Blackstone, Temasek eye stake in Wonder Cement; Steadview may invest in Ola

By Keshav Sunkara

  • 31 Oct 2018
Credit: Reuters

Private equity major Blackstone and Singapore state investor Temasek are in separate talks to pick up 15-20% stake in Wonder Cement Ltd for Rs 1,000 crore, a person in the know told The Economic Times.

Wonder Cement may be valued at $800-900 million (Rs 6,000-6,600 crore), the report said.

Investment bank JPMorgan is advising Wonder Cement on the stake sale, according to the report.

Wonder Cement has a plant in Rajasthan, with a yearly capacity of 6.75 million tonnes. It also has a grinding plant in Maharashtra, with a yearly capacity of two million tonnes, according to its website.

In another development, home-grown cab-hailing major Ola, run by ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd, is in talks to raise $100 million (about Rs 735 crore) from existing investor Hong Kong-based hedge fund Steadview Capital, The Economic Times reported.

Citing three people aware of the development, the report said the investment could value Ola at $5.5-6.5 billion.

The current round of funding will also see participation from Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal, according to the report.

Last month, Ola had raised $50 million (Rs 360 crore) from China-Eurasian Economic Co-operation Fund and Hong Kong-based Sailing Capital.

In October 2017, it raised $1.1 billion (Rs 7,174 crore) in a round, led by China’s Tencent Holdings, which included existing Japanese investor SoftBank Group Corp. and a few new US-based financial investors.

Separately, home-grown private equity firm Kedaara Capital is in advanced discussions to pick up a stake in Bengaluru-based Micro Plastics Pvt. Ltd, Mint reported, citing three people aware of the development.
 
Micro Plastics is a contract manufacturer and exporter of toys, model hobby kits and sport equipment to US and European companies. It also makes plastic injection components and subassemblies to companies in sectors such as appliances, electronics, telecom and heavy engineering, according to its website.

Investment bank Veda Corporate Advisors is advising the company on the stake sale, according to the report.

Micro Plastics’ net sales stood at Rs 150.5 crore for the year through March 2017, up from Rs 109.6 crore a year earlier, according to VCCEdge (www.VCCEdge.com), the data intelligence platform of News Corp VCCircle.

In another development, renewable energy producer ACME Solar Holdings Ltd is planning a private infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) and has hired investment banks Barclays and JPMorgan for advice, Mint reported.

Citing two people aware of the development, the report said the proposed InvIT will be sold only to institutional investors.