Private Equity Fund Investments

Realtor Unitech raises Rs.2,000-Cr from Suraksha ARC, JM Financial

Economic Times

Property developer Unitech has raised an INR 2,000 crore investment from two asset reconstruction companies - Suraksha ARC and JM Financial - to complete pending projects. Of these, around 16 projects are under JM Financial’s portfolio while seven are under Suraksha’s portfolio. The investments made by both the ARCs are towards working capital of the pending projects. Unitech is scouting for more investors for additional funding.

The company has been under pressure after the Supreme Court, in May, asked the government to explore an option to take over the group and complete the pending projects. About 17,000 buyers have invested in Unitech’s projects stuck due to working capital issues. Sanjay Chandra, managing director of Unitech is in jail after being arrested by the economic offences wing of the Delhi police in August 2017. The company is required to pay INR 750 crore in the court registry and only then would Chandra qualify for bail. The SC is set to hear the case on July 5.

HINES, Conscient Infra to invest Rs.1,600-Cr in Gurugram housing project

Mint

Real Estate investment and development company HINES, along with Conscient Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, will invest around INR 1,600 crore for a premium residential project in Golf Course Extension Road, Gurugram. Hines and Conscient have already invested INR 500 crore of equity, through a special purpose vehicle for the project. The rest will be raised via construction finance or debt.

The project, Elevate, will be developed across 8 acres of land, that belongs to developer Ireo Management Pvt. Ltd. (HINES and Ireo signed a joint development agreement for the land in 2016.) The project will have 556 apartments of 2,100 sq. ft to 3,400 sq. ft, priced between INR 2.2 crore and INR 4 crore.

HINES to invest Rs.318-Cr in Shapoorji Pallonji’s Bangalore residential project

Economic Times, Advisor Disclosure

Global property investment management firm Hines is to invest in two phases of Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate’s premium residential project “Parkwest” in Bangalore. Hines will invest INR 318 crore in Relationship Properties, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shapoorji Pallonji Group, for a majority stake in phase 3 and phase 4 of the project. The SP Group will invest the balance amount in the INR 425 crore project. AZB & Partners was the legal advisor to SP Group on the deal.

The residential project is spread across around 46 acres in Binnypet area of Bangalore and has a total saleable area of around 4.8 million sq ft. Of this, phase 3 of the project, which has already been launched, has around 0.32 million sq ft saleable space, while the fourth phase, to be launched by this year end, has 1.48 million sq ft area. The first phase of the project is already sold out, while the second phase is being undertaken by Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate independently.

GIC-DLF JV to create India’s largest retail mall

Economic Times

Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and realty developer DLF - via their private REIT joint venture DCCDL - are to build the country’s biggest retail mall “Down Town” in Gurgaon. Spanning 2.5 million sq ft., the mixed use mall will be constructed on a 23-acre land parcel owned by DLF. The plot is on the highway opposite DLF’s 2.5 million sq ft commercial project Cyber Park.

Unilever, Kotak, Innoven join existing investors to pump $120-M into CureFit

Economic Times

Health and fitness startup CureFit has closed a USD 120 million funding round, in a mix of equity and debt, with new investors including Unilever Ventures, Epiq Capital, Innoven Capital and Kotak Mahindra Bank coming on board. The round was led by existing investors including Chiratae Ventures (formerly IDG Ventures India), Accel Partners, Kalaari Capital, and Oaktree Capital.

CureFit has, in total, raised about USD 290 million in capital. On May 6, Curefit raised INR 521.8 crore (USD 75 million) at a valuation of INR 3,869.6 crore (USD 557 million). This was the first tranche of the USD 120 million investment, which also counts Anand Piramal Family Trust, Makan Family Trust and Hadley Family Trust as backers. The company has now been valued at more than USD 575 million.

CureFit is building a platform offering health, wellness, food and merchandising through multiple brands. This includes a chain of fitness 180 centres under the brand CultFit, a healthy food-delivery offering under EatFit with over 35,000 deliveries per day, healthcare clinics under the brand CareFit and 35 centres for mental wellness service under the brand MindFit. CureFit claims its annualised revenue stood at USD 100 million, growing at 200% every year. In fiscal 2018, the company earned revenue of INR 34.6 crore and posted a loss of INR 98.6 crore.

Edtech startup Unacademy raises $50-M from Steadview, others

YourStory

Bengaluru- based edtech startup Unacademy has raised $50 million in Series D funding round from new investor Steadview Capital, with participation from existing investors Sequoia Capital India, Nexus Venture Partners and Blume Ventures. The round also saw participation from Unacademy’s founders Gaurav Munjal and Roman Saini, as well as other startup founders, including Aakrit Vaish (Co-Founder & CEO, Haptik) and Sujeet Kumar (Co-Founder & CEO, Udaan). The new investment will be used to onboard more educators, fuel growth across multiple exam categories and build product and team. The platform currently has more than 10,000 registered educators and 13 million users.

From the Venture Intelligence PE-VC Deal Database: Unacademy had raised $21 million in its Series C round of funding in July 2018. (The latest infusion takes the total VC funding raised by the startup to $88 million.) Other VC investors in Unacademy include SAIF Partners (invested in Sep-17) and WaterBridge Ventures (completely exited in 2018 via Secondary Sale). Angel investors in the company include Kalyan Krishnamurthy (Apr-2019); Girish Mathrubootham and Stanford Angels (since Jan-2017); Rajan Anandan, Phanindra Sama and Aprameya Radhakrishna (Dec-2015); Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Sachin Bansal, Binny Bansal, Kunal Shah and Sandeep Tandon (since Aug-2016)

B2B portal IndiaMart raises Rs.214-Cr from anchor investors including SAIF Partners, others

DealStreetAsia

IndiaMart Intermesh Ltd, which operates the online business-to-business (B2B) marketplace Indiamart.com, has raised INR 213.57 crore (about USD 30.5 million) from anchor investors at INR 973 per equity share. The anchor investors include SAIF Partners (via SAIF India VI FII Holdings Ltd), Hornbill Orchid India Fund, Kuwait Investment Authority Fund 225, Steadview Capital Mauritius Ltd, Malabar India Funds and Sylebra Capital Partners Master Fund Ltd. Advisors to the issue include ICICI Securities, Edelweiss Financial Services and Jefferies India. Three existing investors in Indiamart - Intel Capital, Amadeus Capital Partners and Accion - are expected to make a partial exit from the firm through the IPO to be launched on June 24 to raise around INR 600-650 crore.

Indiamart provides a platform for business buyers to discover products and services and connect with suppliers. As of 31 March 2018, the company had 59.81 million registered buyers and 4.72 million suppliers on its platform.

Banking startup Open raises $30-M led by Tiger Global

Mint

Bangalore-based Open Financial Technologies, which provides banking services to businesses, has raised $30 million in Series B round led by US-based investment firm Tiger Global Management. Tanglin Venture Partners, a venture capital fund floated by former Tiger Global executives Ravi Venkatesh and Edwina Yeo, was the other new investor in the round. Existing investors 3one4 Capital, Speedinvest and BetterCapital AngelList Syndicate also participated in the round. Open plans to use the funds to invest in technology and hire across product, engineering and sales functions.

Open offers a business account in partnership with banks which helps businesses automate and run their finances. It offers a payment gateway, automated prepaid cards, and connections to multiple banks, for a business to manage its banking from one place.

From the Venture Intelligence PE-VC Deal Database: Speedinvest, Beenext, 3ONE4 Capital, Unicorn India Ventures and Recruit Strategic Partners had invested INR 38.91 crores in Open Financial Technologies across 2 rounds of funding. (Subscribers to the database can login to view the valuation, deal structuring and other transaction details.)

Cosmetics brand MyGlamm raises Rs.130-Cr from Bessemer, others; Tano Capital exits

Times of India

Bessemer Venture Partners is leading an INR 130 crore round of investment in online direct-to-consumer cosmetics brand MyGlamm. The round also saw participation from French cosmetics giant L’Occitane and well known public market investor, the Mankekar family. The deal would value MyGlamm at INR 500 crore and will also see early investor Tano Capital sell most of its stake for INR 30 crore, making three times returns on its investment.

Mumbai-based MyGlamm is doing about INR 5 crore monthly sales now, with 70% coming from its website and mobile application while the rest coming from 120 shop-in-shop at department stores like Shoppers Stop and Lifestyle.

From the Venture Intelligence PE-VC Deal Database: In November 2015, Tano Capital had invested INR 10 crore in MyGlamm. (Subscribers to the database can login to view the valuation, deal structuring and other transaction details.)

Logistics startup Leap India raises Rs.100-Cr from TVS Capital

Investor & Advisor Disclosure

Mumbai-based supply chain solutions provider Leap India has raised INR 100 crore from TVS Capital-managed TVS Shriram Growth Fund 3. Rajani Associates was the legal advisor to LEAP India and two of its existing investors in the transaction. The investment involved an issue of subscription to cumulative participating compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS).

From the Venture Intelligence PE-VC Deal Database: Starting Dec-14, Leap India has previously raised about USD 49 million (INR 320 crore) from IFC, Mayfield, Sixth Sense Ventures, IndiaNivesh VC and other investors. (Subscribers to the database can login to view the valuation, deal structuring and other transaction details.)

Eye care chain Infigo Lifesciences raises funds from IIFL

From the Venture Intelligence PE-VC Deal Database: In September 2018, IIFL India Private Equity Fund had invested INR 40 crore for a majority stake in Mumbai-based eye care chain Infigo Lifesciences. As part of the deal, Vikrant Sibal of IIFL PE has joined the board (Subscribers to the database can login to view the valuation, deal structuring and other transaction details.)

Personal care brand Scentials raises Rs.25-Cr led by Unilever Ventures

YourStory

Mumbai-based celebrity-led beauty and wellness company, Scentials Beauty Care and Wellness Pvt. Ltd, has raised INR 25 crore in Series A funding led by Unilever Ventures. Scentials was advised by Lastaki Advisors on the deal.

Co-founded by Jinesh Mehta and tennis star Mahesh Bhupathi, Scentials has global licensing and endorsement agreements with some of the most-successful celebrities in the field of sports and entertainment to design, develop, manufacture, market, and distribute products through multiple brands across fragrances, skin-care, makeup and men's grooming. The company launched Virat Kohli’s’ One8 brand in the fragrance category in January this year, and followed with launching a line of Skin care “Arias” with former Miss Universe Lara Dutta Bhupathi in April 2019.

JM Financial to acquire minority stake in Hyderabad co-living space operator Isthara

Economic Times

JM Financial is to acquire a significant minority stake in Hyderabad-based co-living space operator Isthara Parks. The funds are committed from JM Financial India Fund II. Isthara will use the funds for expansion to other cities in the country.

Isthara provides fully-furnished shared-living accommodation for working professionals and students, with a host of amenities such as daily meals, WiFi internet, gymnasium besides laundry and housekeeping services. Currently, the company manages about 3,000 beds across 29 properties in Hyderabad, Bengaluru and National Capital Region.

Apex Hospitals raises Rs.25-Cr from Somerset Indus Capital Partners

Venture Intelligence Research

Somerset Indus Capital Partners has invested INR 25 crores for 38% stake in Jaipur based Apex Hospitals. As part of the transaction, Sharad Ladha and Ramesh Kannan of Somerset Indus Capital Partners joined the board of Apex Hospitals. Apex Hospital has generated a revenue of INR 62.7 crore in FY 18

Apex Hospital is a multi-specialty, state-of-art medical center was established in the year 1994.

IP-asset mgm’t co Clairvolex raises $3.5 M more from Walden Riverwood, IndusAge

YourStory

Intellectual Property (IP) asset management firm Clairvolex has raised USD 3.5 million in an extension of its Series B round funding led by California-based Walden Riverwood Capital, with participation from IndusAge Partners. The company will invest the fresh capital to deepen its Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based IP solutions platform LEAP’s market penetration, expand its sales and marketing footprint in the US and Europe. Clairvolex is also looking at adding more data science and data engineering capabilities in both Bangalore and Los Altos, CA centres.

From the Venture Intelligence PE-VC Deal Database: In Nov-16, Clairvolex had raised USD 7.7 million in Series B funding led by Waldent. It had raised USD 4 million Series A from IndusAge in Oct-15. (Subscribers to the database can login to view the valuation, deal structuring and other transaction details.)

Bellatrix Aerospace raises $3-M from IDFC-Parampara, others

Advisory Disclosure

Bangalore-based Bellatrix Aerospace, an SID (Indian Institute of Science) incubated company, has raised USD 3 million in a pre-Series A round led by IDFC-Parampara, StartupXseed, Karsemven Fund (KITVEN) and Survam Partners (SK Munjal’s family office) at a post money valuation of USD 10 million. Other investors participating in the round include actor Deepika Padukone (through KA Enterprises LLP), GrowXVentures, CIIE (an incubator of IIM Ahmedabad) and SINE (an incubator of IIT Bombay). Eiliant Advisors was the sole financial advisor to Bellatrix for this transaction.

Bellatrix is a full suite solution provider for in-space propulsion systems. Satellite manufacturers are transitioning from traditional chemical propulsion systems to electric propulsion or chemical systems incorporating greener high performance propellants.

Fintech start-up Recko raises $1-M from Prime Ventures

Business Line

Bengaluru-based fintech start-up Recko, which enables AI-powered reconciliation of digital transactions, has raised about INR 7 crore (USD 1 million) in seed funding from Prime Venture Partners. Recko, which has built a SaaS-based reconciliation product that keeps track of the complete transaction lifecycle and commercial contracts for organisations, will use the money to scale the business.

Fintech startup Streak AI raises $1-M from 3One4Capital

YourStory

Bengaluru-based financial trading enabling tech startup Streak AI Technologies has raised pre-Series A funding of $1 million. The round was led by 3one4 Capital with participation from existing investor Rainmatter Capital. The new funding will be primarily used to grow the team, focus on the product roadmap, and scale the existing customer base.

The startup lets traders create algorithms to generate trading signals for buying or selling stocks without the need for coding. The platform allows tracking of all securities such as stocks and futures in NSE, currencies, and MCX commodities (over 2,500+).

In 2017, Streak had raised seed funding of $350,000 from Rainmatter Capital.

Belltower Fund Group buys Dunzo shares worth Rs.2.99 Cr

Venture Intelligence Research

Belltower Fund Group Ltd, via DU Fund I (an unit of Moving Capital LP), has bought 565 Series C CCCPS at INR 52,927.20 per share of Dunzo Digital Pvt Ltd on Jun 14, 2019. The purchase, which constitutes 0.61% stake, aggregates to INR 2.99 Cr and values Dunzo at INR 489.57 Cr.

From the Venture Intelligence PE-VC Deal Database: Between Sep 2015 and Apr 2019, Dunzo raised USD 40.33 million (INR 277.17 Cr) across various rounds.

Sixth Sense Ventures buys addl AVG Logistics shares worth Rs.74 lakh

NSE

Sixth Sense Ventures, via Sixth Sense India Opportunities II, has bought 94,800 shares (0.92% stake) at INR 78.35 per share of AVG Logistics Ltd on Jun 26, 2019 through a bulk deal on NSE. The purchase aggregates to INR 74 lakh.

From the Venture Intelligence PE-VC Deal Database: In Mar 2018, Sixth Sense fully subscribed to the anchor portion of the SME IPO of AVG Logistics. The fund had invested INR 9.41 crore at INR 107 per share for a 8.54% stake of the company.

Satellite designer Kawa Space raises funds from Speciale Invest

Business Line

Mumbai-based Kawa Space, which designs and operates earth observation satellites, has closed a seed round of funding from seed capital firm.Speciale Invest.

Spacetech startup Astrogate Labs raises funding from Speciale Invest

Investor Announcement

Speciale Invest has invested in Bengaluru-based Astrogate Labs, marking the seed capital firm’s third bet in the space-tech segment. Astrogate started operations in fall 2017 and was part of Light Speed Innovations Accelerator (USA) program. Since then, the startup has accomplished significant technology development leading up to prototype demonstrations over the last year. Astrogate is now preparing for flight qualification and in-orbit verification of its smallsat optical terminal in 2020.

Mobile tech co Jiny raises funds from Ankur Capital

Investor Disclosure

Ankur Capital has invested in Bangalore-based mobile adaptive digital assistant tool Jiny. Jiny can “sit” on any interface and guide the users in different languages to complete the workflow.

Biotech co String Bio raises funding from Ankur Capital, KITVEN, ONGC, others

Press Release

Bengaluru-based biotechnology company String Bio Pvt Ltd has raised funding from Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC), French investor Seventure Partners, Ankur Capital, KITVEN and Srinivasa Hatcheries. The company will use the funds to develop alternative proteins for the global feed and food companies. Unitus Capital acted as an exclusive financial advisor to String Bio.

String Bio manufactures and provides feed and food ingredients made by leveraging biotechnology. The innovation is enabled by String’s proprietary platform SIMP (String Integrated Methane Platform) that leverages advances in synthetic biology, fermentation technology, chemistry, and process engineering.

Angel Funding

Celebrity led brand development co Swag Fashion Hub raises Rs.20-Cr

Advisor Announcement

Swag Fashion Hub, a celebrity-led apparel and accessories company has raised INR 20 crore from high net worth individuals. Co-founded by tennis star Mahesh Bhupathi and Jinesh Mehta, Swag is a brand development and licensing company that offers youth focused fashion brands. Majority of the brands are co-owned by celebrities and Swag. The company has signed up with celebrities like Virat Kohli, Lara Dutta, Disha Patani, Malaika Arora and Allu Arjun. Lastaki Advisors acted as the sole investment banker to Swag.

Futures trading platform FnO raises $2-M

Economic Times

Fintech startup built for futures trading, FnO has raised $2 million in an angel round of funding from executives of banks, financial services, asset management and consumer internet companies. The Singapore-based company intends to develop a platform for trading in futures and options for retail customers. It intends to use the funds to launch the product in India and also take it to other geographies.

Edtech startup ConceptOwl raises Rs 3.5-Cr from IAN

IndianWeb2

Indian Angel Network (IAN) has invested INR 3.5 crore in Trivandrum-based edtech startup ConceptOwl. The start-up will utilize the capital infusion to enhance and diversify its offerings, as well as to bolster its sales and marketing operations. The round was led by KRS Jamwal, Ankit Somani and Mitesh Shah with Ankit Somani joining the company’s board.

ConceptOwl is focused on delivering teacher-less online-in-classroom Science and Mathematics coaching to school students in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities at affordable prices.

Online tax experts platform Wizcounsel raises Rs.1-Cr from Kapil Dev, others

Mint (E-Paper)

Delhi-based Wizcounsel, an online market network for legal, tax and accounting experts, has raised INR 1 crore in an angel round led by former cricketer Kapil Dev and others. Sunil Kumar Gupta, founder and chairman of SARC Associates and Manas Fuloria (Nagarro founder and CEO) also participated in the round. The funds will be used for marketing, sales and for strengthening operations.

Experts marketplace Tapchief raises $650-K

Economic Times

Paytm-backed Tapchief, an online platform that connects businesses to domain-specific professionals, has raised $650,000 from a clutch of investors including 500 Startups, AngelList India, Stanford Angels, SucSeed Venture Partners and individual investors including Cred founder Kunal Shah, former Flipkart executive Mekin Maheshwari and Slideshare founder Amit Ranjan. Existing investors Paytm, NuVentures and Vokal founder Aprameya Radhakrishna also participated in the round. The Bengaluru-based startup plans to use the fresh funds to expand the team and accelerate its product development.

Tapchief enables clients to source and shortlist industry experts to consult or work on specific problems across various functions like strategy, technology, marketing, finance, sales, and operations, depending on their budget and timelines. Tapchief claims to have more than 75,000 professionals on its platform, of which about 30% are freelancers (available on a full-time basis) and it aims to add a million professionals to its platform by next year.

From the Venture Intelligence Angel Investments Database: In April 2016 Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma had invested in Tapchief. In November 2016, Tapchief had raised additional funding from Paytm, TaxiForSure founder Aprameya Radhakrishna, Fisdom founder Subramanya Venkat and Venk Krishnan of NuVentures among others.

P2P lending service i2iFunding raises addl capital from SucSEED

Press Release

SucSEED Venture Partners has invested additional capital in RNVP Technology Private Limited (which operates Peer to Peer Lending service i2iFunding). i2iFunding has disbursed loans of value more than INR 36 Crores and has crossed monthly disbursal of INR 4 crore. i2iFunding had raised more than $1 million so far.

From the Venture Intelligence Angel Investments Database: In December 2017, SucSEED Angel Network has invested INR 4.75 crores in i2iFunding (Subscribers to the database can login to view the valuation, deal structuring and other transaction details.)

Liquidity Events

IndiaMART.com IPO gets fully subscribed

Economic Times

The initial public offer of IndiaMART.com, an online marketplace for business products and services, was fully subscribed on the second day of bidding. The INR 475 crore IPO received bids for 27,94,440 shares against the total issue size of 26,92,824 shares. The category meant for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) was subscribed 1.05 times, non institutional investors 4% and retail individual investors 2.48 times. ICICI Securities, Edelweiss Financial Services and Jefferies India are managing the offer.

From the Venture Intelligence PE-VC Deal Database: Intel Capital was IndiaMART.com's earliest investor (invested in Nov-2008). Other PE-VC investors in the company (who, along with Intel, will be partly exiting via the IPO) include Amadeus Capital Partners and Quona Capital (investors since Mar-2016). WestBridge, which also invested in Mar-2016, is to remain invested. (Subscribers to the database can login to view the investment valuation, deal structuring and other transaction details.)

TrueNorth sells Aster DM Healthcare shares worth Rs.549-Cr, registers 4.76x return

NSE

TrueNorth, via True North Fund IIIA, sold shares of publicly listed Aster DM Healthcare Ltd worth INR 549.44 crore during the week via bulk deals on the NSE.

On Jun 26, 2019, TrueNorth had sold 37,363,409 shares (7.40% stake) at INR 120.03 per share. The sale aggregated to INR 448.47 Cr.

On Jun 27, 2019, it sold 8,287,025 shares (1.64% stake) at INR 120 per share aggregating to INR 99.44 Cr.

From the Venture Intelligence PE-VC Deal Database: In Feb 2008, TrueNorth had invested INR 62.31 Cr in Aster DM. In May 2014, TrueNorth invested a further INR 118.07 Cr. The company got listed in Feb 2018 at INR 190 per share. (Olympus Capital is another PE investor in Aster DM.)

L&T acquires majority stake in Mindtree; Nalanda Capital, Arohi Asset Management exit

Mint, Economic Times, Economic Times

Construction major Larsen and Toubro (L&T) has acquired a majority 60% stake in Mindtree after its open offer to buy 31% shares got oversubscribed. L&T received bids for 5.54 crore shares as against offer size of 5.13 crore shares. L&T has acquired Arohi Asset Management’s 1.22% stake (held via Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan). L&T has also bought Mindtree shares from Nemish Shah’s Enam Holdings, White Oak, Avendus Capital, HDFC Life Insurance, and mutual funds and foreign institutional investors (FIIs).

Nalanda Capital has also exited Mindtree, having tendered its entire 10.6% stake in the open offer by Larsen & Toubro. The fund will make a four-fold return on its investment. Nalanda’s average acquisition cost in Mindtree was INR 260 per share and it has been holding its stake for 10 years. Nalanda founder Pulak Prasad had opposed the takeover and held out against it for months. The turnabout was attributed to market regulator SEBI having written to the Singapore-based public market fund, asking if it was acting in concert with the founders of Mindtree without triggering an open offer.

In March, L&T had acquired 20.32% stake in Mindtree from VG Siddhartha and his coffee enterprise. It later picked up more shares of Mindtree from the open market to raise its holding to over 28% and subsequently made an open offer to buy an additional 31% stake at INR 980 a share.

Creador Capital sells addl PC Jeweller shares worth Rs.23-Cr, registers 0.4x return

NSE

Creador Capital, via Carlina Ltd and Idria Ltd, has sold 2,211,000 shares at INR 52.17 per share and 2,199,000 shares at INR 52.18 per share respectively through NSE bulk deals of publicly listed PC Jeweller Ltd on Jun 24, 2019. The sale, which constitutes a 1.12% stake of the company, aggregates to INR 23.01 Cr. Post-deal, the investor would hold 4.13% stake (16,295,776 shares) in the company.

From the Venture Intelligence PE-VC Deal Database: Between Feb 2015 and Dec 2015, Creador Capital invested INR 246.46 Cr for 5.07% stake. In Apr 2019, the Creador invested additional INR 200 Cr (approx) in the company.

Secondary Issues

SBI Life share sale subscribed 3.4 times

Business Standard

The INR 1,625-crore share sale in private sector life insurance company SBI Life saw bids for nearly 89 million shares, 3.4 times the 25 million shares on offer. Most of the bids came at INR 670 per share, higher than the base price of INR 650 set for the offer for sale (OFS). The selling shareholder in the OFS was BNP Paribas Cardif, a joint venture partner in SBI Life, which will be able to mop up over INR 1,625 crore for its 2.5% stake. Following the sale, its holding will drop to 5.2%.

M&A

Binny Bansal sells addl Flipkart stake worth $76-M to Walmart

DealStreetAsia

Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal has sold around 54 lakh of his equity shares for $76 million (INR 531 crore) to US-headquartered retail giant Walmart’s Luxembourg entity, FIT Holdings SARL. Post the transaction, Bansal’s stake in Flipkart stands at 3.52%.

Walmart had acquired a majority stake in Flipkart last year for about $16 billion.

Canada’s Manulife to acquire 49% stake in Mahindra AMC for $35-M

Business Standard

Canada-based Manulife is to buy a 49% stake in Mahindra Asset Management Company for USD 35 million (INR 243 crore). The deal will value the AMC at 10.4% of its asset size.

European investor LGT buys majority stake in wealth mgmt co Validus

Press Release

LGT, a private banking and asset management group owned by the Princely Family of Liechtenstein, has agreed to acquire a controlling stake in Mumbai-based wealth management firm Validus Wealth (formerly WGC Wealth). The remaining shares would be retained by the company’s existing management team. The company will continue to be led by its founder and current CEO Atul Singh.

The company employs more than 150 staff and has a presence in nine cities including Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru. Post-merger, Validus Wealth will develop a full service, private client platform in India, offering investment advisory, portfolio management, research, and wealth planning services.

Persistent Systems to acquire Germany-based IT Services firm Youperience for $5.5 M

BSE, BSE

Publicly-listed Persistent Systems has acquired Germany-headquartered Salesforce consulting partner Youperience. The enterprise value payable for the acquisition of 100% shares of Youperience is estimated to be Euro 4.8 million (about USD 5.45 million). Additionally, an amount up to Euro 2 million (USD 2.27 million) is payable over 2 years contingent on performance and retention of key employees.

Youperience GmbH (Youperience) is a Salesforce Gold partner with estimated revenues of about Euro 3.5 Million for the 12 months ended March 31, 2019. Youperience is based out of Germany and operates through its affiliate, Youperience Ltd. in the UK market. (As part of the deal, Persistent Systems Germany GmbH has also acquired 30% shareholding in Youperience Ltd., UK.) The acquisition strengthens Persistent's Salesforce practice in Europe and in the Salesforce Marketing Cloud domain. The combined unit will have 170 employees in four countries (Germany, Switzerland, Austria and France).

From the Venture Intelligence M&A Deals Database: In July-2017 Persistent Systems had acquired a 100% stake in PARX for $16.90 million

TCS buys 15% addnl stake in Japanese JV with Mitsubishi Corp

BSE

TCS Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd (TCS APAC), a wholly owned subsidiary of publicly-listed Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), is acquiring 15% stake from Mitsubishi Corporation (MC)( JV partner) in Tata Consultancy Services Japan, Ltd (TCS Japan) for JPY 3.5 billion (USD 32.6 million) and consequently, the holding of TCS APAC in TCS Japan will go up from the current 51% to 66%. MC will hold 34%.

Max India to divest entire 85% stake in subsidiary Pharmax to group co for Rs.61-Cr

BSE

Max India has approved divestment of its entire stake of 85.17% in subsidiary firm Pharmax Corporation Ltd to an unit of Max Estates, a wholly-owned real estate focused subsidiary of fellow publicly listed group firm Max Ventures and Industries Ltd, for INR 61.2 crore. Pharmax owns the property "Max House" in Delhi's Okhla area. The target company had reported revenues of INR 17.99 Cr for FY19 (up from INR 3.12 Cr in the previous year).

Adani Power to acquire GMR Chhattisgarh Energy

BSE

Axis Bank acting as Lead Lender to GMR Chhattisgarh Energy Limited ("GCEL"), has issued a Letter of Intent approving Adani Power Limited's resolution plan to acquire controlling equity stake and restructure debt in GCEL. Post the transaction, Adani Power Limited shall hold 100% equity stake in GCEL. Of this, 52.38% stake is to be acquired from the Lenders, and the balance 47.62% is to be acquired from the GMR Group.

GCEL owns an operational 1.370 Megawatt (MW) supercritical thermal power plant in Raikheda, Raipur district, Chhattisgarh. The plant consists of 2 units of 685 MW each, commissioned in June 2015 and April 2016 respectively.

KFC India to divest 61 more stores to Devyani Intn’l

Economic Times

Yum! Brands’ KFC India is selling off 61 equity-owned restaurants to RJ Corp-promoted Devyani International (DIL) in line with its global strategy to exit capital-intensive operations and focus on brand growth and development. DIL will acquire 61 additional restaurants in Karnataka, AP and Telangana.

DIL is Yum’s oldest franchise partner in the country with an operating footprint of close to 500 KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants. The latest divestment is in continuation of the sell-off in November last year, when KFC divested 13 restaurants to DIL for the Kerala and Goa markets.

NCLT approves Dhanuka Laboratories' Rs.610-Cr bid for Orchid Pharma

The Hindu

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Chennai Bench, has approved the INR 610 crore resolution plan of Dhanuka Laboratories for debt-ridden Orchid Pharma. The earlier resolution plan by Ingen Capital, which was approved by the NCLT in the first attempt, was for INR 1,490 crore.

Other Deals - Listed Firms

Emami promoters divest 10% for Rs.1,230-Cr to pare debt

BSE

The promoters of Emami Group have sold 10% stake in Emami Ltd, raising approximately INR 1,230 crore. This amount is intended to be used primarily for further reducing debt at the promoter level. The total promoter stake in Emami, subsequent to the stake sale, stands at 52.74%.

IT consulting co eClerx buys back shares worth Rs.262-Cr

BSE, Advisor Disclosure

eClerx, a publicly-listed IT consulting and outsourcing company based in Mumbai and Pune, has bought back 17,46,666 fully paid-up equity shares (at INR 1,500 per equity share) for INR 262 crore. Emkay Global Financial Services acted as manager to the buy-back and Rajani Associates was the legal advisor to eClerx on the transaction.

LIC cuts stake in Axis Bank by 2%

Economic Times

State-owned LIC has sold over 5.25 crore shares, representing about 2% stake, of Axis Bank through open market transaction. With the sale of these shares, the stake of LIC (Life Insurance Corporation of India) in the bank has come down to 10.2% from 12.21% earlier.

Debt Financing

Health tech startup Practo to raise Rs.70-Cr from Trifecta Capital

Venture Intelligence Research

Trifecta Capital, via Trifecta Venture Debt Fund II, has committed to buy 700 Unlisted, secured, redeemable Non-Convertible Debentures at INR 1,000,000 per debenture in two tranches of health tech startup Practo Technologies Private Limited. The purchase aggregates to INR 70 Cr. The debentures carries fixed interest rate of 14.6% p.a. payable monthly on outstanding amounts, upfront non-refundable fee of 1% of the debenture principal amount and tenor of 36 months from issuance of NCDs.

On Jun 12, 2019, the company issued 350 Secured, redeemable Non-Convertible Debentures to Trifecta Venture Debt Fund II as part of the first tranche. The second tranche NCDs will be issued before Dec 31, 2019.

From the Venture Intelligence PE-VC Deal Database: Between Apr 2011 and Jan 2017, Practo had raised USD 182.8 million (INR 1173.37 Cr). The last round raised by the company was a USD 55 million from Tencent, Sequoia Capital India, Matrix Partners India, CapitalG, Recruit Strategic Partners, RTP Global and Thrive Capital. The company had raised venture debt from Innoven Capital in Jan 2015.

Hyperlocal deliverer Milkbasket raises Rs.15-Cr from InnoVen Capital

YourStory

Gurugram-based hyper local milk delivery startup Milkbasket has raised INR 15 crore from InnoVen Capital. With this, the company has announced the close of its USD 12.7 million Series B round. Led by Unilever Ventures, the Series B investment of USD 10.5 million saw participation from Mayfield India, Kalaari Capital, Blume Ventures, and a few Indian family offices and the recent investment by InnoVen Capital

Milkbasket delivers milk to households everyday. The company currently operates in Bengaluru, Gurugram, Delhi, Noida, and Ghaziabad. It claims to serve over 100,000 households. Milkbasket has till date raised around USD 26 million in equity funding from Mayfield, Beenext, Kalaari Capital, Unilever Ventures, Lenovo Capital (LCIH), Blume Ventures and a few family offices.

Real Estate Transactions

Runwal Group buys 8-acres in North Mumbai from Cable Corporation for Rs.530-Cr

Economic Times

Property developer Runwal Group has bought an 8.3 acre land parcel at Borivali, a northern suburb of Mumbai, from Cable Corporation of India for around INR 530 crore. Runwal is planning a mixed-use development on the land. The total developable area will be around 1.5 million sq ft.

Startup India fund disburses Rs.2,265-Cr to VC funds

Times of India

The Startup India fund-of-funds, launched in 2016, has allocated INR 2,265 crore to VC funds at the end of March 2019. Kae Capital, Saha Fund, India Quotient, Artha Venture Fund, Stellaris Venture Partners are some of the funds who have received capital from the Startup India fund.

India, Japan to set up $187-M fund-of-funds for startups

Business Line

India and Japan will launch a USD 187 million fund of funds to promote start-ups. The Indo-Japan Emerging Technology & Innovation fund, a fund of funds (FoF), with a unique proposition of investing and managing a portfolio of 15 to 25 India dedicated venture capital funds, will undertake its first closure around the end of September this year. While USD 150 million is being raised from Japan, USD 37 million will be raised from India. Letters of Intent will be signed with four major investors - Mizuho Bank, Development Bank of Japan, Nippon Life, and Suzuki - who will participate as lead LPs (limited partners) in the fund of funds. Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management Ltd (RNAM), the Indian asset management company of Nippon Life, will manage the fund.

The FoF is expected to (indirectly) invest in more than 200 Indian technology startups in emerging fields, including IoT (internet of things), AI (artificial intelligence), fintech, healthcare, consumer, education, robotics and automation and B2B software.

Roots Ventures ropes in Vijay Shekhar Sharma as anchor investor Rs.200-Cr VC fund

Mint

Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma has become an anchor investor in Japan Vyas-launched VC firm Roots Ventures’ INR 200 crore maiden fund. The fund also counts Pravin Gandhi (Seedfund), Sandeep Kohli (ex-CEO of Yum International for the Indian subcontinent) and Kushal and Chaitanya Desai (Apar Industries) as other key investors. The anchor investors and partners have contributed 20% to the targeted fund corpus.

The fund will invest in early stage, growth and listed company investments in consumer and consumer tech companies. The fund will invest up to INR 6 crore in early-stage ventures, while growth-stage entities will attract up to INR 25 crore.

Oyo Hotels looks to set up global hospitality property fund

Economic Times

Oyo Hotels & Homes is looking into setting up a hospitality property fund. The fund will acquire properties across markets and lease those to the Gurgaon-headquartered company at an agreed-upon yield. The company has held conversations with some asset management firms to come on board as a possible co-manager of the fund.

LetsVenture, Pioneer Fund join hands to back YC startups

Economic Times

LetsVenture, a marketplace for startups to raise early-stage capital, and US-based Pioneer Fund are joining hands to invest in Indian enterprises nurtured by Silicon Valley accelerator programme Y Combinator. As part of the collaboration, LetsVenture is setting up a fund called ‘Future of India’ to back 5-7 Indian startups from the summer batch of Y Combinator in the June-August period. The fund will be USD 1-1.5 million in size.

Pioneer Fund pools capital from over 170 YC alumni to provide a springboard to startups. LetsVenture, which has 6,500 investors and over 120 family offices on its platform, is a limited partner in Pioneer Fund, where it has invested USD 5 million. Pioneer’s total fund size is about USD 30 million.

Online MFs startup FundsIndia’s founders ousted from co: report

The Hindu

C.R. Chandrasekar and Srikanth Meenakshi, founders of Wealth India Financial Services Pvt Ltd that runs online financial services platform - FundsIndia.com - have been ousted from the company following differences of opinion with the firm’s private equity investors.

In 2015, the firm had raised a Series C round of INR 70 crore led by Faering Capital, with participation from current investors Foundation Capital and Inventus Capital Partners. Sameer Shroff and Aditya Parekh of Faering Capital had joined the board as a part of the deal. Ashu Garg from Foundation Capital and Parag Dhol from Inventus Capital continue to remain on the board. In 2010, the company raised its first round of funding from Inventus, followed by a second round of funding led by Foundation Capital in 2012.

Launched in 2009, FundsIndia.com has retail assets under management of INR 6,500 crore in mutual funds and employs 330 people.

RBI panel suggests Rs 5,000-Cr stressed assets fund for MSMEs

BusinessLine

An RBI panel has recommended establishing an INR 5,000-crore distressed assets fund for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), setting up a non-profit special purpose vehicle (SPV) to support crowd-funding, and doubling the limit for banks to extend loans without collateral to INR 20 lakh. The expert committee on MSMEs, headed by former SEBI Chairman UK Sinha, has suggested that the distressed asset fund assist units in clusters where a change in the external environment - such as a ban on plastics, or dumping of goods via exports - has led to a large number of MSMEs becoming non-performing.

Deal Digest Daily
Delivered by email on all working weekdays, the Deal Digest Daily newsletter summarizes Private Equity / Venture Capital Investment & Exits, IPO, M&A activity in India. Our coverage includes not just completed deals, but "Deals in the Making" as well: i.e., companies planning to raise PE/VC funding or on the IPO path, looking for acquisition etc. The Deal Digest also includes news on new funds being raised, executive movements and much more – making it “start the day with” update for executives in the Indian deal ecosystem. It is a companion to the weekly Deal Digest that is published each Friday.
Click Here to request a trial.

Recommend the Digest Please note that the Deal Digest is a PAID FOR newsletter.
We encourage forwarding of this newsletter to your industry colleagues on a once-per-user basis, provided you also copy subscription@ventureintelligence.in In return, we will be glad to provide your referrals with free trial issues. Any other unauthorized redistribution is a violation of copyright law.