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Cerebrus hires AION exec to head India biz; Suzlon may sell 49% in subsidiary

By Ankit Agarwal

  • 10 Dec 2018
Cerebrus hires AION exec to head India biz; Suzlon may sell 49% in subsidiary
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US private equity firm Cerberus Capital has hired Indranil Ghosh, former principal at special situations PE company AION Capital Partners, as managing director for its India operations, two people in the know told The Economic Times.

At Cerberus, Ghosh will head investments in PE and stressed assets, the people cited above said, adding that the firm is in the process of setting up its office in Mumbai as it seeks to enter India. 
In Asia, Cerberus’ offices are spread across Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing and Tokyo. The firm has more than 650 professionals working from 14 offices around the world. 

Separately, two investors are in talks with renewable power solutions provider Suzlon Energy to buy up to 49% stake in its operations and maintenance subsidiary, people in the know told The Economic Times. Funds from the stake sale in Suzlon Global Services could go towards reducing the debt of the parent firm.

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For the subsidiary, Suzlon Energy is said to be looking for a valuation of ₹8,000 crore. Through asset sale and other initiatives, the company aims to bring down its debt by 30-40% by the end of 2018-19. As on end-September, Suzlon Energy’s net term debt stood at ₹6,800 crore and working capital loans at another ₹3,400 crore.

Suzlon Energy has no option but the redemption of bonds as its share prices have fallen below the conversion price of Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds. In the last six months, shares have fallen 40% to Rs 5 versus a rise of 0.6% in the benchmark index Sensex.

In case the deal takes a lot of time, Suzlon Energy may go for another source of funding. It is already in an advanced stage of securing a long-term cash flow-based ring-fenced funding of ₹5,000 crore against its subsidiary, said one of the persons cited above.

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Meanwhile, in order to sell its 33% stake in PNB Housing Finance, state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) has appointed PNB Investment Services and Credit Suisse to scout for investors, a PNB executive told The Economic Times. The development comes two months after PNB had shelved its plan to sell PNB Housing Finance.

PNB will likely get around Rs 5,200 crore from the deal. To raise money and meet regulatory norms, the lender is also looking to sell its stakes in ICRA, CRISIL, and BSE, the report added.

PNB Housing Finance’s assets under management stood at Rs 73,482 crore at the end of September.

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