As the global economy is still reeling under the subprime crisis, infrastructure investing is becoming fashionable globally. Soon after Morgan Stanley and Global Infrastructure Partners (a PE firm backed by Credit Suisse and General Electric) announced almost $10 billion worth funds for infrastructure, here is one of the largest PE firms in the world, Kohlberg [...]

MPM Capital, the largest venture capital investor dedicated solely to healthcare, has made a $20 million investment in Hyderabad-based Sai Advantium Pharma, a chemistry-driven drug discovery and development service company. This is the first investment by MPM Capital in India.
As part of the deal, MPM Managing Director William Greene is joining Sai Advantium’s Board of [...]

Axis Private Equity, the private equity arm of Axis Bank, has made its maiden deal. It has invested $30 million (Rs 126 crore) in Delhi-based railway line manufacturer Harish Chandra India Ltd (HCIL), through its recently-launched Axis Infrastructure Fund-I. Business Standard reported that Axis PE has picked up over 25 per cent stake in the [...]

Even as the domestic primary market is struggling to get back on track, an India-focused firm is raising this year’s biggest IPO at London’s AIM market. KSK Emerging India Energy Fund has announced that it plans to raise up to $500 million through a dual listing at AIM and the Channel Islands Stock Exchange, Financial [...]

Citigroup has raised $500 million for investing in Indian infrastructure sector, Bloomberg reported. This is part of the $5 billion Indian infrastructure fund Citigroup is raising along with Blackstone Group LP. The fund would invest in roads, ports and utilities in India.
Indian infrastructure sector needs $450 billion in investments by 2012. There has been a [...]

The IPO-bound telecom tower company Reliance Infratel is selling a 5 per cent stake to certain unnamed US and European investors at a valuation of Rs 50,000 crore, which is interestingly the double of the valuation of the previous pre-IPO deal of Rs 28,000 crore in August last year. Press Trust of India today reported, [...]

Two high profile initial public offers (IPO) have been cleared by market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India, while the government has rejected a proposal for the follow on public offer by National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC). The public offer of India’s largest commodity exchange Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) and the one [...]

Percept Holdings announced that it is planning to raise Rs 1,500 crore ($375 million) through a mix of private equity, IPO and debt for funding its expansion plans. The company, which is in the business of entertainment, media and communications, had recently raised Rs 150 crore through Edelweiss, Passport Capital and Indivision. This deal valued [...]

UK-based private equity firm 3i Group reported on Thursday a 37 per cent growth in assets under management for the fiscal year ending March. The company reported an increase in its investments from 7.1 billion pounds last year to 9.8 billion pounds ($19.1 billion) this year but said its return on investments fell to 18.6 [...]

ICICI Venture Fund Management Pvt Ltd, the private equity arm of India’s second largest bank ICICI Bank, will raise as much as $3 billion for an infrastructure and a real estate fund, reports Bloomberg.
ICICI Venture will start the roadshows next week for a $1.5 billion fund, and may also look at raising a real estate [...]

The US economic slowdown is throwing up a raft of new opportunities for Indian companies who have been eyeing acquisitions in the global market. Sanjay Dalmia-owned GHCL (formerly Gujarat Heavy Chemicals Ltd.) is one among those companies apparently in the race to acquire Linens’n Things, the second largest speciality home furnishings retailer in the US, [...]

Contrary to the reports earlier, Citigroup is not exiting the consumer finance business in India. “We are only repositioning and resegmenting the products. Consumer finance is important for India,” Sanjay Nayar, Citigroup’s country head in India, told Reuters.
According to a newspaper report early this month, Citigroup had approached several banks to sell its vehicle and [...]

The state-run power project lender, Power Finance Corp (PFC) Ltd, may seek funds from India Infrastructure Finance Co Ltd (IIFCL), reports Reuters. PFC has requested $2 billion to $3 billion of IIFCL’s $5 billion funding facility, PFC Chairman V K Garg has been quoted as saying by Reuters. PFC is also in talks with a [...]

After a fiercley competitive bidding, Lafarge, the world’s second-largest cement maker, has bagged Larsen and Toubro’s ready mix concrete (RMC) business for $349 million (Rs 1,480 crore). Lafarge will be acquiring 66 concrete plants located across India, in key markets such as Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Bangalore, with total estimated volumes of 4.1Mm3 in 2008 [...]

Hewlett-Packard Co. has struck a $13.9 billion deal to buy Electronic Data Systems Corp., a move that would create a global IT services and consulting powerhouse with annual sales of around $37 billion, second only to IBM’s $54 billion services business.
The deal would be HP’s biggest since its $19 billion purchase of Compaq in 2002. [...]