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News Roundup: Sequoia Capital fuels tier II online story in Cardekho

By TEAM VCC

  • 21 Nov 2013

Sequoia Capital fuels tier II online story in Cardekho: Marquee venture capital firm Sequoia Capital is backing a tier II consumer internet story, fueling an audacious billion-dollar dream of its two founders from Jaipur. Sequoia Capital is expected to invest over $15 million (Rs 94 crore) for a 20% stake in GirnarSoftware, which owns internet portals Cardekho, Bikedekho and Pricedekho. The deal values the five-year-old company at over $50 million in its first round of funding, and promises to take the business engine beyond India. A formal announcement on the fund-raise is expected soon. Last week, Sequoia funded online food and restaurants' listings platform Zomato, which has been valued at Rs 900 crore. (Times of India)

Tata Technologies to take M&A route to grow revenues: Tata Technologies plans to make an acquisition in the Construction and Heavy Engineering (C&HE) segment in a bid to grow its revenues. The company, which has set a target to reach $1 billion mark by 2017, is eyeing a buy in one of the developed markets by this year-end. Currently, the company has revenues close to $400 million. Further to boost revenues, the company, which employs around 6,750 professionals, plans to hire 17,000 in different countries by 2017, according to company officials. (Business Line)

Zoom Developers’ assets put on the block again by UBI: State-run United Bank of India has put the assets of project development company Zoom Developers on the block for the third time in an effort to recover loans worth Rs 2,650 crore ($425 million). The earlier attempts of sale did not succeed as no one was willing to pay the reserve price, a senior UBI executive said. UBI, which put the sale notice in leading dailies on Monday, aims to recover at least Rs 72.88 crore (total reserve price), which is just about 2.75% of the outstanding dues. The last date of receiving the tender is December 19. A consortium of 25 lenders, led by Punjab National Bank has mandated UBI to carry out the auction process. The lenders have so far failed to recover the dues. (Economic Times)

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GSPC plans to pick up only 1% equity in ONGC petro project: State-owned Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) has decided not to pick up more than one per cent of equity in the upcoming Rs 21,396-crore ($3.4 billion) mega petrochemical project of ONGC Petro Additions (OPAL) on account of cost escalations. According to the MoU signed between ONGC and the state government during Vibrant Gujarat Investors' Summit, GSPC was supposed to buy 5% equity in the delayed project at Dahej Petroleum Chemical & Petrochemical Investment Region in Bharuch district of Gujarat. Central public sector units ONGC and Gail have 26% and 15.50% equity in OPAL, respectively. The promoters have tied for the debt of Rs 15,000 crore while balance investments would come in the form of equity from partners. (Economic Times)

Mahanagar Gas plans Rs 1,000 crore IPO next year: Mumbai's natural gas supplier, Mahanagar Gas is planning an initial public offer (IPO) worth around Rs 1000 crores ($160.3 million), sources with direct knowledge said. Company expects a valuation of over Rs 6000 crores and is in talks with banks for giving a mandate for the public offer. GAIL and British Gas own 49.75% each in Mahanagar Gas and the rest is held by the Maharashtra government. GAIL and British Gas would sell shares by way of the public offer and monetize their investments. Mahanagar Gas has, in the past, shelved their IPO plans. (Economic Times)

HDFC plans to raise Rs 250 crore via non-convertible debentures: Mortgage lender HDFC will raise Rs 250 crore ($40 million) through non-convertible debentures (NCDs) for general corporate requirements. According to sources, the one-day NCD issue would open and close on November 26. The funds were raised to meet general corporate needs. HDFC issues 14th month NCD of Rs 250 crore with a green shoe option at 9.8% annual coupon rate, a source said. (Economic Times)

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Billionaire Birla Said to Delay Idea Share Sale: Billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla’s Idea Cellular Ltd. (IDEA) delayed a stock sale as it awaits clarity on Indian spectrum licenses, said a person with knowledge of the decision. The company may start the sale to institutions to raise as much as 30 billion rupees ($481 million) next year after originally aiming to complete it this month, according to two people. A panel in India’s telecommunications ministry has recommended an increase of as much as 25 per cent for airwaves to be sold in January over prices advised by industry supervisor Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in September. The proposal needs to be approved by a group of ministers. (Bloomberg)

Bangalore healthcare chain plans to raise Rs 100 cr: Bangalore-based NationWide Primary Healthcare Services, a chain of primary healthcare clinics, has decided to tweak its business model. The healthcare chain, which was hitherto operating mostly through corporate tie-ups, will now focus on full-fledged retail clinics to cater to patients of all categories. This means NationWide, founded in March 2010, will need more funds. While the company, which had raised Rs 25 crore from Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) in September 2012, confirms it is gearing up for another round of fund-raising of about Rs 100 crore ($16 million), it refuses to say from whom is it raising the funds. The company would use the funds to expand from the current 15-odd clinics to 20 by the end of March 2014. (Business Standard)

JSM Corp is likely to bid for Daily Bread: JSM Corporation, that runs restaurants and quick servcie outlets in Mumbai, might bid for Daily Bread, the gourmet bakery chain owned by Britannia Industries. Backed by Azim Premji’s private equity arm PremjiInvest, the company is eyeing Daily Bread to widen its reach in the country. Britannia had acquired a majority stake in Daily Bread in mid-2006 and gained full control by 2009. At the end of 2012, PremjiInvest, the private equity arm of Azim Premji, had acquired a 22 per cent stake in JSM with an investment of $25 million. The founders together hold 60% in JSM, while the remaining stake is held by other individuals. (Business Standard)

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Infor Global scouts for acquisitions: Infor Global Solutions, a US-based enterprise software and services company, is on the lookout for more acquisitions including in India that would help it go deeper and deeper into industries. The $3-billion, privately held company has so far acquired 50 companies since its inception in 2002, with the latest being San Francisco-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider Orbis Global in December 2012. It acquired US-based LawSon Software Americas Inc in a $2-billion bid in 2011. (Business Standard)

Courtesy: VCCEdge

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