A consortium of private equity fund ChrysCapital and Singapore government's sovereign wealth fund GIC has emerged as the front-runner to purchase growth capital fund New Silk Route's (NSR) 100% stake in retail financial services and distribution company Destimoney. ChrysCapital has teamed up with GIC to bid for the financial services company. They seem to have gained a clear edge over rival bidders," said a person directly involved with the transaction. The deal may value the company between INR 1,000 crore and INR 1,100 crore as it involves strategic 49% stake in PNBBSE -0.83 % Housing Finance. PNB Housing Finance is the largest unlisted player in the space. Housing companies are usually valued at 1.2 times of their networth. The proposed transaction will mark the culmination of a competitive bidding process, which started three months ago. NSR has mandated investment bank Morgan Stanley to sell the privately-held company where it holds 100% stake. Other PE funds such as Actis and General Atlantic Partners had also participated in the bidding. (Economic Times)
Trip2success.com bets on expansion plans via angel investor, venture capital: The online tutorial service provider Trip2success.com, which started its services in September 2013 at Koramangala is now planning for expansion with its widening client base.Talking about the future plans of the venture, Sony George said that the company has started looking for an angel investor to raise funds and a venture capitalist for its expansion, marketing, sales and branding initiatives. "Right now, we are looking to raise INR 10 crores ($1.66 million) from a VC and INR 1-2 crore from an angel investor. Typically venture capital funding takes some time to come in, meanwhile; we are looking for angel investments to keep us going. The funds raised will be predominantly used for sales, marketing and branding initiatives. We are also actively looking to increasing institutional level sales," said Sony George, founder director and CEO of trip2sucess.com in a telephonic interview. (Economic Times)
PE firm Creador Capital to close its second fund in August: Creador Capital, an India and Southeast Asia focused private equity fund, is set to close its second fund this August. The new fund with a target corpus of up to $250 million (about Rs 1,500 crore) will see the entry of new investors, including a Bostonbased university endowment fund. As of now the fund has attracted about $220 million (INR 1,320 crore) from several investors who have backed Creador's first fund. The firm, which invests in India, Indonesia and Malaysia, had raised raised a first fund of $132 million (INR 762 crore) last year. "A lot of our LPs (limited partners) did not want us to invest in India when we started out in 2011," said Brahmal Vasudevan, founder & CEO of Creador, who was earlier a managing director at Indiabased private equity firm ChrysCapital. While Creador was initially looking to invest around a fifth of the corpus from new fund in India, this could increase going ahead. "Given the new era with the Modi government, we are contemplating increasing our exposure. But it will be opportunitybased," said Vasudevan. (Economic Times)
Itz Cash scouting to raise INR 120 cr to expand business: Pre-paid card firm Itz Cash Card is scouting for additional funding as it looks to expand its business of providing plastic money for the under-banked. The Mumbai-based company is expected to start discussions to raise over $20 million (INR 120 crore) in its next round of funding. Apart from private equity investors, it could also evaluate strategic investors for funding, according to sources familiar with the development. The company, which is majority owned by the Essel Group, has raised over INR 100 crore in funding from Matrix Partners India, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Intel Capital over two rounds of funding, so far. (Economic Times)
Lupin seeks Europe generics acquisitions of up to $1 billion: Lupin, the drugmaker founded by Indian billionaire Desh Bandhu Gupta, is seeking to build its business in Europe by acquiring generics manufacturers for as much as $1 billion. Lupin is looking for companies with capabilities in complex generics like inhalation products and injectables, dermatology products, and biosimilar drugs, Chief Executive Officer Vinita Gupta said in a phone interview. The company is willing to spend $50 million to $1 billion, she said. Lupin this year announced acquisitions of Nanomi BV, a Netherlands-based company with technology to develop complex injectables, and Laboratorios Grin SA de CV, a Mexican manufacturer of ophthalmic products. Since 2007, Lupin has acquired nine other brands and companies, including Tokyo-based generic injectables manufacturer I'rom Pharmaceutical, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. (Business Standard)
Vijaya Bank eyes INR 600-cr capital mop-up, seeks shareholders’ nod: Vijaya Bank plans to raise about INR 600 crore ($99.8 million) capital to fund its business growth, V Kannan, Chairman & Managing Director, has said. The capital raising could happen either through qualified institutional placement, follow-on public offer or rights issue. This public sector lender has sought shareholders’ approval for the same at the upcoming AGM on June 27. “We are taking an enabling resolution from our shareholders. QIP is the preferred option for us. The timing of the capital raising will depend on the market conditions,†Kannan told Business Line. (Business Line)
To scale up, domestic phone-makers to dial private equity players for funds: After giving the multi-nationals a run for their money, home-grown phone makers are now looking to raise private equity (PE) investments to scale up. As many as three of companies – Spice, Karbonn and Maxx – confirmed to Business Line that they are likely to opt for PE investments; others too may be in the fray. The total targeted fund mop-up could be over INR 400 crore ($66.5 million), sources indicated. PE investments would be for funding expansion, R&D, branding, and as working capital. The new entrant in this list of hopefuls is S Mobility that owns the “Spice†brand of handsets. It is looking to raise approximately INR 300 crore ($50 million) from PE funds over the next 6-9 months. According to Dilip Modi, Chairman, S Mobility, funds will be used for branding purposes to “capture market share in strong markets†and “open up markets where the brand is not significantly presentâ€. According to Ajjay Agarwal, Chairman and Managing Director, Maxx Mobile, the company was looking to raise between INR 50 crore and INR 100 crore from PE placements. A call in this regard was likely to be taken around September this year. The funds would be used as working capital. The other vendor that is exploring fund infusion is Karbonn Mobiles, India’s third largest vendor. Shashin Devsare, Executive Director, Karbonn, indicated that fund infusion could be either by way of PE investments or by bringing in a new partner. The company is planning to offload a 15-20 per cent stake to fund overseas expansion. (The Hindu)
Courtesy: VCCEdge
