Private equity fund CX Partners backed Thyrocare Technologies, which runs diagnostic laboratories, is considering an initial public offering to allow investors to exit, said three people with direct knowledge of the development. The company, which is being valued at around Rs 1,500 crore, will look at selling a stake of about 25-30% in the IPO. Thyrocare founder and chief executive officer A Velumani confirmed that the company is considering a share sale. "We are exploring an initial public offering and currently are preparing ourselves for the process. It will be some time before we can appoint bankers," he said in response to ET's queries. "We will look to give our investors an exit by FY 2016." The plan to list the company comes after PE funds were in advanced discussions with Aditya Birla early in the year for a possible stake sale. Investors are now thinking of an IPO instead because of the current buoyancy in the capital markets, said another investment banker with knowledge of company's plans. Velumani said a strategic sale cannot be ruled out. (The Economic Times)
Vedanta may buy Hindustan Zinc stake via bidding route: Anil Agarwal's Vedanta group may have to get into a bidding war for the government's residual 29.54% stake in Hindustan Zinc as the Centre may choose to sell the holding through an offer for sale (OFS), a window that was opened up by the market regulator at its board meeting last week. The OFS route was originally made available to the top 100 companies by market value as a less cumbersome means of divesting stakes to quickly comply with minimum public shareholding requirements. Since the option was found to be a successful mechanism for offloading a large block of shares, the Securities and Exchange Board of India has made it available to non-promoter shareholders the government in this case with more than a 10% stake in a company. Vedanta group firm Sesa Sterlite owns 64.92% of Hindustan Zinc, currently valued at Rs 69,000 crore, at which level the government's 29.54% would fetch more than Rs 20,000 crore. (The Economic Times)
PFC gets shareholders’ nod for raising up to Rs 44,000 crore: State-owned Power Finance Corp. Ltd (PFC) has received shareholders’ approval for raising up to Rs 44,000 crore ($7.3 billion) through the issue of securities in the current fiscal. PFC is a leading lender to the power sector. Shareholders have voted in favour of the fund-raising plan along with a proposal to enhance the borrowing power of the company, according to a regulatory filing made by PFC on Friday. Through a postal ballot, shareholders have also authorized PFC’s board to mortgage or create a charge on assets of the company for securing loan. The company had sought approval to raise funds through private placement of non-convertible debentures to the extent of Rs 44,000 crore ($7.3 billion) in the fiscal ending 31 March 2015, as per the postal ballot notice dated 2 May. (LiveMint)
Courtesy: VCCEdge
