Accel India Eyes $125M For New VC Fund - Accel Partners is set to embark on a fresh round of fund-raising dedicated to India and is firming up plans for a $125 million fund which will be its third in India. The marquee venture capital fund, best known for investing early on in Facebook and Groupon, is understood to have sounded out its intent to various large fund of funds. Accel Partners entered India in late 2008 when it acquired Bangalore's Erasmic, which was managing a $15 million fund. Accel post that went on raise its second fund in India and as of now manages a total $80 million and has so far backed 30 companies. (Business Standard)
Lafarge Eyes Meghalaya Firm - Lafarge India is in talks with the promoters of Meghalaya-based Star Cement for a majority stake in the company as part of the French cement major’s move to step up its operations in the east. Talks between the two have progressed to a due diligence stage. While a deal at $120-$130/tonne valuation seems plausible, the promoters are said to be looking at a considerable premium of $200/tonne. The final deal size, inclusive of debt, could be $250- $275 million ( Rs 1,000- Rs 1,200 crore). (Business Standard)
Madras Cement To Sell Bengal Unit - Madras Cements, the flagship enterprise of Chennai-based Ramco Group, is holding talks with European giants Lafarge and Holcim to divest its cement grinding unit in West Bengal for roughly Rs 350 crore. PE giant KKR-backed Dalmia Cements had evinced early interest but has dropped out of the deal-making now. The unit located at Kolaghat in Purba Medinipur district in West Bengal was set up to feed cement from the surplus southern to eastern region. (Times of India)
Bharti Infratel Plans $1B IPO - Bharti Infratel, the tower arm of Bharti Airtel, plans to raise about $1 billion, or Rs 4,500 crore, by selling a 10% stake through an initial public offer (IPO). The proposed IPO, partly to provide an exit to shareholders, is likely to value the company at about $10 billion, 20% lower than the valuation it had in February 2008, when US-based PE firm Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts (KKR) picked a 2% stake in it for $250 million. The company would also issue fresh shares for the proposed issue to fund its expansion plans. (Economic Times)
Anchor Earth, Parinee Up Stake In Kochi Tuskers - Anchor Earth and real estate firm Parinee Developers and Properties have raised their stake in Indian Premier League team Kochi Tuskers Kerala to 80% by buying shares from co-promoters Rendezvous Sports World Pvt. Ltd and Film Waves Combine Pvt. Ltd. The stake has been distributed among the two in the ratio of their existing shareholding. Anchor, which sold an 80% stake in its electrical switches and cables business to Matsushita Electric Works in 2007 for $420 million (Rs.1,865 crore today), has raised its stake in Tuskers to more than 40%.
Frontier Mediville To Raise Rs 20Cr - Frontier Mediville, the proposed medicity project of Chennai-based KM Cherian promoted Frontier Lifeline, is looking at raising Rs 16-20 crore through private equity (PE) to invest in the first phase. The Rs 1,000-crore Frontier Mediville project is coming up on 350 acre of which 42 acre had received SEZ status from the central government in 2009. The project is expected to be ready in three phases. (Business Standard)
Cordiant Capital Lends $10M To Jordan-India Fertiliser Company - Cordiant Capital, a Montreal-based fund manager that specialises in loans to private borrowers in emerging markets, has committed a $10 million loan to Jordan-India Fertiliser Company ‘JIFCO’. The loan will finance the construction of a new $186 million plant in Jordan using phosphate rocks from local mines to produce phosphoric acid, a fertiliser, for the Indian market. (Business Line)
Genpact Acquires HR Subsidiary of Nissan - Business process outsourcing (BPO) major Genpact today said it had acquired the human resources (HR) services subsidiary of Japanese automotive company Nissan Motor in Yokohama for an undisclosed amount. As a part of the deal, 136 employees of Nissan Human Information Service (NHIS) will be absorbed in Genpact. NHIS currently handles HR functions for Nissan's 54,000 employees worldwide. (Business Standard)
