange reserves for investments in debt and equity markets of other countries.

PE investments touch $4 billion in Q1 CY08

Private equity (PE) investments in India have grown to $4 billion in the first quarter ended March 31 of calendar year 2008 — two times the value registered during the corresponding period last year.Through this, India has maintained its position as the hottest investment destination in Asia (excluding Japan) and has even surpassed China, which has recorded just $570 million so far. In 2006, China received $13 billion in PE investments in 2006 compared with India’s $7 billion.

India outpaced China in the second quarter of calendar year 2007 when it had grossed $10 billion compared to China’s $8 billion.

The Indian real estate and infrastructure sectors are the key contributors with 28 per cent share in value of all PE investments at $1.12 billion, followed by the power sector with 13 per cent share of the pie with $520 million so far this year.
Banking & finance and telecom sectors tied for the third most favourable sectors for investments with 8.7 per cent of the deals at more than $340 million each.

Read more in The Business Standard article.

Apollo group co to sell 15% in arm to PEs for Rs 70 cr

PTL Enterprises, a member of Onkar Kanwar-controlled Apollo Tyres group, plans to issue about 15% equity in its subsidiary Artemis Health Sciences to private equity investors. The company is in talks with various PE investors including 3i and CDC to offer the stake.

The investors are evaluating the company’s healthcare business and the deal could be finalised soon. PTL Enterprises is looking to raise close to Rs 70 crore, which values its healthcare business at over Rs 450 crore. Company officials were not available for comment.

Apart from health sciences, PTL Enterprises (formerly Premier Tyres) also has a manufacturing facility of tyres, tubes and pre-cured tread rubber at Kalamassery, Kerala. The facility has been leased to Apollo Tyres for Rs 25 crore while the raw material, excise and other expenses are reimbursed from Apollo Tyres. The lease agreement is valid up to 2014.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

Shyam closes in on Rs 5,000 cr infra-sharing deal with RTIL

In what could be the first active infrastructure sharing arrangement in the country, Russian communications major Sistema-controlled Shyam Telecom is learnt to be in advanced talks with Reliance Telecom Infrastructure Ltd (RTIL), Reliance Communications’ hived off tower arm, for a Rs 5,000-crore deal spread over 10 years.

As per the arrangement, Shyam Telecom will offer mobile services by riding on RTIL’s infrastructure—both active and passive—for 10 years. Shyam was recently allotted CDMA start-up spectrum across 12 circles, covering 16 states.

This deal will enable the CDMA operator to launch operations without setting up its own network. The Shyam-RTIL model could be the first of more such deals as new entrants try to save on time taken to set up and roll out networks across the country.

Other new players such as Datacom, Unitech, S Tel and Loop Telecom are also learnt to be exploring such business models, which offers them ready-to-use quality telecom infrastructure, which in turn, enables them to reduce their time-to-market and accelerate their network deployment. Industry experts say that roll-out dates can be advanced by as much as 8 - 12 months if new players adopt this model.

The entry of several new players, which opens the potential for many such infrastructure sharing deals in the coming months may also result in stand-alone tower firms such as RTIL, Indus (a tower JV between Bharti, Vodafone and Idea) and Bharti Infratel justifying their high valuations.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

Hero, Daimler join hands for commercial vehicles

Daimler, the world's largest truck-maker, signed a joint venture (JV) agreement with the Hero Group on Monday to manufacture a full range of commercial vehicles for the Indian market.

The JV, Daimler Hero Motor Corp, will see investment of Rs 4,400 crore over five years and Daimler will hold 60% stake, while Hero the rest. The companies would shortlist a location for a greenfield plant from among Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Haryana and plan to produce light, medium and heavy-duty vehicles with an initial capacity of 70,000 units. Daimler will contribute Rs 1,386 crore to the JV and Hero Rs 900 crore, while the rest would be raised via debt.

Read more in The Times of India article.

RBI to issue norms for reverse mortgage

Reverse mortgage allows senior citizens with inadequate income sources to mortgage their own homes for a monthly stream of income for up to 15 years.It involves a senior citizen borrower mortgaging the house to a lender, who then makes periodic payments to the borrower during the latter’s lifetime. It is a way of monetising the owner’s equity in the house.

The senior citizen borrower is not required to service the loan during his lifetime and on the borrower’s death or on the borrower leaving the house permanently, the loan is repaid along with accumulated interest, through sale of the house.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) proposes to come out with prudential norms for reverse mortgage loans to safeguard banks in a falling real estate market. The prudential norms are likely to be announced in the forthcoming annual monetary policy of RBI on April 29.

Read more in The Business Standard article.

Rabobank plans $100 mn agri-business PE fund

Rabobank, the Netherlands-based financial institution, is planning to set up a $100 million private equity fund in India which will focus on the agriculture value chain.
Rabobank Group has some 175-member banks in the Netherlands and dozens of subsidiaries around the world that focus on the food, agribusiness, and financial industries.

This private equity fund is expected to invest in small and medium-sized companies ranging from contract farming at the primary end and key elements of the agricultural supply chain such as cold storage chains to food processing and rural retail. The deal sizes are likely to be in the range of $3-10 million per transaction.

Read more in The Business Standard article.

Royal Group, GTC in race to buy 26% in Raheja group’s engineering SEZ

Royal Group of UAE and Netherlands-based GTC Real Estate are in the race to acquire 26% stake in the Delhi-based Raheja group’s engineering SEZ in Gurgaon for Rs 500 crore.

Raheja Developers MD Navin Raheja his company was in talks with some investors to sell equity stake in its SEZ. The 257-acre SEZ project is being valued at Rs 4,500 crore with the land component accounting for almost half of it. The foreign investor will initially take 26% stake in the SEZ for around Rs 500 crore and may later bring in more funds towards construction cost.

Raheja Developers are a privately held firm with a net worth of Rs 1,225 crore. Their engineering SEZ has recently been notified by the government. The total usable area in the SEZ will be 21 million sqft, of which 9.68 million sqft will be used for industrial purpose.

Satyam Computer buys consultancy, Caterpillar arm

Satyam Computer Services Ltd has acquired Belgium-based S&V Management Consultants for $35.5 million (Rs142 crore) in an all-cash deal.The supply-chain management firm services clients in the manufacturing and pharmaceutical industries.

Satyam also acquired construction equipment maker Caterpillar Inc.’s market research and customer analytics operations for $60 million in an all-cash deal.Satyam will service Caterpillar’s new product development, customer survey execution and other areas.

Satyam earlier reported an 18.5% rise in quarterly profit on Monday to Rs4.67 billion ($117 million), lagging forecasts, as a slowdown in the United States crimped outsourcing deals.

RBI rejects allotment of shares to IFC

RBI (Reserve bank of India) has rejected the proposed preferential allotment of shares to IFC by Karnataka Bank. In a communique to the BSE, the bank said that Reserve Bank of India (RBI) vide its letter dated April 16, 2008 has communicated to the Bank, its inability to accede to the Bank's proposal for allotment of 63,73,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each at a price of Rs 225 per share including the premium of Rs 215 per share on preferential basis to International Finance Corporation (IFC), Washington.

Warburg leads race for stake in Laqshya

At least four large foreign private equity firms are chasing independent outdoor advertising firm Laqshya, and if sources are to be believed, Warburg Pincus has already firmed up plans to pick up 15-20% equity stake for Rs 300 crore in the Mumbai-based outfit.The company however denied the report.

According to a source Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse First Boston and KBC are also in fray but the deal is likely to go in favour of Warburg Pincus.

Laqshya is one of the country’s largest integrated out-of-home (OOH) media companies with 30 offices across 20 cities. UTI Venture is the other investor in the company, which had put in $10 million in 2006. Last year, Laqshya raised $35 million from Saudi-based PE Fund Amwal Al Khaleez for its Dubai subsidiary Right Angle Media.

Laqshya is a founder member of IOAA (Indian Outdoor Advertising Association). Apart from India, it has a presence in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sri Lanka, which makes it the only multinational in OOH media space. \

Outdoor media firms have recently been on the radar of PE and venture capital funds. New airports, roads, highways, malls and emergence of organised retail have created the need for outdoor advertising like billboards, hoardings, mobile vans, bus shelters, promotional activities at the point of purchase and television screens.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

Pyramid Saimira to invest Rs 4 bn in China JV

Cinema chain operator Pyramid Saimira Ltd plans to invest close to 4 billion rupees in the current fiscal year in its joint venture with the China Society Music Research Board.

The Indian firm had signed a preliminary agreement with the Chinese entity, which is under the Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China, to form Jiangsu Pyramid Longzhe Group.

The joint venture will operate theatres, distribute films and engage in other entertainment, arts and cultural activities in China, it said in a statement. It would also launch one screen a day in Mainland China and generate non-box office revenues too.

Parsvnath sells 30% stake in Mumbai project

Parsvnath Developers, a real estate major, today announced that it has sold 30% stake in a Mumbai project to foreign funds for a total consideration of Rs 186 crore for the development of the BEST bus depot near the Bandra-Kurla Complex, in Mumbai.
According to a release issued by the company to the BSE today, the total cost of the two projects has been valued at Rs 620 crore.

The company has proposed to sell 15% stake each in the Kurla bus depot redevelopment project to Euronext-listed Yatra Capital and recently-launched Saffron India Real Estate Fund-I. Both are promoted by UK-based fund manager Saffron Asset Advisors.

Yatra and Saffron have picked up the stake at land-value basis. They will also proportionately fund all future development and construction activities for the project, Parsvnath said.

Redemption pressure forces FIIs to cut holdings

The turmoil in the global financial markets and growing aversion to risk is prompting foreign institutional investors (FIIs) to cut their exposure in the Indian equity markets. The decrease in risk appetite is evident in the latest shareholding pattern of FIIs that tracks a decline in their holding in Nifty companies.

Market analysts attribute this largely to redemption pressures, triggered in part by uncertainty in the global markets coupled with the expected slowdown in economy. As per data furnished by companies, of the 21 Nifty companies that have disclosed their shareholding details as on March 2008, there has been a decline in the FII holding in 18 companies.

The three companies that have witnessed an increase in FII shareholding — Nalco, Bharat Petroleum and ICICI Bank — have seen their holding go up by 0.04%, 0.27% and 0.33% respectively.In contrast, many companies from the capital goods sector (ABB, Siemens and L&T) have seen a decline in their FII holding by over 1%. Other companies to see such an erosion in holding include Power Grid, Dr Reddy’s Lab, Reliance Energy, ACC and HDFC.

The erosion, however, is much more in companies like ACC, Reliance Energy and Larsen and Toubro, where FII holding has decreased by 3.28%, 2.33% and 1.95% respectively. Foreign investors were net sellers for over $3 billion during the January-March quarter this year, in part due to unwinding of P-note positions.

Market analysts also say that even though data ending March 31 reflects erosion, the last couple of days have seen renewed buying by major funds. This could result in an increase in their shareholding in the frontline companies, for it is these companies where the funds enter or exit first.

Shree Precoated to raise about Rs 1000 crore

Steel and real estate firm Shree Precoated Steels Ltd plans to raise around Rs 1000 crore from private equity funds for its realty project in Mumbai, a senior official told Reuters on Thursday.

"Things are at a discussion stage right now. It should be over by this month-end or early next month," O P Gandhi, company secretary, said.

Shree Precoated, part of the Ajmera Group, also plans to develop a 1.5 million square feet commerical-cum-residential project in Mumbai, Gandhi said.

SBI, Macquarie line up $1-bn fund for core play

After foreign institutions and private sector banks, it is now the turn of public sector banks to set up infrastructure funds. State Bank of India, the country’s largest bank, along with Macquarie Capital Group, on Wednesday announced its intention to raise a new $2-billion infrastructure fund.

SBI and Macquarie Capital will hold 45% each in the proposed fund management company, while the International Finance Corporation (IFC) will hold the remaining 10%. Macquarie, SBI and IFC together plan to contribute a total of $450 million in anchor investments to start the fund, which will raise further capital from both domestic and international institutional investors. The fund is scheduled to be launched by the end of the second quarter of 2008.

The fund intends to provide equity and equity-like capital for investments in traditional infrastructure such as roads, ports, airports and power.This is the first private equity fund launched by SBI, and it plans to have different tie-up for other sectors.SBI chairman OP Bhatt will be the chairman of the company, while CEO and MD will be appointed by Macquarie Capital.

Unlike other funds, this new fund is unlikely to go in for a minority stake of 5%. With the backing of Macquarie, which is known for its infrastructure powers, the fund would look for larger equity play and also an influence over the assets.It will also look at investment opportunities in infrastructure-related assets and businesses.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

Nicholas buys K-Lab brands for Rs 116 cr

Pharma major Nicholas Piramal India (NPIL) has entered into a definitive agreement with Mumbai-based Khandelwal Laboratories (K-Lab) to acquire its Anafortan and CEFI drug brands for Rs 116 crore.

Under the agreement, K-Lab will allow NPIL the use of certain patents with non-compete assurances for the two cefixime and Camylofin based drugs. The two drug groups generated revenues of Rs 49.1 crore, with operating margins of Rs 20.7 crore for the financial year ended March 31, 2008.

CEFI (cefixime) is a third generation cephalosporin antibiotic and K-Lab’s CEFI group is marketed in India in nine dosage forms. Its CEFI-XL and CEFI-OD, are based on extended release and once-a-day drug delivery systems.

K-Lab has won patents from the Indian Patent Office for these delivery systems. The CEFI group had revenues of Rs 26.2 crore for the year ended March 31, 2008.

Read more in The Business Standard article.

Tatas in JV talks with jet-maker Embraer

Indian conglomerate Tata does not seem satisfied after making history by taking over Anglo-Dutch steel maker Corus and Britain’s premium auto brands Jaguar and Land Rover. It is now considering a partnership with Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer.

Accordin to sources talks were on with Embraer for starting a joint venture for production of aircraft. The world’s third-largest plane manufacturer is unable to cope with orders it is getting from various countries and private players.Tata had offered to set up a joint venture with the aircraft giant, the only firm that makes 120-seater commercial jets.

Read more in The Business Standard article.

JP Infra to raise Rs 200 crore

Ahmedabad-based realty player JP Infrastructure Pvt Ltd (JPIPL) is in advance stages of talks with a leading PE fund to raise close to Rs 200 crore.The company is also planning to come out with an initial public offer and had appointed Cushman & Wakefield in December last year for valuation of its assets.

The realtor is aiming to divest about 10 per cent, sources said. The company will have six months to one year’s time to come out with an IPO while making way for the PE firm to exit.

Read more in The Business Standard article.

Morgan Stanley picks up stake in Orchid for Rs 9 cr

Morgan Stanley and Co International has acquired 3.30 lakh shares of Orchid Chemicals at a price of Rs 269.83 each in a bulk deal at the BSE, information available on the exchange showed.

The latest acquisition of Orchid Chemicals shares come on the heels of speculations of its takeover from a Ranbaxy promoter group firm.

Earlier, Solrex Pharmaceuticals, a privately-held firm, picked 14.7 per cent through a slew of block deals in Orchid Chemicals taking it very close to triggering an open offer and making Orchid, in which promoters have less 16 per cent stake, vulnerable to a hostile takeover bid.For the quarter ended March 31, 2008, the promoters held 15.87 per cent stake in the firm.

Vision Global plans $200-million distressed debt fund

Vision Global Investments is looking at launching a $200 million distressed debt fund in the near future. The move comes at a time when a number of other funds in this space are active in India like Clearwater, ADM Capital, WL Ross and DE Shaw.

With the fall in markets and on the back of fears of a downturn in Asian economies, a host of funds are launching distressed funds targeting Asia. Most of the new distressed funds are targeting companies in China, India and Korea.

In case of India, some of them would be BIFR cases or where they have gone through the corporate debt restructuring (CDR) mechanisms. These funds normally takeover the debt from the banks and restructure it through a mix of debt and equity.

Vision Global had recently announced the launch of a $1billion India Infrastructure-focused fund called ‘Vision Global India Infrastructure Fund’. The fund would have its first close by May-end this year and is looking to raise $300 million in its first round. It is looking at investments of $25-75 million through this fund in verticals like roads, airport, ports, urban infrastructure and logistics in the infrastructure space. The fund is expected to provide an average 20-25% return on investment per annum.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

Shell may offer $6.7 bn for 30% stake in RIL's D-6 block

Royal Dutch Shell is believed to be considering a bid to acquire up to 30% stake in Reliance Industries’ (RIL’s) discovered gas block in the Krishna-Godavari basin. Shell’s bid could be around $6.7 billion. This will value RIL’s D-6 block, with reserves of 14 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas, at over $22 billion, however RIL strongly denied the rumours.

Total of France, ENI of Italy and Brazil’s Petrobras have also shown interest in the D-6 block, which is set to commence commercial operations in a couple of months. BG and Exxon officials declined to comment on any interest in the KG basin block.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

M&A deals slump 71% in value terms

The mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity of India Inc seems to be running out of steam as the deal value has fallen 71 per cent in the first three months of this calendar year, compared with the same period in 2007.

While there has been a marginal decline in the number of deals from 148 to 125 in 2008, the deal value has seen a sharp slump from $33.85 billion to $9.64 billion, according to a Grant Thornton study.

Fears of an expanding credit squeeze in global markets have put a question mark on the M&A appetite of companies, more so because financing has become a challenging task. Global markets have plunged more than 25 per cent since last year, putting brakes on the expansion plans of companies.

Even though the M&A drive of India Inc has witnessed a slowdown, India Inc’s acquisition spree is restless with outbound deals continuing to steal the show. And if experts are to be believed, 2008 will see more outbound deals than inbound ones.

Read more in The Business Standard article.

Cisco firms up VC plan for India

Global networking major Cisco is aggressively stepping up its next phase of investments in India, further to its $100 million investment in India so far. The company is scouting the region for equity investments in media, broadband and real estate, Cisco Ventures managing director Joydeep Bose said.

Of the $200-million investments in India, Cisco has already invested nearly $ 100 million and the company hopes to exhaust the next $100 million in another 18 months. Immediate on the company’s plans, is forming investment-backed alliances in India. The company already has such an alliance with Satyam in the healthcare sector and is in talk with two more companies in India aimed towards the real estate and collaborative networking space in India.

Read More in The Economic Times article.

GVK Power may hive off energy arm

GVK Power and Infrastructure is planning to hive off its energy vertical into a separate company, ahead of a possible initial public offering (IPO) for the proposed company. The ground-work for the hive-off has begun, with the company bidding for oil blocks in the seventh round of the new exploration licensing policy (NELP). But plans for the IPO of the proposed company are yet to be finalised.

The asset base of the energy vertical is expected to touch Rs 12,000 crore after the completion of projects in the pipeline. GVK Power and Infrastructure is executing six power projects and two coal mine projects. It now wants to have a slice of the pie in oil and gas exploration as well and has hence bid for a couple of oil blocks under NELP-VII.

Read More in The Economic Times article.

Unitech Realty to float 2 funds of $650 million

Unitech Realty Investors is raising two real estate funds worth $650 million, including a $500-million international and Rs 600-crore domestic fund. Unitech Realty investors already manages three domestic real estate funds worth Rs 1,750 crore and aims to have $1 billion under management in the next six months and $4 billion in the next four years.

Both domestic and international funds are likely to be closed in the next six months, according to a company official. The international fund, which has an eight-year horizon, will invest primarily in the residential and township projects of Unitech, spread across Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad and Chennai.

The domestic fund, which is a medium-sized fund and aims to mop up Rs 500-700 crore from individual and institutional investors, has an investment horizon of six years. The fund has a commitment of up to 15% of corpus size from Unitech. The fund’s investment will be spread across at least five projects. The residential and commercial projects will be spread in four cities.

Unlike in the case of other three funds of Unitech, where the entire corpus of Rs 1,750 crore is fully deployed in group’s real estate projects, this fund will invest in at least one non-Unitech project. A post-tax return of 20-25% at the project level is being targeted for domestic fund

Yes Bank mulling QIP to raise $300 mn by December

New-generation lender Yes Bank plans to raise $300 million (about Rs 1,200 crore) by December for its expansion plans.

While all options are being considered, it is understood that the private bank is zeroing in on the QIP route to raise these funds.

Yes Bank is currently fine-tuning its expansion plans over the next 1-2-year period, aimed at solidifying its position in the domestic market.The bank aims at a strong 250 branch networkby September 2010.

At present, the bank has 67 branches across the country. The lender proposes to launch its asset reconstruction company in the next few months and plans to enter the retail broking and asset management businesses over the next 18-24-months.

Biocon to buy US firm for $400 mn: Report

India's top biotechnology firm, Biocon Ltd, is in talks to acquire a US firm in a deal valued at $400 million to boost its overseas pharmaceutical distribution network.

Biocon which makes insulin, cholestrol-lowering statins and other branded drugs bought 70 percent of German marketing firm Axicorp GmbH for 30 million euros ($47 million) in February to boost its distribution network in Europe.

Provogue India plans to raise Rs 477 crore

Fashion garments maker Provogue India on Friday said it will raise about Rs 477 crore through issue of shares and convertible warrants for its future activities including expansion plans.The firm would be raising these funds for expansion in its retail infrastructure subsidiary, expansion of current retail network, setting up of new retail formats, bringing international brands into India, and for general corporate purposes including acquisitions.

Provogue would issue 28.5 lakh equity shares worth about Rs 314 crore on preferential basis, it said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.Altima Partners, T Rowe Price, Genesis, New Vernon, Liberty International, Acacia Partners, Dharmayug Investment and CNBC have participated in the preferential offer, which would be locked in for one year from the date of allotment, the filing added.

Further, Provogue would issue 14.84 lakh convertible warrants worth Rs 163.24 crore to Everest Plaza Pvt Ltd, and Fairprice Traders (India) Pvt Ltd.Both shares and convertible warrants would be allotted at a price of Rs 1,100 each.

Yes Bank eyes two private sector banks for acquisition

Private sector lender Yes Bank has zeroed in on two banks as possible acquisition targets and could execute the buy-out in 2009-10.With bank valuations still at reasonable levels and not expected to increase in the medium-term, an acquisition would certainly be attractive, said Rana Kapoor without giving the names of the two banks in its radar.

Recently, HSBC Bank hiked its stake in the bank to 4.88 per cent, which Kapoor termed as "a purely financial investment".While Kapoor remained tight-lipped, the banking industry grapevine feels Karnataka Bank, Karur Vysya Bank and Kerala-based Catholic Syrian Bank, Federal Bank and South Indian Bank could be potential acquisition targets.

Lankan JKH buys 44% in Quatrro arm

Sri Lanka’s John Keells Holdings (JKH) has acquired a 44 per cent equity stake in Quatrro Finance & Accounting Solutions for around Rs 23 crore ($5.7 million). Quatrro Finance & Accounting Solutions is a business unit of the Delhi-based Quatrro group founded by Raman Roy.

The investment made by JKH is a part of the acquisition that Quatrro announced today. The company acquired the captive accounts unit of Chicago-based RSM McGladery’s Financial Process Outsourcing (FPO).

The acquisition has been made with JKH in a structured financial transaction using a combination of instruments including debt and equity.

Following the acquisition, RSM McGladery FPO proposes to take advantage of Quatrro’s offshore processing expertise to expand its customer base.This acquisition will provide Quatrro access to over 2,000 customers of McGladery. Quatrro will add two new US fulfilment locations in Madison and Pleasant Prairie and one location in Mumbai to its existing centres in India, China, North America and Sri Lanka.

Read more in The Business Standard article.

Atlas picks up 25% each in Focus, Prisma

Pune-based construction and mining tools company Atlas Copco (India), a subsidiary of Atlas Copco of Sweden, has acquired a 25 per cent stake each in two Hyderabad-based companies – Focus Rocbit and Prisma Roctools – in an all-cash deal for an undisclosed sum.The companies, which largely have the same shareholders, have combined annual revenues of around $10 million (Rs 40 crore) and manufacturing facilities in Cherlapalli on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

While Focus Rocbit is a manufacturer of bits for rotary drilling, Prisma Roctools makes bits and hammers for down-the-hole (DTH) drilling.Focus has a capacity to manufacture over 1,200 roller cone bits per month.

Atlas Copco has a manufacturing facility for rotary bits in the US. However, it has been excluded from certain markets. It plans to leverage these acquisitions to bridge this gap and target international markets, including China and Russia, where it is not selling rotary drilling bits and DTH hammers.

Focus and Prisma will operate as joint ventures of Atlas Copco Secoroc, a division within Atlas Copco’s construction and mining technique business area. Atlas Copco has an option to acquire the remaining stake in both the privately held firms within a year

ADAG acquires Hollywood film restorer

In its first acquisition in the digital services space, ADAG’s Reliance Big Entertainment has acquired US-based DTS Inc’s Digital Images Business (DDI) for about $7.5 million.

DDI popularly known as Lowry Digital Images, is a well-known independent restoration firm in Hollywood, providing picture quality improvement services and digital restoration.

It’s body of work includes over 300 well-known feature films — Casablanca, Singing in the rain, Sunset Boulevard, Indiana Jones trilogy, Star Wars Trilogy, James Bond classics — with output to DVD, 35mm film, digital cinema and Imax.

Industry observers said that this acquisition would help Reliance Big Entertainment to cater to the rapidly growing 3D content market with technology solutions for correction in original stereoscopic footage as well as re-rendering of 2D footage into 3D.

DDI recently provided custom image processing services for New Line Cinema and Walden Media’s Journey to the Centre of the Earth 3D, the world’s first digitally captured stereoscopic live action film shot in digital 3D.

Read more in The DNA Money article.

Future`s PE arm picks up 10% in Percept for Rs 65 cr

Indivision, the private equity arm of Future Capital, is picking up a 10 per cent stake in Percept Ltd, the flagship company of the Percept group, for nearly Rs 65 crore.The deal values Percept, an entertainment, media and communications player, at Rs 650 crore.

Percept has a presence in advertising, public relations, media communications, film and TV content production and distribution, talent management, sports and events marketing in India and West Asia.

The investment will provide significant synergies to the Future Group, which has a large advertisement budget and aligns well with group’s businesses such as Future Media, which has interests in media and advertising.

Group company Future Ventures is said to have created three joint ventures with Percept in the field of media buying, Bollywood-themed retail and entertainment & investor relations management businesses. Future Capital officials declined to comment on the deal.The Rs 1,700 crore Indivision has invested in many companies such as kidswear manufacturer and marketer Liliput, beauty and wellness chain VLCC, construction firm BE Bilimoria and wine producer Sula Wines among others.

Lehman picks up 40 % in Peninsula Hyderabad IT Park

Global investor Lehman Brothers has picked up a 40 per cent stake in the upcoming IT park project of property developer Peninsula Land (PLL) in Hyderabad.Lehman is expected to pump nearly Rs 50 crore into the project. PLL is expected to hold the remaining 60 per cent.

The initial cost of the project, including land, is Rs 125 crore and the development cost is nearly Rs 1,400 crore. The company is planning to fund the project through debt and draw more funds from Lehman if required.

Recently, PLL and Lehman tied up to invest in the realty projects of Peninsula. In the Rs 700-crore joint venture, Lehman invested Rs 500 crore and held a 75 per cent stake, while PLL subscribed to the remaining equity at an investment of Rs 200 crore. The Hyderabad deal was the first such investment from Lehman.

Read more in The Business Standard article.

Nabard to raise Rs 10K cr

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) is planning to raise more than Rs 10,000 crore from the market this financial year to fund cooperative and commercial banks.

The bank plans to raise Rs 3,000-4,000 crore through retail bonds and mop-up another Rs 2,000 by issuing certificate of deposits, short-term money market instruments.The balance will be raised through mix of sources like corporate bonds. The extent of dependence on market borrowings will be less this year for Nabard as compared with FY08 (Rs 13,000 crore) due to availability of Rs 5,000 crore from the National Rural Credit-short-term (NRC-ST) facility announced in the 2008-09 budget.

The interest rate for funds sourced from this corpus (NRC-ST) is expected to be 6 per cent, much less than the market borrowings which are made at an average 8 per cent interest rate. It plans to bring down the cost of funds below 9 per cent from 9.15 per cent in FY08. The cost was 8.75 per cent in 2006-07.

Read more in The Business Standard article.

No hostile intentions on Orchid: Malvinder

In a new twist to the Ranbaxy-Orchid takeover drama, Ranbaxy Laboratories CEO Malvinder Singh on Wednesday said his company had no hostile takeover intentions.For the third day in succession, Mr Singh, however, declined to comment on the relationship between Ranbaxy Laboratories and Solrex Pharmaceuticals, the company that has mopped up 12% in the Chennai-based Orchid Chemicals from the secondary market.

However, if Mr Singh’s statement is taken on face value, it means that the threat of a hostile takeover of Orchid has receded for now. It is unlikely that with a 12% stake, Ranbaxy Laboratories or Solrex will be content with being just a financial investor in Orchid.

The buzz on the Street is that Ranbaxy will engage in discussions with the Chennai-based drugmaker for an amicable takeover or some sort of strategic alliance, which could include a contract manufacturing tie-up.

Mr Singh declined to comment on whether the company plans to buy more Orchid shares or strike an alliance with it. When asked to react to Mr Singh’s statement that India’s largest drugmaker has no hostile takeover intentions, Mr Rao said: “I don’t have any comment to offer at this point in time. I cannot share my strategy at this stage.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

RIL in talks with foreign firms to sell 10% stake in KG Basin D6 block

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries is mulling over brining a new strategic foreign partner for deepwater exploration in its KG Basin D-6 block and is understood to be talking to many players for divesting up to 10 per cent stake.RIL is considering this deal as part of a long-term strategic move as the company needs a partner for the level of deepwater drilling that is required at this particular block.

The potential partners could be among the global energy giants like ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, Total and Petrobras, as these are the companies with required expertise.The talks are on with most of the big global energy exploration and production players.

Global investment banking giant Goldman Sachs is one of the key consultants for the deal and RIL is sharing necessary data with the prospective partners to reach a valuation for the deal.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

Tatas plan to raise $983 million in Japan

Tata Motors Ltd plans to list depositary receipts on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and may raise more than 100 billion yen ($983 million) in Japan for acquisitions.Tata, India's top vehicle maker, last week announced a deal to buy luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor Co for about $2.3 billion(Related Story). Later this year it plans to start selling the Nano, the world's cheapest car at about $2,500.

A spokesman for Tata Motors, India's top vehicle maker, said he could not comment on the Nikkei report immediately. Tata Motors last month signed a deal for a $3 billion one-year bridge loan, which it has indicated it would use for Jaguar and Land Rover deal.

It also said it would raise additional long-term funds of up to 40 billion rupees ($1billion). The Nikkei said Tata will list depositary receipts on Tokyo's largest bourse as early as this summer to finance acquisitions, becoming the first overseas firm to do so after restrictions were lifted last year.

Anil Ambani, Kotak eye commexes

According to The Times of India the Reliance Anil Ambani group is believed to have decided to enter the commodity trading business by setting up a large exchange in the country as part of its plans to capitalise on the vast opportunities in this market.

Besides R-ADAG, another corporate giant Kotak group is also mulling over setting up a commodity bourse by acquisition of some regional exchange to get the platform and other technical support, sources close to the development said.

The group is already present in the commodity brokerage business through Reliance Money. Even as the group officials did not wish to comment, sources said the new business could have some existing bourses as well as a strategic associate as partners to gain technical, business and infrastructure support.

Another emerging conglomerate Indiabulls group, which is present in businesses like brokerage, financial services, real estate, retail and power have already tied up with state-run trading firm MMTC to start a commodity exchange, for which it is awaiting necessary approvals.

Telekom Malaysia itching for more Spice

Telekom Malaysia might partner with strategic investors to increase their combined stake in Spice Communications to 74 per cent.The Malaysian giant has 39.20 per cent equity in the telecom company and foreign institutional investors hold 9.59 per cent, taking the total foreign holding to 48.79 per cent.The potential partners include United Arab Emirates’s largest telecom company, Emirates Telecommunications Corp (also known as Etisalat).

Spice, the regional wireless service provider, operates in the Punjab and Karnataka telecom circles and has a 2.2 per cent market share in the country’s total GSM space. Recently, it received licences to operate in four more circles -- Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana and Maharashtra -- but is awaiting additional spectrum.

Read more in The Business Standard article.

Exchangeable bonds hit RBI roadblock

The exchangeable bonds (FCEBs) proposed by the government as an additional instrument for fund-raising by companies overseas may again be put on the backburner. While the government has already issued the required notification to make the scheme operational, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is still not in favour of the instrument.

Exchangeable bonds are instruments that allow a holding company or the parent company of a group to raise funds from the overseas market for use by any of the group companies. The bonds will then be converted into shares of the company for which funds were raised.

In the notification issued by the government, foreign currency exchangeable bonds (FCEB) are defined as a security offered by an issuing company and subscribed to by investors living outside India and exchangeable into equity shares of another company, which is called the offered company.

The issuing company has to be a part of the promoter group and has to hold the equity shares being offered at the time of issuing exchangeable bonds. The offered company has to be a listed company, which is engaged in a sector eligible to receive FDI and eligible for external commercial borrowings (ECBs

Read more in The Business Standard article.

M&M, ICICI Venture to buy Italian gear maker

A consortium of Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) and ICICI Venture Funds Management today signed a pact to buy 100 per cent stake in Italian gear manufacturer Metalcastello SpA they did not disclose the size of the deal.

Metalcastello has revenues of around $100 million (Rs 400 crore). The company’s product portfolio features gears and shafts used in vehicle transmissions and drivelines.Customers of the independent gear maker included original equipment manufacturers in tractor, off-highway and construction equipment space.Currently, financial investors hold 84.7 per cent in the company and the top management holds 15.3 per cent.

GMR may raise $3 billion to fund power projects

GMR Infrastructure, which sold shares to billionaire George Soros and Citigroup Inc in December, plans to raise $3 billion (Rs 12,000 crore) over “four or five years’’ to help fund expansion of power projects.

The Bangalore-based company, with interests in power plants, airports and roads, might raise about $2 billion through debt and $1 billion from equity markets to help increase its power capacity six-fold.

GMR Infrastructure had $2 billion of debt as of February 29, of which 7 per cent is in foreign currencies, the company said.

Read more in The Business Standard article.