SREI Equipment seeks PE funding; Cerestra, AnaCap make joint bid for Educomp unit

By Ankit Agarwal

  • 07 Mar 2019
Credit: 123RF.com

SREI Equipment Finance Company is in talks with private equity firms to raise Rs 1,000 crore ahead of its planned listing on the stock exchanges, a media report said.

The subsidiary of Kolkata-based SREI Infrastructure Finance Ltd is in discussions with Blackstone, KKR, Singapore's Temasek Holdings and PremjiInvest, the family office of Wipro chairman Azim Premji, The Economic Times reported citing sources it didn't identify. 

SREI Equipment plans to sell a 10-15% at a valuation of Rs 9,500-10,000 crore, the report said. 

The company had filed a draft prospectus for an initial public offering in November 2017 and received regulatory approval in September last year. 

However, the company shelved its IPO plan in January and will instead list its shares via a demerger scheme.

In another report, The Economic Times said Educomp Infrastructure & School Management has received a joint bid from private equity firm Cerestra Advisors and UK-based special situation fund AnaCap Financial Partners.

The bid values the subsidiary of Educomp Solutions around Rs 400-500 crore, the report said, citing a person close to the matter.

The company has also received bids from Ranjit Gandhi of Billabong High International School, Delhi, and Breez Builders & Developers, the report said.

Educomp Infrastructure provides educational content, intellectual property and educational infrastructure. It has 26 schools operating on leased assets in eight states. It earns rentals and a fixed share of the annual fee from the educational trusts or societies. There are also a dozen non-operating school assets, 20 vacant plots and four residential properties that the company owns directly or through subsidiaries.

Meanwhile, Chinese venture capital firm Qiming Venture Partners is set to lead its first investment in India, a Mint report said.

Citing two people aware of the development, Mint said  Qiming will likely lead a $15-20 million Series B funding round in regional language self-publishing platform Pratilipi.

Qiming has backed prominent Chinese technology firms like handset maker Xiaomi and food delivery startup Meituan Dianping.

The report also said that Nexus Venture Partners, Omidyar Network and China's Shunwei Capital are likely to participate in Pratilipi's new round of funding.

Pratilipi provides a platform for people to read and write stories in nine languages. It raised $1 million in a round led by Nexus in February 2016 and $4.3 million in a Series A round led by Omidyar in February 2018.

In another development, the Shapoorji Pallonji Group and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) are set to raise a $1.2-billion private equity fund focused on the logistics space, several persons in the know told Business Standard.

The fund will be secured in two tranches of $600 million each. “Shapoorji will put in $100 million and the ADIA, $500 million,” one of the persons mentioned above told the business daily, adding that documentation for the fund is in the final stages.

Shapoorji has already begun scouting for land parcels, the report added.