ICICI investment in VC arm under lens

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has taken a hardline approach to the country’s largest private bank ICICI’s investments in ICICI Venture — the country’ biggest private equity fund. The regulator feels that ICICI may be using its venture capital arm to make investments which could have been difficult from the bank’s books.

ICICI Venture is a subsidiary of ICICI Bank. Besides owning I-Venture, the bank also invests in some of the funds managed by the VC. Just as in mutual funds, a string of financial investors subscribe to such funds where the bank also joins in.

RBI has told ICICI Bank to include its investments in the VC in fulfilling the exposure limits that the bank has to stick to. Under prudential norms, the maximum exposure a bank can take to a company or a business group is linked to its capital. Earlier, banks used to float non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) to sidestep this regulation and lend to corporates.

Read more in The Economic Times 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.

ICICI Venture invests Rs 95cr in Vikram Hosp

ICICI Venture has made an equity investment of $24 million (approx. Rs 95 crore) through Iven Medicare in Vikram Hospital (VHPL) for a "substantial stake".The investment would enable the Mysore-based Vikram Hospital to set up a pan Karnataka footprint, informed Aluri Srinivasa Rao, director, investments, ICICI Venture.

Iven Medicare, the health arm of ICICI Venture, would help VHPL, a family-owned business, to scale up its current infrastructure by offering dedicated support in key areas like Medical Informatics, quality and accreditation, HR practices, commercial and technology among others.Expansion plans included a mix of greenfield and brownfield initiatives.

Iven Medicare has invested $10 million in Delhi-based RG Stone Hospital, $15 million in Kolkata-based Medica Synergie and $36 million in Pune-based Sahaydri, Rao informed, adding that there were around seven similar deals in the pipeline.ICICI Venture has created a $250 million fund kitty for investing in 11 such deals. This kitty is part of the company's India Advantage Fund, Series-II.

ICICI Venture arm to invest Rs65 crore in Medica Synergie

I-Ven Medicare, a special vehicle for investments of ICICI Venture, will invest Rs65 crore in Medicare Synergie Pvt Ltd, a healthcare chain based in the eastern region.
Announcing this in Kolkata today, director ICICI Venture and I-Ven Medicare Aluri Srinivasa Rao told reporters this was the first round of financing in Medicare Synergie. A second round of another Rs65 crore would be done in 18 months, Rao said.
He said the I-Ven Medicare would make an exit after a period of three to five years in the healthcare chain.

About I-Ven Medicare, Rao said the vehicle would invest in 12 healthcare projects across the country.He said I-Ven was talking to a strategic partner for picking up stake in the vehicle.The total kitty size of I-Ven would $ 250 million, out of which $ 90 million would be raised as debt, and the balance shared equally between the two.
Chairman and managing director, Medicare Synergie Alok Roy said his company would set up eight hospitals in the eastern region including Kolkata, at a cost of Rs270 crore.
Medicare Synergie plans to have 2,400 beds in one year, he said.

ICICI venture firm acquires Alved Pharma

ICICI venture firm, RFCL Ltd, today said it will acquire Chennai-based veterinary healthcare firm Alved Pharma and Foods Pvt Ltd for an undisclosed amount.RFCL has signed a definitive share purchase agreement to acquire Alved Pharma, which would see transfer all key people, assets, all contracts including exports and the brand name, the ICICI Venture firm said in a statement.

The company said that this acquisition complements the animal healthcare business of Vetnex, the veterinary wing of RFCL, in terms of product profile and distribution network.Last year, RFCL had acquired Wipro Biomed and Godrej Medical Diagnostics.It expects the animal healthcare business of Vetnex to close at Rs90 crore for FY08, with a growth of 22% over FY07.

Read more in The LIve Mint article.

ICICI Ventures may exit Dr Reddy's R&D unit

ICICI Venture Funds and Citigroup Venture Capital are likely to pull out their investment in Dr Reddy’s Laboratories’ drug research company, Perlecan Pharma, on concerns over the commercial viability of its experimental drugs. The two investors have begun talks with Dr Reddy’s to sell their stake for their initial investment of $26 million plus interest.

Perlecan Pharma started in September 2005 with four new chemical entities from the Dr Reddy’s stable and has the first right of refusal for further discoveries by the Hyderabad-based company. However, the company this year abandoned the development of a new drug code-named DRL 11605, aimed at treating diabetes and obesity. Perlecan’s pipeline is now left with three molecules: DRF 10945, a molecule targeted at metabolic disorders, currently in phase II of clinical trials, RUS 3108, a cardiovascular drug in phase I, and finally DRL 16536, an anti-diabetic drug in late pre-clinical studies.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

Sequoia, Singapore fund may invest in Excelsoft

Sequoia Capital and a Singapore-based private equity fund are learnt to be in the race to invest upwards of Rs 100 crore in Mysore-based e-learning firm Excelsoft.Excelsoft is a six-year-old firm which provides a range of customised learner-centric learning systems, test and assessment systems, and desktop tools.

According to industry information, the company, which has a topline of around Rs 50 crore is expected to be valued in the range of Rs 350-400 crore for the stake sale. A deal is expected to be sealed by early-January 2008.

Industry sources further indicate that in addition to Sequoia and the Singapore fund, ICICI Venture is also in the fray to invest in this high-margin firm.

Read more in The Business Standard article.

ICICI arm plans Jaypee stake buy

ICICI Venture Funds Management Co. Ltd, the private equity arm of ICICI Bank Ltd, India’s second biggest lender, is planning to invest about $800 million (Rs3,148 crore) to pick up a stake in Jaypee Infratech Ltd, a unit of the cement-to-construction conglomerate Jaypee Group, said a person familiar with the matter.The size of the proposed stake could not be ascertained. Jaiprakash Associates and ICICI Venture declined to comment.

Jaypee Infratech is a fully-owned unit of the Jaypee Group and was floated to implement the Taj Expressway project, a 165km highway connecting the cities of Noida and Agra in Uttar Pradesh along the banks of the Yamuna river. The company has also got the right to develop 25 million sq. m of land along the expressway, according to annual report of group company Jaiprakash Associates Ltd, which won the rights to build the road. The rights will be transferred to Jaypee Infra-tech, the report said.

Read more in The Livemint article.

ICICI Venture seen in talks to buy out Shalimar

Shalimar paints is rumored to be in discussions with ICICI Venture for a possible majority stake sale to the latter.The PE major was working on tabling a possible offer valuing the company at around Rs 450 crore.The company, with three plants at Sikandrabad, Nashik and Howrah, has an annual capacity of around 43,000 tonnes.

When contacted, ICICI Venture declined to comment. Sandeep Sarda, executive director & CEO, Shalimar Paints, said: “If there is a proposal, we might examine it. But as of now, there is nothing before us. And we are unaware of any such developments.”

However,it is rumored that talks have taken place between ICICI Ventures and Shalimar on a possible deal. It is learnt that for the promoters, Jindals and Jhunjunwalas who have diversified interests, the paint business may not be core any longer, triggering a possible sale .

Recently, the company informed the exchanges it would undertake development of its real estate assets through a JV. Around 35% of the domestic paint market is still in the unorganised segment. Asian Paints is the leader with about 27% stake, while Berger and Nerolac are locked in the second slot with 12% each. ICI, in which Asian Paints is a stakeholder, follows with roughly 9% share.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

ICICI Venture, Baring PE set to buy 32% in Karvy for Rs 500 cr

Leading private equity investors ICICI Venture and Baring Private Equity Asia are set to invest around Rs 500 crore to pick up around 32% stake in Karvy Stock Broking Limited (KRBL), an arm of the Hyderabad-based Karvy Group.

The deal puts the enterprise value of the securities firm at around Rs 1,500-1,600 crore. MAPE Advisory Group advised Karvy on the transaction. The valuation, however, is lower than that of other established stock broking and investment banking players like Edelweiss Capital, Indiabulls, Motilal Oswal Securities and India Infoline which took PE route in the past and raised funds from the primary market.

ICICI Venture and Baring Private Equity are buying the 20% equity held by existing investor Pacific Century Group (PCG), while an additional 12% stake will be offered to them in the form of fresh equity, according to sources. The Hong Kong-based PCG had acquired the stake for Rs 83 crore in 2005, which had valued Karvy at around Rs 415 crore then.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

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ICICI Ven buys Karvy stake:Sources

ICICI Ven buys Karvy stake:Sources

ICICI Venture seems to have got a toehold in Karvy Stock Broking, which, sources said, is most likely to have parted with a chunk of its equity in favour of the domestic private equity (PE) fund.

While neither the value of the deal nor the size of the stake could be officially ascertained, it is learnt that Hong Kong’s Century Pacific Group, which had invested in Karvy in mid-2005, wanted out.

Century Pacific had picked up a 20% stake in Karvy Stock Broking for Rs 83 crore, which had valued Karvy at Rs 415 crore then.Sources indicated that Karvy now values itself at around Rs 1,000 crore, which is probably one of the reasons why others opted out of the race.

Karvy chairman C Parthasarathy, however, denied the closure of any deal with ICICI Venture.

Read more in The DNA Money article.

UBS, ICICI offload Deccan Aviation stake

UBS Securities, ICICI Ventures and ICICI Bank today sold a part of their shareholding in Deccan Aviation, owner of the low-cost Air Deccan airline.In a series of bulk deals, Money Matters bought all the shares sold by the three entities for nearly Rs 102 crore.

While UBS Securities sold 1.79 per cent stake, ICICI Ventures offloaded 2.31 per cent stake. ICICI Ventures holds shares in Air Deccan through Western India Trustees and Executor Company. ICICI Bank sold 0.91 per cent stake.Prior to the sell-of ICICI Ventures held 6.78 per cent stake, UBS had 2.53 per cent and ICICI Bank 1.05 per cent.

ICICI Bank and UBS sold the Deccan shares at Rs 150 each, and ICICI Ventures sold the shares at Rs 149.96 each.ICICI got Rs 46.9 crore from the sale, UBS got Rs 36.5 crore and ICICI Bank Rs 18.6 crore.

The sale has happened at a time when Vijay Mallya’s UB Group is scaling up its shareholding in Deccan Aviation through a 20 per cent open offer. Priced at Rs 155 a share, the offer was triggered with the Kingfisher group acquiring a 26 per cent stake in the airline. The offer will close on October 1.

Notz Stucki in race for ICICI’s 63% stake in Infomedia

Notz Stucki, one of the largest asset managers in Europe, has joined the race for ICICI Venture’s 63% stake in Infomedia (formerly Tata Infomedia). Private equity funds such as General Atlantic, Blackstone and Warburg Pincus have also shown interest to buy out ICICI Venture’s stake in the media firm.

The buyer of ICICI Venture’s stake will have to make an open offer, and shell out upwards of Rs 400 crore. On Thursday, Infomedia’s shares closed at Rs 233.90 on BSE, taking the market capitalisation to Rs 461crore.

In India, Notz Stucki is managed by a team led by Anil Singhvi, former managing director of Ambuja Cements. “Notz Stucki is one of the serious contenders for Infomedia,” sources close to the development said.

ICICI Venture acquired Tata’s 50% stake in Infomedia India in 2003 for Rs 123 crore. It later acquired an additional 13% through an open offer.Infomedia publishes the popular business directory Yellow Pages and some well-known niche magazines.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

Imerys is close to acquiring ACE

French major Imerys is close to acquiring ACE Refractories, erstwhile ACC Refractories, for nearly Rs 550 crore.

ICICI Ventures, the country’s largest private equity fund, had purchased the refractory division of the cement major ACC two years ago for Rs 257 crore and rechristened it as ACE Refractory. Through this deal, ICICI Ventures would be able to double its investment in the company in two years.

Sources close to the development said Euronext-listed Imerys, which is the world’s largest industrial metals company, would acquire the entire shareholding of ICICI Ventures in ACE Refractory. A deal to this effect is likely to be announced shortly. Imerys is listed with Euronext Paris.

They said the investment vehicle for Imeys for the deal would be Calderys, the refractory solutions company of Imerys. Calderys, one of the major players in the global refractory space, was created through the merger of Plibrico International and Lafarge Refractories.

Read more in The Business Standard article.

Subhiksha to offload 10% in IPO

India’s largest chain of discount supermarkets, Subhiksha Trading Services Ltd, plans to offload a 10% stake in an initial public offering this fiscal year to fund its expansion programme as organized retail takes off in the country.

The promoters, who currently hold 65% of the stake in the company, will dilute their stake to 58%; investment firm ICICI Venture will pare its share to 29% from 32%; and the employees’ share will come down to 2.5% from 3%, according to R. Subramanian, managing director of Chennai-based Subhiksha, which currently operates some 700 stores that sell everything from mango to medicines.

Subramanian declined to say what he valued the company at or how much money the company plans to raise by off-loading the 10% stake. A spokesperson for ICICI Venture wasn’t immediately available for comment.

The company has been on a rapid expansion mode this year opening hundreds of stores in various parts of the country. Earlier this year, Subhiksha raised around Rs500 crore as part of the expansion plans to take the number of its stores to 1,000 by the end of the year. The company, which started out in 1997 as a single store, generated Rs803 crore revenue in the year ended March and is targeting Rs2,200 crore in sales this fiscal year.

Read more in The Livemint article.

Reed Elsevier to pick up ICICI Ventures’ stake in Infomedia

ICICI Ventures, the country’s largest venture capital firm, is likely to sell its entire 63.3% stake in the publishing company, Infomedia, which is valued around Rs 235 crore at the current market price.

ICICI Ventures was earlier considering part-stake sale, but later it decided to sell the entire stake if it gets good valuations. Infomedia has twelve b2b titles and eight b2c special interest magazines in its repertoire.It was further learnt that ICICI Ventures is in talks with UK’s Reed Elsevier for the stake sale.

Infomedia India (formerly, Tata Infomedia) has a 51-49 joint venture with Reed Business Info, a division of Reed Elsevier. ICICI Ventures exit, Prakash Iyer, managing director, Infomedia India, told DNA Money: “It’s not true.”

Read more in DNA Money article.