Edelweiss, Altico in race for IL&FS PE; SBI finds few takers for Essar Steel loan

By Ankit Agarwal

  • 23 Jan 2019
Credit: 123RF.com

IL&FS Investment Managers Ltd, the private equity arm of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd, has received takeover interest from 10 to 12 companies, a media report said.

The Economic Times reported, citing an industry source it didn't identify, that Edelweiss, India Infoline and Altico Capital were among the suitors for IL&FS PE.

The alternative investment fund management business of IL&FS manages PE funds and infrastructure debt funds. It has total assets under management of about Rs 13,340 crore. IL&FS PE is the only publicly traded private equity fund manager in India. It invests across three asset classes, including real estate and infrastructure.

IL&FS is also selling its education, roads, renewable energy and securities services business in India as well as an operation and maintenance business in the US.

Meanwhile, State Bank of India's planned sale of its loans to Essar Steel Ltd has found few takers, Mint reported, citing three people aware of the matter.

The state-run bank had last week put Essar Steel loans worth Rs 15,431 crore up for sale. The Mint report said that SBI did not attract bidders since its demand seems high.

The loans come with a precondition that caps the profit a winning bidder can make through bankruptcy resolution at 18%; the difference accruing from any higher profit must go to SBI. However, the bank won’t be liable for any loss the bidder might face, the report said.

Essar Steel owes more than Rs 49,000 crore to more than two dozen banks. The company was dragged into the bankruptcy tribunal in 2017. In October last year, lenders to Essar had approved a joint bid by ArcelorMittal and Japan's Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp.

In another report, Mint cited two people as saying that Gurugram-based milk startup Country Delight has received $7-10 million in a Series B round of funding led by new investor Matrix Partners.

Orios Venture Partners, IMFR Trust and MAN Impact Accelerator are the previous backers of the company. 

Chakradhar Gade and Nitin Kaushal founded Country Delight in 2013. The startup offers fresh milk delivery, paneer, curd, and ghee to houses through subscription model. 

Country Delight competes with the likes of Doodhwala, which is backed agri-focussed venture firm Omnivore, Delhi-based Farmery and iOrganic in Gurugram.

Matrix Partners has previously invested in milk and grocery delivery startup DailyNinja. 

Separately, Mint cited three people as saying that automobile repair startup GoMechanic has raised Rs 30-35 crore ($4-4.9 million) in a Series A round led by Sequoia Capital

The startup is also in talks to raise funds from Snapdeal co-founder Kunal Bahl and Oyo founder Ritesh Agarwal, the report said.

GoMechanic has previously raised funding from early-stage venture capital firm Orios Venture Partners and Venture Catalyst.

It has workshops across Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune and Bengaluru and is planning to launch operations in Indore, Kanpur and Jaipur, the report said.

GoMechanic competes with Blume Ventures-backed Pitstop, besides established rivals such as Mahindra First Choice, MY TVS and Crossroads.