Lemon Tree, Warburg Pincus Close To Affordable Housing JV - Patu Keswani, promoter of Lemon Tree chain of hotels, is in final stage talks with global private equity investor Warburg Pincus to float a joint venture for his affordable housing project. The talks are underway for a $100mn investment in an affordable housing JV with first project in Gurgaon. The project, Lemon Tree Residences, will be priced between Rs 30- Rs 75 lakh. (Economic Times)
Spectranet To Sell 26% To PEs - Internet services provider Spectranet will invest Rs 500 crore over the next five years to increase its broadband infrastructure, number of retail subscribers and create hotspots in India. The Shyam Group-promoted company may raise money from bank loans, internal accruals and by offloading up to 26% stake by June to private equity investors, Shyam Group had acquired Spectranet from Punj Lloyd in 2008. (Economic Times)
Etisalat Eyes M&A Options - Emirates Telecommunication Corp, the Arab world's second-largest telecom operator by market value, will look at merging its Indian operations with a larger telecoms company or acquiring another mobile phone company here after the government comes out with a new policy for the sector. The UAE-headquartered telco had recently been in talks with several mobile phone companies in India, including Anil Ambani promoted Reliance Communications for a deal. (Economic Times)
General Atlantic May Invest Over Rs 150Cr In ReGen Powertech - Private equity giant General Atlantic Partners is holding discussions to invest over Rs 150 crore, or at least $35 million, for a minority stake in wind turbine maker ReGen Powertech. The PE firm may subscribe to fresh shares in the company besides giving a partial exit to existing investor Everstone Capital. Nuziveedu Seeds Group, India's largest seed company, and Everstone Capital are majority shareholders in ReGen which has revenues of around Rs 500 crore. (Times of India)
Godrej's Nature's Basket Eyes PE Funding - Godrej Industries-promoted retail venture Nature's Basket is looking at the possibility of raising funds through private equity players as it expands its operations in the southern markets. Nature's Basket has outlets in Mumbai and Delhi, and its first outlet down South is scheduled to open in Bangalore. The company plans to look at private equity instead of an IPO and needs investments to the tune of Rs 15 crore. With 11 company-owned stores, Nature's Basket is currently funded by Godrej Industries, the holding company of the Godrej Group. (HinduBusinessLine)
Blackstone To Invest $600M In Next Two Months - Private equity giant The Blackstone Group plans to invest close to $600 million in India in the next 60 days and is in advanced stages of discussions with potential companies. The firm is currently evaluating two companies for a possible placement in the power sector for deals of between $100-150 million range. Blackstone has invested around $1.3 billion across 12 deals in India since setting up shop in 2005. (DNA)
Langham Hotels To Invest $100M Four 4 Properties - Hong Kong-based Langham Hotels International (LHI) will invest $100 million to develop four properties with over 650 keys in the Indian market. Asian property giant Great Eagle Holdings, listed in Hong Kong, controls the European hospitality brand Langham with a chain of hotels across the world. LHI's first Indian project, a 97 key transit hotel with under Eaton Smart brand at the Delhi International Airport, is set to open doors within six weeks. (Times of India)
Wockhardt To Merge Vinton Healthcare Unit - Drug maker Wockhardt's board has approved a plan to merge the nutrition business of Vinton Healthcare, its wholly-owned subsidiary, with itself. Vinton Healthcare Ltd is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company so no shares would be issued by the company pursuant to the aforesaid scheme of demerger. Earlier, Wockhardt had decided to sell its nutrition business to Abbott for Rs630 crore, but the deal was jointly aborted. (Business Standard)
