Private equity and hedge funds seem to be playing their parts in the brief rally that the Indian stock markets are witnessing. Multi-strategy fund New Vernon has picked up minor stakes in two
companies. New Vernon bought little more than 3% stake in Indage Vintners for Rs 2.76 crore. Indage Vintners, formerly known as Champagne Indage, is one of the oldest wine producer in the country.
New Vernon also picked up shares in real estate firm Orbit Corporation for Rs 1.42 crore for a less than 1% stake. It was only yesterday that Orbit Corporation got approval from Bombay High Court for amalgamation of Orbit Shelter Pvt Ltd with itself. The company share price rose by 18% yesterday.
New Vernon is an active investor in Indian markets, both public and private. Some of its investments include INX Media, Prime Securities and Sarover Hotels.
Some hedge funds also saw this rally as a good exit opportunity and a chance to cut their losses. Hedge funds around the world have come under redemption pressures as their portfolio values have shrunk since last year.
Genesis Indian Investment Company sold shares worth around Rs 6.5 crore in Balaji Telefilms, accounting for around 2.67% stake. Another hedge fund active was ICG Q, a fully owned subsidiary of India Capital Growth Fund, which dumped more than half a million shares in Asian
Electronics for around Rs 23 per share.
Also there were multiple block deals involving United Breweries, UB Group's beer company, where Deutsche Securities bought 11% stake from DB International Asia for around Rs 273 crore. The deal was an inter-scheme transfer by Deutsche Bank.
