Osian`s sells 9.4% stake to PE firm

Osian’s Connoisseurs of Art has signed an agreement to sell an approximately 9.4 per cent stake to Abraaj Capital, Dubai-based private equity firm, for Rs 80 crore. Osian’s valuation, going by this transaction, is Rs 840 crore. Arif Masood Naqvi, vice chairman and group chief executive officer of Abraaj, will join the Osian’s board.

Starting with its first auction in 2000, Osian’s, founded by Neville Tuli, has grown into a unique private-sector art institution straddling various sectors of art, films and lately, sports. There is Osian’s archive of visual and textual material which includes rare etchings, lithographs, maps of India, British Indian photography, popular art, cinema publicity material.

In 2004, Osian’s acquired film journal Cinemaya, and took over the organising of Cinefan, the film festival.Having acquired Minerva theatre in Mumbai in 2006, where it is building Osianama, a museum for cinema and the arts, the company has also ventured into film production.

Read more in The Business Standard article.

Tata Sky plans to raise up to $200 mn

Tata Sky a DTH major which is a 80:20 JV between the Tata group and television network Star is considering a second round of funding of $150-200 million and is in conversation with various private equity players such as Providence, Carlyle, Blackstone, Goldman Sachs and Apax Partners.

By law, a DTH operator in India has to be have a minimum holding of 51% by an Indian entity. Singapore-based PE player Temasek had bought about 10% for about $56 million. The valuation of the company in three months has risen more than two-fold.

Tata Sky is looking at diluting about 10% stake. The current holding structure of Tata Sky looks like this: 20% with Star (FDI), 10% with Temasek (FII) and 70% with the Tata’s. Tata Sky’s fund-raising is timed to coincide with the proposed launch of Reliance Communications and Bharti’s DTH operations. In order to face the threat from Reliance and Bharti, Tata Sky needs to ramp up in terms of infrastructure and technology.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

Related Post:
Tatas offload 10% in Tata Sky to Temasek

Apollo teams up with PE partners for Capio bid

The Apollo Hospitals Group will tie up with two private-equity players to bid for Capio Healthcare, the UK’s fourth-largest independent healthcare provider, chairman Dr Pratap C Reddy told DNA Money on Tuesday without disclosing the names of the companies.

The biding for Capio, which is valued in the range of $2.36 billion, is set to open in August.

Besides American PE giant Blackstone, others said to be in the running for Capio include property mogul Nick Leslau, who has been joined by the Scottish banking group HBOS and Scottish entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunter

PE funds target small firms

Private equity (PE) funds floated by Indian brokerages are making big inroads into the world of smaller companies as bigger PEs stay away from them.

Brokerages such as Motilal Oswal, Religare, JM Financial, Edelweiss, Anand Rathi Securities, IDBI Capital Markets, which together manage over Rs 2,600 crore, are seeing opportunities in the small-cap space, providing the much-needed expansion capital to entrepreneurs, who otherwise find it tough to raise funds to meet their capital requirements.

IDBI Capital Market Services, the broking and financial subsidiary of IDBI, launched a Rs 50 crore private equity fund aimed at funding small and mid-sized companies. The company along with other PEs such as Sidbi Ventures have invested in GSPC Gas, a subsidiary of Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation.

Read more in The Business Standard article.

Apax eyes Patni pie, may pay $800 mn

UK-based private equity major Apax Partners is learnt to be interested in picking a controlling stake in Patni Computers Systems for over $800 million. Sources close to the development say two mid-tier Indian IT companies and some private equity (PE) funds are also in the fray.

These moves come as Gajendra and Ashok Patni, who are co-founders and together own 28% stake in the Mumbai-based company, are looking to exit. PE firm General Atlantic too is looking to sell 16%. When contacted by ET, Apax Partners India head Neeraj Bharadwaj declined to comment on the possible investment.

Patni Computers was founded by three brothers—Ashok, Narendra and Gajendra Patni—who together own 44% in the company. While the two siblings—Ashok and Gajendra—are keen to sell their stake, Narendra Patni will continue to hold a 16% stake in the company.

Patni was once among the leaders in the Indian software market. But over the years, it has slipped. Today, it’s known more as the company where founders of Infosys Technologies used to work. For fiscal 2006, the company had revenues of $579 million and logged a net profit of $59 million. It had around 13,000 employees at the end of March, 2007.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

Dabur's Unza buyout plan faces hurdles

Dabur India’s proposed buyout of Singapore consumer goods company Unza is delicately poised, with the management resisting the Indian company’s takeover bid. It’s learnt that the private equity (PE) investors who own Unza may begin independent negotiations with other interested parties.

However, talks between Dabur and the PE investors — Actis and Standard Chartered — haven’t fallen through and the Indian FMCG company is hopeful of a breakthrough this week.

At around Rs 650-675 crore, it would be Dabur’s most expensive buy so far and the largest overseas deal in the consumers goods space. Unza, a $150-million company, is majority-owned by Actis and Standard Chartered.

Unza is South-East Asia’s independent manufacturer of personal care products with 48 brands in its portfolio and presence in five markets like China, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Indonesia.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

Global PE funds set to hit the road with $1.5 b kitty

Global private equity funds are set to drive on Indian roads. At least half a dozen PE firms, including Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and few Gulf-based funds are keen on making a foray into the domestic road sector. Experts say funds worth $1-1.5 billion may be invested in the next 6-8 months. This would be the first time PE investments of such magnitude would flow into the sector.

Goldman Sachs recently picked up 5% stake in IL&FS Transportation Networks Limited (ITNL) for a consideration of $20 million. ITNL is a vehicle promoted by IL&FS to spearhead its initiative in the roads sector.Industry experts say PE firms are in talks for investing in public-private partnerships (PPP) projects in which revenue stream has been fixed and identified.

Construction companies are in discussion with PE funds for jointly investing in road projects through the SPV route. Investment bankers say deals in southern and western parts of India are being discussed and some of these are in the range of $50-80 million. Several Gulf-based funds which have global expertise in managing road projects are also learnt to be interested in picking equity in Indian road projects.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

Sharekhan may sell 15% to PE players

Sharekhan, the retail broking arm of the Mumbai-based SSKI Group, is raising funds from private equity (PE)players to finance its expansion.A few private equity players have already started due diligence on Sharekhan, which may dilute close to 15 per cent stake. Shripal Morakhia, promoter of Sharekhan, said, “We are planning to dilute close to 15 per cent stake. This will result in a dilution of stakes of all existing shareholders.”

He, however, refused to divulge the amount the company was planning to raise.At present, the Morakhias hold 37 per cent stake in Sharekhan, while its employees hold 15 per cent and the rest is held by General Atlantic, Intel Capital and a group of funds advised by HSBC Pvt Equity India.

In April last year, General Atlantic invested about Rs 144 crore ( $31 million) in the company through a combination of primary and secondary investments through buying out the entire shareholding of First Carlyle Ventures.

Sharekhan is looking at expanding its presence in the country through organic growth. It is among the top five retail brokerage outfits in the country with over 100 branches across 150 cities.