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Record Jul-Sep quarter poises PE investments to cross all time
high in 2015 With the
nine month investment tally touching $13 billion (across 504
transactions), Private Equity investments in India for 2015 are
poised to cross the historical highs of 2007 (which had
witnessed $14.7 billion being invested across 535 transactions),
shows data from the
Venture
Intelligence PE/VC Deals Database.
PE firms invested a record
$5,893 million (across 177 deals) during the quarter ended
September 2015, up 125% over that invested in the same period
last year ($2,621 million across 126 transactions) and 38%
higher than the immediate previous quarter (which had witnessed
$4,272 million being invested across 151 transactions). The nine
month PE investment tally for 2015 is 82% more than the $7,131
million across 387 transactions in the first six months of 2014,
the Venture Intelligence data showed. Note: All figures in this
note are exclusive of PE investments in Real Estate and
strategic investments from players like Alibaba, etc.
Venture Intelligence subscribers will receive a more
detailed report on the quarterly trends over the next few days.
Q3’15
tally up 125% to $5.9-B; IT & ITES Cos Grab Majority of the pie;
Buyout deals make a comeback
There were as many as 16 PE investments worth $100 million or
more (with seven over $200-M) during Q3’15 compared to three
such transactions in the same period last year and 11 during the
immediate previous quarter, the Venture Intelligence analysis
showed. Apart from the Internet “Unicorns” of Flipkart,
Snapdeal and Ola – which raised $700 million, $500
million $245 million respectively – others large PE investments
in Q3’15 included the $500 million investment by TA Associates
and India Value Fund in ACT Broadband, Blackstone’s $383
million repurchase of BPO firm Intelenet (from UK’s Serco)
and Bain Capital’s $200 million infusion in publicly listed non
banking financial services firm L&T Finance.
IT Companies Grab Majority Share of Pie
The mega deals in the Internet sector along with the Blackstone
buyout of Intelenet ensured that IT & ITES companies grabbed 57%
of the PE investment by value (attracting $3,358 million across
107 deals) during Q3’15. Other Internet companies that attracted
$100 million rounds in Q3'15 included music service Saavn.com,
furniture e-tailer Pepperfry.com and hotels aggregator
Oyo Rooms. Tata Capital meanwhile was reported to have
committed a similar amount as part of US-based taxi hailing app
firm Uber's latest fund raise.
Energy companies surged to second spot attracting $549 million
across seven transactions led by the GIC - Greenko Group
($256 million), I Squared Capital – Amplus Energy ($150
million) and Macquarie – Ind-Bharath Energy transactions.
PE Investments by Industry – Q3’15 (by Value)
Buyouts Stage Comeback
Growth Capital investments in unlisted companies accounted for
68% of the PE investment pie during Q3’15 (including Venture
Capital type investments which accounted for 10% of the pie by
value). Buyout type investments saw a spurt in interest and, at
11 investments worth $1,496 million, accounted for as much of
26% of the pie (in value terms). The ACT, Intelenet and Greenko
deals were followed by the Fairfax Group’s buyout of a 74% stake
in agri-logistics firm National Collateral Management
Services for INR 800 crore ($126 million) and ChrysCapital’s
$63 million buyout of US-based IT Services firm Infogain.
Despite the Bain Capital – L&T Finance deal, PE investments in
listed companies (PIPEs) – at 8 investments worth $341 million -
accounted for just 6% of the investment pie (by value) during
Q3’15. Another notable transaction in the segment was KKR
Special Situations Fund investing INR 491 Cr ($77 million) in
polyester yarn maker JBF Industries. StanChart PE, Apax
Partners and Temasek acquired additional shares in existing
listed portfolio companies of Prime Focus, Shriram
City Union Finance and Justdial respectively via the
public markets.
Private Equity Fund Investments
Warburg to invest $175-M in
warehousing JV with Embassy Group
Times of India
Real estate developer Embassy Group has formed a $250-million (INR
1,625 crore) JV with private equity firm Warburg Pincus to build
warehouses across the country. The JV, named Embassy Industrial
Parks, includes equity investment of $175 million from Warburg
Pincus and $75 million from Bangalore--based Embassy. About 90%
of the initial investment would be used for land purchases. The
JV aims to build and lease 15-20 million square feet over the
next few years, focusing on markets that include Mumbai, Delhi,
Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Pune and Chennai.
Embassy Industrial has already announced investment of INR 900
crore for an industrial and warehousing park at Sriperumbudur
off Chennai with Canadian private equity company Brookfield
Asset Management.
Piramal Fund, Altico Cap invest Rs
725-Cr in Century Real Estate’s Bangalore projects
Economic Times
Piramal Fund Management and Clearwater Capital's non-banking
financial company Altico Capital are to invest INR 725 crore
in a into a portfolio of nine projects of Century Real
Estate across different locations in Bangalore . Of the
total investment, INR 620 crore will be structured debt in
stages over the next five years while INR 105 crore will be
construction finance. Piramal and Altico will put in 50%
each of the structured debt amount, while construction
finance will be entirely funded by Piramal Fund..
Part of the funds raised will be used by Century Real Estate
to support Kotak Realty Fund's exit valued at Rs 375 crore
from its portfolio of three projects. Kotak Realty had
invested Rs 170 crore in these projects through its funds in
2011 and has managed to get over 20% internal rate of return
for its investment. The three projects in the portfolio
include a joint development project with Salarpuria Group,
while the other two are completely owned by Century Real
Estate.
CDC, ADB, others invest Rs.500-Cr
in RBL Bank
Economic Times
Asian Development Bank (ADB) and existing investor CDC Group
have led a INR. 500 crore pre-IPO investment in Kolhapur-headquartered
RBL Bank (formerly Ratnakar Bank Ltd) valuing the bank at
INR 6,500 crore. Other investors in the round include family
offices and long-only funds such as DVI Fund (Mauritius) Ltd
and Rimco (Mauritius) Ltd. The investors in the latest round
paid INR 190-200 per share, compared to the INR 125 apiece
paid by investors in the last fundraising round in 2014. For
the financial year ended March 31, 2015, RBL reported a net
profit of INR 2,071.75 crore compared with INR 926.70 crore
in the previous fiscal.
Snapdeal invests addl Rs 117-Cr in
logistics firm GoJava
Mint
Snapdeal, owned by Jasper Infotech Pvt. Ltd, has infused
INR.117 crore of fresh capital into logistics firm GoJavas
at a INR.600 crore valuation. The investment makes Snapdeal
the single largest shareholder in the company with a 42%
stake. The money raised in the current round will be used
towards working capital and business development.
In March 2015, it had bought a 20% stake in GoJavas for
INR.120 crore. Snapdeal has also bought some secondary stake
in GoJavas during the last six months. Other large
shareholders in GoJavas include Ashish Choudhary, Randhir
Singh and Jabong co-founder Praveen Sinha.
Founded in 2013, GoJavas counts online retailers such as
Jabong, Fabfurnish, Yepme, Lenskart and Healthkart as
clients. GoJavas has more than 100,000 square feet in
warehouse space under its management and offers services
across 300 cities and towns in 2,900-plus postal districts.
For the year ended 31 March, GoJavas reported revenues of
about INR.208 crore compared with INR 41.5 crore in the same
period a year ago.
Peepul Capital invests $15-M in
jewelry e-tailer Voylla
Mint
Jaipur-based Voylla Retail Pvt. Ltd, which owns and operates
fashion jewellery and accessories e-tailer Voylla.com, has
raised $15 million in fresh funds from private equity firm
Peepul Capital. The company will use the funding to enhance
its technology, brand building and offline expansion. The
company plans to expand its physical store network to 100
outlets. It will set up 40 exclusive stores across the
country while the rest would consist of shop-in-shop and
franchise outlets. Surya Mantha, Investment Director, Peepul
Capital will join the board.
Voylla had raised close to INR 13 crore before the current
round from Snow Leopard Technology Ventures and undisclosed
angel investors.
Motilal Oswal PE invests Rs 90-Cr
in mattress maker Kurlon
Times of India
India Business Excellence Fund - II and India
Business Excellence Fund - IIA, funds managed by
Motilal Oswal Private Equity (MOPE) Investment
Advisors, have invested Rs 90 crore in Kurlon
Enterprise, a mattress and foam manufacturing
company. The funds raised would be used for building
capacities, deepening the distribution network and
enriching the brand.
Established in 1962, Kurlon has a nationwide sales
and distribution network, is supported by four
centralised warehouses, 72 area sales offices, more
than 160 exclusive showrooms and more than 4000
dealers and retailers. The company also has nine
manufacturing facilities across five
states—Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh,
Uttarakhand and Orissa.
Gaja Capital invests Rs 65-Cr in
SportzVillage
Economic Times
Gaja Capital has invested about INR 65 crore in sports and
fitness education venture SportzVillage, the second
investment from its new $250-million (about Rs 1,640 crore)
fund, Gaja Capital III. SportzVillage operates three
businesses - SportzConsult, a sports management company;
EduSports, which works with schools to provide physical
education and sports programmes and MeraSport, a technology
initiative to improve sports user experience.
The company had previously raised about $2 million from
Seedfund, primarily for its EduSports business.
TVS Capital leads $10-M investment
in beauty products e-tailer Nykaa.com
Business Line
Nykaa.com, an online beauty and wellness retailer, has
raised $10 million (about INR 60 crore) in its second
institutional funding led by TVS Shriram Growth Fund. Other
investors in the funding round include Techpro Ventures, the
family office of Atul Nishar (Chairman of Hexaware
Technologies), family office of Harsh Mariwala (Marico
Chairman), former Warburg Pincus top executive Dalip Pathak
and former President of Givaudan Fragrances Michael Carlos.
The company will use the latest funding to support its
growth in e-commerce, launch private labels, marketing and
building its team. It is also planning to open stores across
Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. Nykaa claims to have sold 1.25
million products to date, with over 4 million visitors to
the site every month.
Founded in 2012 by FSN E-Commerce Ventures, Nykaa.com is
spearheaded by former MD of Kotak Mahindra Capital
Investment Banking Falguni Nayar. About 30% of the funds in
the latest round came in from investors, who had supported
its $3.2 million (about INR 20 crore) Series A round in June
2014.
Sequoia, Kalaari invest $10-M in
rental classifieds firm Grabhouse
NextBigWhat
Bangalore-based Grabhouse, an online rental
start-up, has raised Series B funding of $10 million
(INR 65 crores) from existing Series A investors
Sequoia Capital India and Kalaari Capital. The
company plans to focus on strengthening its presence
in the existing 11 cities, building technology
capability and launch of new verticals.
Sequoia India, GMO invest $9-M in
Taiwanese e-store for designers Pinkoi
Techinasia.com
Taiwan’s Pinkoi, an e-store for designers to sell their
wares, has secured $9 million from Sequoia Capital India and
Japan-based GMO Venture Partners. Pinkoi handpicks products
from the designers who apply to sell on its site and claims
to have sold 1.2 million products to users in 63 countries
in the last four years. It gets orders from Taiwan, mainland
China, Hong Kong and the US. Pinkoi claims to have over
25,000 designers selling on the platform. The fresh funding
will be used to further expand the designer community within
Asia. It will also set up tools to improve discoverability
of products.
From the Venture Intelligence PE/VC
Deal Database: In Apr-15, Sequoia had led a
$18 million investments in India-based handicrafts
marketplace Craftsvilla. In Oct-14, Sequoia had invested in
Indonesia-based e-commerce marketplace Tokopedia.
Nalanda Capital buys Elgi
Equipments shares worth Rs.42-Cr
Nalanda Capital,, through Nalanda India Equity Fund
Limited, has acquired a 2.18% stake in publicly
listed Elgi Equipments Ltd. for INR 41.99 Cr. The
public markets focused investor bought 1,805,588
shares on BSE and 1,650,000 shares on NSE on Oct 08,
2015 at INR.121.50 per share.
Sequoia invests Rs 40-Cr in mobile
money transfer app Chillr
Economic Times
Sequoia Capital India is investing INR 40 crore in Backwater
Technologies, a Mumbai-based start-up that is behind the
mobile app Chillr which allows users to transfer money to
any contact in their phone book. The start-up, which has
tied up with HDFC Bank and Bank of Baroda, will use the
funding for customer acquisition. Chillr had earlier raised
around INR 6 crore from MobMe Wireless and plans to raise
another INR 10 crore as a part of its Series-A round. The
app, which claims to see over 5,000 transactions worth INR
50 lakh a day, is targeting 1 lakh transactions a day by end
of the year. It already has 3.5 lakh installs, with 2 lakh
customers who have linked their bank accounts with the
application to both make and receive payments. Chillr plans
to start payments to merchants through the app, for which it
has already started pilots in Mumbai.
ChrysCapital buys Hindustan Media
Ventures shares worth Rs.39-Cr
ChrysCapital, through Lavender Investments Limited, has bought
1,600,000 shares (2.18%) at INR 245 per share of publicly listed
Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd. aggregating to INR 39.20 Cr. The
transaction, through NSE, was executed on Oct 7, 2015
Hindustan Media Ventures Limited,
a subsidiary of fellow listed HT Media Ltd, publishes the Hindi
newspaper Hindustan. Ranked as the second largest-read daily in
the country across all languages, Hindustan has 19 editions
across the Hindi belt including Delhi, Patna, Muzaffarpur and
Bhagalpur, Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad, Lucknow, Varanasi,
Meerut, Agra and Kanpur, Allahabad, Dehradun, Bareilly,Aligarh,
Haldwani, Gorakhpur and Moradabad.
Kalaari Capital invests $2-M in
digital storefront maker Shopalyst
Mint
Shopalyst Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which provides a platform
to create digital storefronts on websites and apps, has
raised $2 million in a Series A funding round from Kalaari
Capital. The company, which was founded by four former
Infosys executives - Girish Ramachandra, Sajeesh PJ, Mohan
Kumar Krishnan and Vibin Balakrishnan - had earlier raised
$250,000 from Basab Pradhan, former head of global sales and
marketing at Infosys, and Kanwaljit Singh, founder of
Fireside Ventures. The company counts Infosys co-founder
Nandan Nilekani as an advisor.
Shopalyst has developed a platform called Shortlyst, which
allows publishers and developers to add in-app buy buttons
on content such as images, videos, chats, news or social
shares, which can prompt a consumer to make a purchase.
RoundGlass invests Rs.12-Cr
in online doctor community Curofy
Economic Times
Delhi-based online community for doctors Curofy has
raised an estimated INR 12 Cr in pre-series A
funding from US-based VC fund RoundGlass Partners.
The peer-to-peer app has a community of 10,000
doctors across 70 cities, including super
specialists.
Uniqorn Ventures leads Rs.
4.6 cr investment in doctors networking platform
DocPlexus
Nextbigwhat.com
Pune-based DocPlexus, a networking platform for
healthcare professionals, has raised a funding of Rs
4.6 crore till date from asp. group, an Austria
based international investment & advisory boutique,
and Uniqorn Ventures, a startup focused fund based
out of Mumbai. The funds will be used to develop a
strong medical networking market and launch its
product on iOS, which is currently available only on
web and Android app.
Founded in 2014 by Phanish Chandra, DocPlexus is an
online platform that helps doctors make better medical
decisions by giving them a platform to communicate with
peers, secure collaboration for patient treatment and
medical updates. The portal claims to have registrations
from over 110000 doctors from more than 1,500 cities and
towns, and across 83 specialties
Abraaj to acquire 49% in Aditya
Birla Nuvo’s renewable energy unit
NSE
Aditya Birla Nuvo (ABNL) has entered into a definitive Share
Subscription and Shareholders Agreement (SSA) with AEIF
Mauritius SPV 1 Limited, part of PE investment firm Abraaj, to
build a renewable energy platform focused on developing
utility-scale solar power plants in India. As per the SSA,
subject to the customary closing conditions and subject to the
requisite approvals, ABNL and AEIF Mauritius SPV 1 limited will
hold 51% and 49% of the paid up share capital respectively, in
Aditya Birla Renewables limited, currently a wholly owned
subsidiary of ABNL. The Aditya Birla Group was advised on the
transaction by Greenstone Energy Advisors.
Tiger Global invests in mobile
software firm Cube26
Economic Times
New Delhi-based technology firm Cube26 has raised
funds from Tiger Global Management that will be used
to develop new technologies and double headcount to
120 people over the next few months. Cube26 has
developed varied applications across usability for
OEMs, helping them provide a differentiation through
mobile software.
Cube26 software is currently deployed on more than
five million devices, including those from brands
like Micromax and Panasonic. Cube26 is also working
with companies like Flipkart, Myntra, Zo Rooms and
Quikr. The company started its operations in 2012 in
California as PredictGaze. It started operations in
India in the following year.
One97 invests in Cleartax, Abhibus
KnowStartUp
Mobile wallet and e-commerce marketplace Paytm which is run
by One97 Communications Ltd has invested in bus ticketing
platform AbhiBus and income tax filing website ClearTax.
AbhiBus had previously raised funding from promoters of BS
Ltd and had mandated Kotak Mahindra Capital to scout
for as much as $40 million in funding over the next two
years.
Income tax filing website ClearTax had earlier raised
funding from Silicon Valley-based startup accelerator Y
Combinator (YC). Besides allowing people to file their tax
returns, it also offers a cloud platform for Chartered
Accountants and tax professionals in India.
YouWeCan picks up stake in
Sportybeans
Economic Times
YouWeCan Ventures has picked up 10-15% stake in
SportyBeans that runs multi-sports programmes for
children. The target caters to the physical fitness
needs of 1.5-8 year olds through its 35 centres
across 17 cities. Franchise India has advised
YouWeCan on the deal.
SportyBeans is looking to raise $8-10 million as it
targets to have a network of over 200 centres in the
next two years with revenues of about INR 80 crore.
Micromax invests in price
comparison platform Scandid
Mint
Indian smartphone-maker Micromax Informatics Ltd has
made a strategic investment in price-comparison
platform Scandid run by WishPoint Inc. Pune and
Silicon Valley-based Scandid compares prices across
10 million products from 200 online merchants
including Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon and also
provides information from local neighbourhood
retailers. Founded by Sushil Choudhari, Scandid is
available on iOS, Android and the web.
This is the third start-up Micromax has invested in,
after digital fitness app HealthifyMe (Caeruz
Ventures Pvt Ltd) and Ixigo (Le Travenues Technology
Pvt. Ltd.), a mobile travel search firm, where it
shares revenue on each transaction on these
platforms.
Essel Finance invests in
Pinnacle Group’s Pune project
Essel Finance Advisors and Managers LLP and Essel
Finance Portfolio Managers Pvt Ltd have bought
unlisted, redeemable non-convertible debentures
issued by Pune-based real estate firm
Pinnacle Vastunirman Pvt Ltd.
The NCDs were issued on private placement basis in
multiple tranches. J Sagar Associates (JSA)
advised Essel Group on the deal.
Regulatory filings reveal that Abhinav Bhushan, CEO
- Private Equity, Essel Finance has joined the board
of Pinnacle Vastunirman.
Liquidity Events
(Private Equity)
Genpact acquires app
development firm Endeavour Software
Times of India
NYSE-listed
Genpact has
acquired Endeavour Software Technologies, a mobile
digital solutions provider focused on the middle and
back office with operations in Austin, Texas and
Bangalore. Endeavour develops and deploys mobile
solutions that encompass strategy assessment and
industry-specific accelerators that can be used
across vertical industries including financial
services, insurance, healthcare, manufacturing and
high tech.
From the Venture Intelligence
PE/VC Deal Database: In Sep-11, basil
Partners had invested INR 6.13 Cr in Endeavour
(Subscribers to the database can login to view the
valuation, deal structuring and other transaction
details.)
Ozone buys back CCDs from
PE fund Avronest
Ozone Propex Private Ltd (Ozone Propex) has acquired
Compulsorily Convertible Debentures (CCDs) of its
subsidiary Ozone Urbana Infra Developers Pvt Ltd
(Ozone Urbana) from Avronest Ltd, a Cyprus-based
private equity fund. Avronest had earlier invested
in Ozone Urbana in 2010, by subscribing to CCDs and
equity shares. This transaction was part of the
restructuring of the Ozone Group, which is engaged
in construction development sector, with a
significant presence in Bangalore and Chennai. J
Sagar Associates (JSA) advised Ozone group on
the deal.
Angel Investments
Alternative healthcare
portal Welcome Cure raises $6-M
Techstory.in
Welcome Cure, a health care technology platform
focused on alternative medicine, has raised $6
million in pre-series A funding from a pool of
investors. The company has raised $1 million from
few high net-worth individuals and $5 million from a
media house. The amount will be invested in the
portal’s expansion and marketing strategies.
Co-founded by Dr. Jawahar J. Shah and Punit Desai,
Welcome Cure is a virtual clinic offering modern
facilities of online consultation via video chat,
live chat, Skype, telephonic and email interactions
with physicians worldwide. Users can avail digital
health consultation with the door step delivery of
medicines. The firm claims to have a network of over
100 doctors across the globe.
Schoolguru raises Rs.20-Cr
Economic Times
Schoolguru, which
helps Indian universities gain an online presence,
has raised Rs 20 crore in its first round from angel
investors. The funds will be used to improvise the
company's mobile and web-based platform, and
increase its digital content library.
Personal loans marketplace
IndiaLends raises Rs. 6.5 Cr more
Economic Times
Financial technology startup
IndiaLends has raised about INR 6.5 crore from
existing investors, DSG Consumer Partners, Siddharth Parekh
and other angel investors including Gautham Radhakrishnan,
Partner, Tata Opportunities Fund. The Delhi-based startup
will use the proceeds from the bridge round to expand
operations, further enhance its technology platform and add
to its product portfolio.
IndiaLends is credit underwriting and analytics platform
that uses proprietary algorithms to evaluate a borrower's
creditworthiness and offers them instant credit products.
Burger Singh raises $500-K
Mint
Gurgaon-based Tipping Mr Pink Pvt. Ltd, which runs
quick service restaurant (QSR) chain and online
ordering site Burger Singh, has raised $500,000 from
include Avtar Monga, chief operating officer, IDFC
Bank; Dheeraj Jain, Partner at Redcliffe Capital, a
UK-based hedge fund; angel investor Ashvin Chadha;
and Udaan Angels. The firm, which has four outlets
in Gurgaon, will utilize this money by expanding in
Delhi with six outlets in the next six months and
also to enhance its website.
The company also plans to raise another $3 million
from institutional investors.
Movie on demand platform Muvizz
raises Rs.2.2 Cr
Knowstartup
Muvizz.com, a movie-on-demand platform has raised Rs 2.2
crore ($350,000) in angel funding from three Singapore-based
investors: Ashish Todi, MD at Frost Global Pte Ltd; Abhinav
Patodia, director at Great Himalayan Shippers Ltd; and Kumar
Shwetabh, CEO at Pacific Global Inc. The site offers a
curated list of titles, ranging from short films to
documentaries to feature films. Besides a pay-per-view
revenue model, the company also has a subscription-based
model that allows users to view unlimited movies listed in
the catalogue. The funding will be used towards procuring
movies, build IT infrastructure and hiring.
Muvizz is also looking to raise $1.5-2 million in Series A
round of funding for among others, building a mobile app and
to obtain some exclusive movie titles.
Luxury goods marketplace
Rock N Shop raises $150-K
KnowStartUp
Delhi based Rock N Shop, a premium shopping
marketplace for luxury products, has raised $150,000
(INR 1 crore) from a bunch of high networth
investors through the Enablers platform. The
company will utilize the raised capital towards
enhancing its technology infrastructure, hiring
talent and increasing the number of luxury labels on
its platform.
Zishaan Hayath, Rahul Khanna,
others invest in consumer lending marketplace LoanCircle
NextBigWhat
Bangalore based
LoanCircle has raised angel
funding from Toppr.com’s co-founder Zishaan Hayath, Trifecta
Capital’s MD Rahul Khanna, Quintype’s CEO Amit Rathore, Amit
Arora and Appiterate co-Founders Anuj Bhargava and Mayank
Kumar. The company will use the funds to expand its team in
the areas of risk, technology and operations. The company
plans to rapidly scale its risk modelling capabilities by
automating many aspects of the risk assessment process. The
company plans to bring down its turnaround time to less than
10 minutes to either approve or decline a loan application
on the platform.
LoanCircle is a consumer lending platform that finds
credible borrowers and connects them to lenders. It heavily
uses data and technology to better underwrite borrowers and
get them access to loans at cheaper rates.
Performance based wholesale
marketplace Wydr raises funding
InC42
Automobile marketplace Droom’s founder and ex-Shopclues CEO,
Sandeep Aggarwal has invested in performance based wholesale
marketplace, Wydr. Wydr is a mobile app only platform that
provides end-to-end ecommerce marketplace platform that
makes wholesale buying and selling more organized, quicker
and easier. The company is also in talks with potential
investors to raise around $2 million.
Ravi Gururaj, others back
snacks e-store Snackexperts
Yourstory
Snackexperts an online store that offers a range of
healthy snacks across India has raised a round of Rs
20 lakh from investors like Ajeet Khurana, Taha
Nabee, VC Kathik and Ravi Gururaj. The team recently
won Rs 10 lakh from the “The 10-Minute Million”
funding event hosted by IIT Bombay Entrepreneurship
Cell.
Rocket Internet CEO, others
back digital fast fashion label StalkBuyLove
Yourstory
Delhi-based digital fast fashion private label
StalkBuyLove has raised funding from investors
including Mato Peric, former CEO, Rocket Internet
and nine others.
Curated commerce store
Hoppingo raises funds
Yourstory
Bhaskar Vishwanadham has made an angel investment in
Hoppingo which
curates from more than 700 e-stores online across 16
categories of accessories, apparel and home décor.
In the next three months, Hoppingo will launch its
mobile application and take active user count to one
million.
Sanjay Mehta invests in
organic products e-tailer Naturally Yours
Economic Times
Naturally Yours, one of the first online organic
food brands in India, has raised seed round of
funding from angel investor Sanjay Mehta to expand
to new product categories and increase the product
range.
Hiring service WorkIndia
raises $0.5 M
Nextbigwhat.com
WorkIndia, a HR
product company in the blue/grey collar segment, has
raised $ 0.5 million in pre-Series A funding. The
funding round was led by Satyen Kothari, Citrus Pay
Founder, Keshav Sanghi, Venture Works India founder,
Riddhesh Gandhi, Discovery Capital Founder and
senior executives in banks. The funds will be used
for enhancing the tech product and for customer
penetration.
Chef Sanjeev Kapoor,
Wonderchef founder, others invest Rs.13-Cr in food
startup ZuperMeal
Economic Times
Celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor has invested in
ZuperMeal, a mobile-based marketplace and delivery
service for home-cooked meals. Kapoor and Ravi
Saxena, cofounder of kitchen appliance maker
Wonderchef, along with two foreign partners will
together invest $2 million (INR 13 crores) in the
Mumbai-based startup.
Logistics startup Quifers
raises Rs.2-Cr from IAN, Smile Group
KnowStartUp
Mumbai-based Quifers, a tech-driven logistics
company has raised INR 2 Cr led by Indian Angel
Network (IAN) and consumer internet and media
platform Smile Group. The funding is expected to be
used for expediting business expansion to other
cities, enhancing the technology platform of its
products & services and hiring resources to
strengthen the team.
Other
Private Equity / Strategic Investments
Sumitomo Forestry acquires
26% in furniture co Spacewood
Sumitomo Forestry, a building materials trading
company based in Japan, is to acquire a 26% equity
stake in Nagpur-based furniture company
Spacewood.
Spacewood in association with Sumitomo Forestry
Crest Co., Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of Sumitomo
Forestry, will set up a new manufacturing facility
for the production of pre hung doors with an
investment of 25 crores. The company will also
increase its retail footprint from existing 15
stores to approximately 50 stores offering such
products to discerning Indian consumers.
From the Deal Digest archive:
Ads-for-equity investor Brand Capital (part of BCCL
media group) had acquired a stake in Spacewood in
Apr-13.
Restaurant CRM firm Mobikon
raises additional funds
Economic Times
Pune- and Singapore-based Mobikon, a marketing
platform for the food and beverage industry, has
raised a round of funding from Life.Sreda and
Qualgro. This is an extension to its previous round
raised in July. This funding will be used to speed
scale in multiple markets, increase team strength
and technology. The company plans to aggressively
expand in South East Asia, open an office in Jakarta
and conduct strategic hiring across UAE. It also
plans to launch a new platform focused on restaurant
social engagement as well.
From the Venture Intelligence
PE/VC Deal Database: Jungle Ventures
had invested in Mobikon Technologies in March 2012
and July 2015.
Quikr picks up stake in
street view & mapping service WoNoBo
MediaNama,
BSE
Online classified portal Quikr has made a strategic
investment in publicly listed Genesys
International‘s venture AN Virtual Tech which
operates street-view and mapping portal
WoNoBo.
The parent company primarily works in the overseas
market as a Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
outsourcing company. The company also works in areas
like imagery acquisition, remote sensing and data
conversion among others. Genesys reported a net
profit of Rs 3.17 crore for the quarter ended June
30,2015, a jump of 81.59% from Rs 1.74 crore from
the same quarter last year.
M&A
Carnival Group buys L&T’s Elante Mall in Chandigarh for Rs
1,785-Cr
Times of India
Mumbai-based Carnival Group has bought over Larsen and Toubro's
Elante Mall in Chandigarh for INR 1,785 crore. Spread over 20
acres, the mall, which includes the Hyatt luxury hotel and
office premises, has over 1.5 million sq ft of retail space. It
is the largest in northern India excluding NCR. The retail space
hosts major brands along with a mix of hypermarket, departmental
stores, sports bar, bowling alley and an eight-screen multiplex.
Total investment made by L&T so far in the project is reported
to be about INR 1,500 crore. It was the only mall in India that
the listed engineering firm was operating itself.
E2 Energy to acquire GTL’s telecom
tower energy management biz for Rs.850-Cr
Publicly-listed
GTL Ltd has sold its OME
business (part of Network Services) via a slump sale to E2
Energy Services Pvt. Ltd. for about INR 850 Crore, subject
to certain working capital adjustments, costs and charges.
The company, which is undergoing debt restructuring, will
use the proceeds to pay dues to lenders. Cyril Amarchand
Mangaldas acted as legal counsel to E2 Energy Services
on the transaction.
Adani to buy 2 power plants from
Welspun for Rs 400-Cr: report
Economic Times
Adani Group of billionaire Gautam Adani has signed an
initial agreement to buy two ready to build coal fired power
plants from Welspun group for Rs 400 crore. The plants — one
in Uttar Pradesh and other in Madhya Pradesh — have received
all the necessary clearances and can together generate 4000
Mw of power. They will be transferred to the ports-to-power
conglomerate along with 2,000 acres by December.
Gujarat NRE Coke to sell
off wind mills for Rs.219-Cr
BSE
Publicly listed Gujarat NRE Coke is to sell its wind
mill business for INR 218.75 crores.
Crompton Greaves sells
stake in switchgear unit to JV partner for Rs.40-Cr
BSE
Crompton Greaves, a listed company of Avantha Group,
has sold its 50% holding in joint venture, CG Lucy
Switchgear, to its partner W Lucy & Company of UK
for INR 40.2 crore. CG will divest its entire
investment of 600,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each.
CG Lucy Switchgear was established in 1994 as a
50-50 manufacturing JV between Crompton Greaves and
W Lucy and Co. The company has a unit in Nasik that
manufactures Ring Main Units for the India market.
Post divestment, Crompton Greaves will continue to
have distributorship of Ring Main Units in India and
will also continue to supply vacuum bottles and
other products to CG-Lucy.
Antworks to acquire US
healthcare software firm Benchmark Systems for
Rs.33-Cr
Economic Times
Bangalore-based AntWorks has acquired US-based
Benchmark Systems,
a healthcare applications services provider, in an
all-cash deal worth INR 33 crore. Lynchburg,
Virginia-based Benchmark Systems is expected to add
$10-12 million to the acquirer's top-line over the
next 12 months, with the company targeting overall
revenue between $15 million and $17 million by
October 2016. Benchmark Systems provides a suite of
software including for EHR, Practice Management,
Patient Portal, Scheduling and Revenue Cycle
Management.
Antworks, founded four months ago by former Infosys
BPO executive Asheesh Mehra, is focused on business
process management and technology. It expects to
announce a second buyout, also likely to be in the
healthcare segment, by the end of the financial
year.
Bharat Forge sells off 50% stake in
JV for Rs.3.1 Cr
BF infrastructure Ventures Limited, subsidiary of publicly
listed
Bharat Forge Ltd has
divested its 50% stake in its JV David Brown Bharat Forge
Gear Systems India Limited to its Joint Venture partner,
David Brown Systems India (Holdings) Limited, for a sum of
!NR 30.91 million.
Freshdesk acquires social
recommendation app Frilp
Knowstartup
SaaS CRM firm Freshdesk, has acquired fellow Chennai-based
Frilp, a social recommendation app for exchanging references
and recommendations. The acquisition will help Freshdesk
leverage the technology of Frilp and enable customers to
connect with friends on social networks who might provide
solutions. This can also bring down the burden on companies’
customer service teams.
Frilp, which was founded in 2012, has raised $500,000 in
funding from angel investors, including Freshdesk cofounder
and chief executive Girish Mathrubootham and former Groupon
executive Deva Kannan.
Educomp sells Wizlearn Tech
to Japan’s V-Cube
BSE
Publicly listed Educomp Solutions has sold its
entire stake in Singapore-based e-learing firm
Wizlearn Technologies
(formerly Ask n Learn) to an unit of Japan-based
V-cube, a provider of web-based video conferencing
services. The deal includes the 3 subsidiaries of
Wiz Learn including Singapore Learning.com Pte Ltd,
Pave Education Pte Ltd and Wiz Learn Pte Ltd. The
proceeds of the acquisition will be used to repay
existing debt to Axis bank.
Educomp Solutions has invested $9 million in 2007 to
acquire Wiz Learn Technology Pte Ltd. The latest
sale will yield a return of 57% on its original
investment.
Union Bank to buy out
Luxembourg-based KBC's 49% in mutual fund JV
BSE
Publicly listed Union Bank of India is to buyout
Luxembourg-based KBC Asset Management’s 49% stake in
their mutual fund joint venture Union KBC Asset
Management established in 2009. In the
July-September 2015 quarter, Union KBC Asset
Management had average assets under management (AAUM)
aggregating to INR 2,672 crore.
Adani Enterprises buys out
49% Chemoil's stake in joint venture
Publicly listed
Adani Enterprises
has acquired 49% stake in Chemoil-Adani Pte Ltd, a
joint venture which supplies bunker fuel to vessels
in Mundra and other ports. The business, which will
now be fully-owned and managed by Adani, will be
renamed Adani Bunkering Pvt Ltd.
The Phoenix Mills hikes
stake in Courtyard by Marriott Agra
Publicly-listed
Phoenix Mills Ltd
has acquired the entire equity stake held by MTX
Hotels Private Limited, Amitabh Tayal and Priyank
Tayal in Gangetic Hotels Private Limited (GHPL)
aggregating to 19.38% of GHPL's equity share capital
on October 06, 2015. Subsequent to the aforesaid
acquisition GHPL has become a subsidiary of the
acquirer.
Sachin Tendulkar to buy 20%
more stake to become majority stakeholder in Kerala
Blasters
Economic Times
Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar who holds about 40% in
Kerala Blasters, the Kochi-based Indian Super League
(ISL) franchise, will buy about 20% more from his
current co-owner Hyderabad-based PVP Ventures,
emerging as a controlling stakeholder in the two
year-old ISL team. Kerala's financial services major
Muthoot Pappachan Group, which is currently the
title sponsor of the team, will also acquire close
to 20% from PVP Ventures. The deal value is said to
be close to Rs 75-Rs 85 crore, valuing the franchise
at Rs 180 to Rs 200 crore. PVP Ventures will retain
a 20% stake in the firm and continue as a minority
shareholder.
Redington acquires Turkish
based Oracle distributor Linkplus
Publicly-listed
Redington (India) Ltd,
through its step down subsidiary Redington Gulf FZE,
is to acquire 70% of Linkplus Bilgisayar Sistemleri
Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S, Turkey (Linkplus). The
balance 30% will be acquired over a three year
period. The target company has been valued around 6X
future earnings. Established in 1995, Linkplus is a
leading Oracle distributor in Turkey.
From the Venture Intelligence
M&A Deal Database: In Sep-10, Redington
had acquired Istanbul-based IT products distributor
Arena Bilgisayar Sanayi Ve Ticaret for INR 189.4
crores
TVS Logistics acquires
majority stake in Australian freight firm Transtar
Times of India
Privately held TVS Logistics Services has acquired a
majority stake in Australia-based Transtar
International Freight, through its Singapore
headquartered joint venture TVS Asianics Supply
Chain Solutions. The company is investing Rs 200
crore for both acquisition as well as investment
into Transtar, through funding from internal
accruals. Transtar earned annual revenues of Rs 850
crore, with around 70% of the revenues coming from
Asian markets.
TVS will also consolidate its freight forwarding
business under the JV and will move its Indian
freight forwarding business subsidiary TVS Dynamic
Global Freight Services to TVS Asianics.
Other Deals
Vikram Pandit invests in
UK-based payments firm Transferwise
Reuters
Former Citigroup Chief Executive Vikram Pandit has
taken a stake in London-based Transferwise as part
of the company’s $58 million fundraising in January
that valued the four-year-old online money transfer
group at about $1 billion. Other investors include
Silicon Valley venture-capital firm Andreessen
Horowitz and British billionaire Richard Branson.
Debt
Financing
Ghaziabad Metro gets
Rs.400-Cr from infrastructure fund
Times of India
GDA has raised INR 400 crore from the infrastructure
development fund of Ghaziabad for the construction
of the second phase of the city's ambitious Metro
project - from Dilshad Garden in Delhi to New Bus
Stand. The project is being jointly funded by the
Centre, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and
the UP government.
Edelweiss raising $1-B real estate fund
Mint
Edelweiss Alternative Asset Advisors Ltd is raising up to $1
billion for its first residential real estate fund and hopes
to have a first close at about $350 million in a month’s
time. The Edelweiss Real Estate Fund is a structured credit,
offshore fund that will look to invest $15-75 million in
each transaction across five markets: National Capital
Region (NCR), Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru and Chennai. The fund
will not provide capital to buy land or invest in an early
stage of a project.
Kae
Capital to raise $40-M second fund
Business Standard
Kae Capital, a seed-stage fund, is in talks with limited
partners and family offices to raise $40 million (with a
hard stop at $45 million) for its second fund. The fund will
make 25 investments in Indian companies planning to go
global. In 2012, Kae had raised a $25 million first fund
from three international limited partners.
Spice
Fund to invest $10-M in Altico Capital’s NBFC; acquires
stakes in NYLIM Jacob Ballas, IIML funds
Spice PE has entered into a
$10 million co-investment with Clearwater Capital Partners
in Altico Capital, a Non Bank Finance Company based in
Mumbai. Other co-investors include Värde Partners, the
Minneapolis based multi-billion dollar global alternative
investment firm and the Abu Dhabi Investment Council.
Spice Private Equity has also completed a secondary
transactions that provides it LP interests in two
India-focused PE funds: NYLIM Jacob Ballas India Fund III,
LLC, managed by Jacob Ballas Asset Management Company III
LLC and in Tara India Fund III, LLC, managed by IL&FS
Investment Managers Limited.
Infosys cofounder
Kris Gopalakrishnan joins IDG Ventures as an adviser
Economic Times
Infosys cofounder Kris Gopalakrishnan has joined IDG
Ventures India as an adviser. Gopalakrishnan's main role at
IDG Ventures will be to advise it on strategy, investments
and assist with identifying sectors to focus on. The
onboarding of Gopalakrishnan and Ratan Tata comes as IDG
Ventures is raising $200 million (about Rs 1,300 crore) for
its next fund.
From
Vi-Gyan.com
Will
InMobi Continue to Rejoice its Spurning of Google's $1-B
Offer?
In March 2015, InMobi - which dares to combat Google and
Facebook in the mobile advertising segment - walked away
from a $1 billion offer from the search engine giant
(according to multiple media reports). Will InMobi CEO
Naveen Tewari's decision to walk away turn out as well
as that of Google's own or more Yahoo like? Only time
will tell. But questions are being raised as to why,
when other Indian startups like Flipkart, Snapdeal and
Ola are able to attract investments at valuations of
multiple billions of dollars with seeming ease over the
last couple of years, hasn't InMobi (that last raised a
reported $200 million in 2011 from SoftBank at a $800
million valuation) joined the "Unicorn" party?
The Economic Times (September 29, 2015) has a not too
flattering report saying InMobi has attracted $100
million in debt funding from US-based Tennenbaum Capital
that would be also used to repay debt that the company
had borrowed from other creditors last year.
So, who exactly is InMobi's latest backer, Tennenbaum
Capital?
This is how the firm describes itself on its LinkedIn
page:
Tennenbaum Capital Partners takes a private equity approach to distressed credit investing. Having invested over $8 billion in more than 160 companies since 1996, TCP is a leader in successfully taking positions in private and public middle-market companies's debt, both in the secondary market and through special-situation private originations.
On its web site, the firm describes its Investment Strategies as two fold:
TCP invests in both performing credit and special situations, primarily in North American middle-market companies.
Here's hoping that InMobi - an early poster child of
India's second startup wave - continues to perform more
than just creditably and sail smoothly into publicly
traded status that it's CEO believes it deserves.
Zoho
Founder on Competing with Companies Raising "Series QE"
Funding
From the article by the Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu in
Economic Times:
Another day , another hot tech company raises $500 million (or is it a billion?) in Series D, Series E -I propose we just call all of it Series QE, because that is where all the money comes from anyway , right?
..If you are in one of those hot companies burning cash, enjoy the ride as long as it lasts--and make sure you have a safety net if, heaven forbid, something bad happens. But what about companies that cannot or don't want to raise that kind of money?
...In the world of business and finance, following fashion is the path to the poorhouse. Avoiding the fashionable location, the fashionable field and, dare I say , fashionable employees, may be the best way to survive a bubble.
Lots of Venture Intelligence data coverage on ET and elsewhere today. Let the good times roll!
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PE/Strategic Investment
Fortis
group diagnostics SRL plans Rs. 1,250-Cr share
sale
Times of India
Pathology chain SRL Diagnostics, majority owned
by Fortis Healthcare, has started a large stake
sale process attracting interest from sovereign
wealth funds and bulge-bracket private equity
firms. SRL has roped in investment bank
Moelis & Co to advise on at least
$200-million (around Rs 1,250-crore) share sale,
primarily to help some existing investors to
exit.
A clutch of investors, International Finance
Corporation (IFC), NYLM Jacob Ballas and Avigo
Capital, hold around 34% stake in the company.
Lightbox-backed furniture rental co Furlenco to
raise $20-M Series B
Business Line
Bengaluru-based furniture rental start-up is in
talks to raise a series B funding of $20-30
million. The three-year-old start-up, which was
founded by former Goldman Sachs VP, Ajith
Karimpana, raised $6 million in Series A funding
in March 2015 from Lightbox Ventures.
Shopping
Network BestDeal TV to raise Rs 100-Cr
Techstory
Shopping Network BestDeal TV, promoted by
businessman Raj Kundra and Bollywood actor
Akshay Kumar, is planning to raise Rs 100 crore
in a Series A round. The capital will go to
increase the delivery logistics footprint,
carriage and distribution in India along with
marketing and promotional activities. The firm
had got initial seed capital from its promoters,
which was followed by two rounds of angel
funding by high networth individuals (HNIs).
Beverage
ordering startup ThirstKart to raise $10-M
Business Standard
Beverage delivery app ThirstKart is planning to
raise $10 million (Rs 65 crore) in the next one
year besides expanding services to all metro
cities across the country. The company is
currently present in Mumbai and will foray
within a month into Gurgaon, where it is looking
for providing beverages to corporate clients.
The company, founded in June 2015, has teamed up
with leading beverage providers like Starbucks
and Cafe Coffee Day at a store-manager level.
Online
art marketplace PosterGully looks to raise $5-M
Techstory
PosterGully, an online art and merchandise shop,
is planning to raise $5 million in the next 6
months. The company had earlier raised $40,000
in January 2014 and $160,000 in June 2015 from
investors including Flipkart’s VP-Operations
Anuj Chowdhary, GSF India Founder Rajesh Sawhney
and Iron ore mining firm Mineral Enterprises.
PosterGully sells a variety of products such as
phone cases, art prints, home decor and clothing
to consumers globally. It expects gross sales to
jump over two-fold to Rs 8 crore this fiscal,
driven by home decor and casual wear segments.
Milestone to invest Rs.40-Cr in Rajesh
Lifespaces’ Thane project: report
Business Line
Mumbai-based PE firm Milestone Capital Advisors
is close to investing INR 40-50 crore in Rajesh
Lifespaces’ Thane project. The capital will be
used towards construction finance. The 12 lakh
sq feet residential project Raj Tattva
reportedly has all the approvals in place. The
project offers 3,4,5 BHK apartments.
Hosteller to raise capital
Business Line
Boutique hostel start-up Hosteller is in talks
with investors open another 70-bed hostel in
Delhi. The company is looking to operate a total
of six hostels by March 2016 and take it to 15
by March 2017. They are targeting Mumbai,
Himachal Pradesh, Bengaluru, Goa and Udaipur.
The company also plans to foray in the studio
apartments category. The company takes
properties on rent and refurbishes them with
bunk beds, graffitiand entertainment
infrastructure, among others, to cater to
backpackers.
Cricket
app maker WhoWins scouts for funding
Yourstory
Cricket app maker
WhoWins is
looking for angel funding and leverage the
capital to touch a user base of five million.
Whowins is a platform where friends can quiz
other sports enthusiast, make predictions, watch
live matches, chat with friends and sports fans
around the country, get live scores and other
information The app has had over 3000 downloads
in the play store and 3000 downloads in the
windows app.
PE biggies among 10 in fray for ADAG's cement
unit
Times of India
Cement companies Heidelberg, India Cement, Shree
Cement, Birla Corp and JK Cement, besides
bulge-bracket private equity players Blackstone,
Carlyle and KKR, are in the fray to acquire
Reliance Cement, a subsidiary of ADAG firm
Reliance Infrastructure. The 5.6-million-tonne
cement plant is expected to be sold in a
transaction valued at over Rs 6,000 crore.
Morgan Stanley has been appointed the banker
for the transaction. Reliance Infrastructure,
with debt of Rs 25,000 crore, may reduce it by
25% or over Rs 6,000 crore by just selling its
cement assets. which started operations in 2007.
Marketing app for retail stores Poketshop in
talks to raise angel funds
Techstory.in
Gurgaon-based PoketShop, a merchant app which
acts as a marketing & sales platform for
physical retail stores and businesses to
showcase merchandise to users nearby, is looking
to raise funds. The merchant app allows to setup
a store on the app and start selling
merchandise. The firm was founded by Siddharth
Bhatia, Abhishek Satapathy and Samarth Goyal,
plans to notch up 1000 transactions a day and
expand to other cities.
e-waste
firm Binbag in talks to raise funds
Techstory
Binbag an on-demand waste disposal service for
individuals and households is in discussion with
few institutional investors and HNIs for
funding. Binbag connects individuals to
recycling companies through a network of
collections agents and are focusing on e-waste.
Truckola
in talks for venture round
Techstory
Logisitcs tech firm Truckola is in talk with VCs
to raise a round of funding to expand its
operations to several cities and improve
technology. Truckola currently has raised
$2000,000 from HNIs. Having started operations
in September, Truckola has been able to register
about 2000 vehicles and nearly 500 Cargo Owners
on system.
Video
shopping guide Pollseye looking to raise funding
Yourstory
Angel-backed Pollseye, a video shopping guide
which allows users to generate video reviews, is
looking to raise another round of funding to get
more brands on board. Their plans for future
growth include tie-ups with e-commerce sites
like Flipkart, Amazon, Oyo, and Zomato to be
their official video feedback channel.
PE
Exits
MRO firm
Air Works put up for sale with Rs.1,800-Cr price
tag
Economic Times
Air Works India Engineering, a Mumbai-based
aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul
services provider, is on the block, and its
promoters and investors expect valuation of up
to INR 1,800 crore. Investment bank Jefferies
has been appointed to look for buyers. Investors
such as New Enterprise Associates, GTI Capital,
Elephant Capital, and Punj Lloyd together own
71% stake in Air Works.
Going by the valuation they are eyeing, GTI
Capital and NEA would make 6-6.5 times returns
on their initial investments totalling $27
million made in 2010 while Elephant Capital,
which invested in the company in 2011 at a
valuation of INR 400 crore, would make about
four times of its investment.
Quikr in
talks to acquire CommonFloor for $50-M; dumps
Housing: report
Economic Times
Online classifieds provider Quikr is close to
acquiring a majority stake in realty portal
CommonFloor for Rs 330 crore ($50 million). The
two companies count New York-based investment
firm Tiger Global Management as a common
investor. Bangalore-based CommonFloor has so far
received over $60 million in venture funding and
was valued at a little over $100 million in its
last round. Apart from Tiger Global it also
counts venture capital firm Accel Partners and
Google Capital as investors.
Earlier this year Quikr looked at acquiring
Soft-Bank-backed Housing.com but the talks fell
through as the two parties could not agree on a
price.
IPOs
Infibeam gets Sebi approval for Rs.450-Cr IPO
Times of India
Infibeam is set to become the first pure play
e-commerce company to be listed in India with
market regulator Sebi clearing its Rs 450-crore
IPO. The merchant bankers for the issue include
SBI Capital Markets, ICICI Securities,
Kotak Mahindra Capital and Elara
Capital. Of the total money being raised, Rs
235 crore will be used to set up a data centre,
about Rs 37 crore on putting up logistics
centres and another Rs 67 crore for purchase of
software.
GVR
Infra Projects files papers to raise Rs.400-Cr
Economic Times
Chennai-based GVR Infra Projects has filed draft
papers with markets regulator Sebi to raise at
least Rs 400 crore through an initial share-sale
programme. GVR Infra's IPO comprises fresh issue
of equity shares worth Rs 400 crore and an offer
for sale, whereby IDFC Private Equity Fund would
offload 43.22 lakh scrips. The proceed of the
fresh issue would be utilised towards working
capital requirements, reduction of outstanding
amount under short-term borrowings and for
general corporate purposes. Edelweiss
Financial Services, Ambit Corporate
Finance, SBI Capital Markets and
IDFC Securities are the bankers to the
issue.
From the Venture
Intelligence PE/VC Deal Database: In
July 2011 IDFC PE had invested INR 150 crores in
GVAR Infra Projects.
M&A
Chennai’s Ramee Mall up for sale
Business Line
The Ramee Group has put on the block its 2.25
lakh sq ft mall property at Teynampet on
arterial Anna Salai. The ground plus two floor
structure, which has space for about 45 retail
outlets, is almost vacant. The land area
associated with the mall is about 2 acres. The
total guideline value works out to about INR 165
crore for two acres.
Airtel
may buy Aircel’s 4G spectrum in a bid to close
the gap with Reliance Jio
Economic Times
Bharti Airtel has held initial talks to buy
Aircel's 4G airwaves in the 2300 Mhz band as the
telco looks to expand its high-speed broadband
footprint, and close the gap with Reliance Jio
Infocomm, which holds pan-India airwaves.
Airtel currently holds a mix of 1800 Mhz and
2300 Mhz airwaves on which it deploys 4G
technology across 15 of India's 22 circles.
Aircel's airwaves in eight circles would give
the Sunil Mittal-headed telco a 4G footprint
across 18 circles, nearly on a par with Mukesh
Ambani-owned Jio, the only operator to hold 4G
airwaves across all 22 circles.
BMR
Advisors in merger talks with KPMG: report
Economic Times
BMR Advisors, a homegrown consulting firm, is in
discussions with KPMG and another Big Four
auditing firm for a possible merger. BMR
Advisors provides professional services
including in the areas of taxation, risk and M&A
advisory services. If the deal goes through, it
would be a comeback of sorts for the leading
trio of of BMR - Bobby Parekh, Mukesh Butani and
Rajiv Dimri - into the Big Four fold.
BK Modi
in talks to sell Saket City Hospital
Mint
Bhupendra Kumar Modi, chairman of Smart Global,
is in talks with Manipal Health Enterprises, Max
Healthcare Institute and a couple of foreign
hospital chains to sell Saket City Hospitals
Pvt. Ltd for about INR 1000 crore. Modi set up
the hospital in 2013, investing INR 300 crore.
The hospital has a capacity of 250 beds.
Expansion / Diversification
Apollo forays into home healthcare
Times Of India
Publicly listed Apollo Hospitals is opened home
healthcare services across three cities in India
- Chennai, Delhi and Hyderabad. By end of next
year, the service will be available across most
of India. The Homecare hub comprising over 500
staffers has been launched with an initial
investment of Rs 50 crore.
Bajaj Finance gets nod to set up housing finance
co
Business Standard
Bajaj Finance has received approval from the
National Housing Bank (NHB) to set up a housing
finance company, as a wholly owned subsidiary.
The company had applied for a licence to NHB
through its subsidiary Bajaj Housing Finance
last year and was granted the same.
Hinduja Leyland gets housing finance licence
Business Standard
Hinduja Housing Finance, the wholly-owned
subsidiary of five-year-old Hinduja Leyland
Finance, has received a nod from the National
Housing Bank to commence housing finance
business. The company targets to have a book
size of Rs 700 crore by March next year. The
operations will begin with an initial capital of
Rs 95 crore, funded through internal accruals
and loans, with which it can gear up to eight to
12 times.
The company is going to concentrate on the
affordable housing sector, where the average
ticket size is going to be around Rs 25 lakh and
will be present only in Tier-II and Tier-III
cities.
People
Sriram Venkatraman named CFO of Flipkart’s
E-Commerce platform
Economic Times
E-commerce major Flipkart has appointed Sriram
Venkataraman as chief financial officer (CFO)
for its commerce platform and Pramod Jain as
vice president and head of taxation.
iGate CEO Ashok Vemuri quits
Ashok Vemuri, CEO of IT services firm iGate -
having integrated the company into
Capgemini - has
chosen to move on. The former Infy executive had
joined iGate as CEO in September 2013.
Others
Ashish Dhawan-founded Ashoka Varsity raises
Rs.50-Cr more
Economic Times
Ashish Dhawan founded Ashoka University, a
private liberal arts university has raised INR
50 crore from six new contributors, all high net
worth individuals from outside India. The latest
set of contributors who have funded the
university are from outside India, and include:
Kapil Kapoor, Chairman, Info Edge and managing
partner, Caldera Pacific Capital Partners; Rahul
Mookerjee, MD, YoNao Capital; Sandeep Gupta,
managing partner, Broad Peak Investment
Advisers; Sat Pal Khattar, founder, Khattar Wong
and chairman, Khattar Holdings; Ashok Trivedi,
managing partner, SWAT Capital and co-founder,
co-chairman, IGATE; and Anita Manwani, CEO,
Carobar Business Solutions. This round of
capital takes the funding for the university to
over INR 400 crores from 65 individuals. Ashoka
University, a fully residential university with
a focus in the liberal arts, is located in
Sonepat, Haryana. The first batch at the
university started in 2014.
Existing backers of Ashoka include Rakesh
Jhunjhunwala, investor and chairman, RARE
Enterprises; Dilip Shanghvi, founder and
managing director of Sun Pharmaceuticals;
Sanjeev Bikhchandani, founder, naukri.com;
Siddharth Yog of Xander Group; Vineet Gupta,
managing director of Jamboree Education and
Jerry Rao, founder of Mphasis, among others.
Amit Chandra, managing director at Bain Capital
is also a founder & advisor at Ashoka University
.
Food tech startup Dazo shuts down: report
NextBigWhat
Bangalore based food tech startup Dazo has shut
down and the company has stopped taking new
orders. Dazo started as a curated food demand
platform and had raised funding from Google’s
Rajan Anandan, Amazon’s country manager Amit
Agarwal, Commonfloor’s Sumit Jain, TaxiForSure’s
Aprameya Radhakrishna and SAIF’s Alok Goel.
Fmr Micromax chairman Sanjay Kapoor threatens to
drag co to court over exit
Economic Times
Former Micromax chairman Sanjay Kapoor has
threatened to drag the company to court, amidst
allegations by the company he misappropriated
fuel bills and counter-allegations by him that
it had cooked up a malicious story to deny him
his stock options. In his resignation letter to
the Micromax board, Kapoor has also threatened
to take legal action against the company and its
directors. At the time of joining Micromax in
June 2014, Kapoor had been promised over 1% of
the company in stock options The board of
Micromax acknowledged Kapoor's resignation in a
meeting held on August 1 and employee stock
options issued to him were revoked the same day.
Mohit Bhatnagar, a partner at Sequoia Capital
and a longtime investor in the company, had also
resigned from Micromax's board on July 6, 2015,
a few days before Kapoor's termination letter
was served on him.
"Executive Chairman, Apex Avalon Consulting, Girija Pande's recent article "Prime Minister Modi's Striking China Visit: Will It Help His 'Make In India' Program?" which has been featured in Forbes magazine, discusses how politics divides these two great Asian nations and how they are united by commerce.
Click here to read more on how PM Modi's latest visit can impact the way in which India and China can engage with each other in a mutually beneficial way.
Founded in 1989, Avalon Consulting is an international management consulting firm that offers services in growth strategy, business transformation and transaction support to clients across a wide range of sectors including Agribusiness, Automotive, Chemicals, Construction, Education, Engineering, FMCG, Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals and Retail. It has offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore and Singapore serving clients across India, Middle East, South East Asia, China, Europe and the US. Avalon Consulting is among the Top 15 Consulting Firms Overall in Asia (Vault List 2014).
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Basiz Fund Services Pvt. Ltd
M: +918286008554, E:
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http://www.basizfa.com
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