Tuesday, June 19, 2007

CLSA Capital Partners invests in Luminous Power Technologies

CLSA Capital Partners, a member of France's Crédit Agricole Group, announced that CLSA ARIA Investment Partners III LP and CLSA Clean Resources Asia have co-invested US$20.3 million in Luminous Power Technologies Ltd.

This is the seventh investment by Aria Investment Partners in India. Managing Director of LPT Rakesh Malhotra said, “This investment by CLSA will provide a strong impetus to our future growth in India and markets across Asia, Africa and Latin America. With this investment we will also be able to execute our strategy of offering high technology Power Electronics and Energy Storage products for the renewable energy sector.”

Luminous Power Technologies is a manufacturer of Inverters, UPS, Deep Cycle and Automotive Batteries and a range of water purification and other home appliances.CLSA Capital Partners is the alternative asset management arm of CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, with US$1.5 billion under management.

Source: RTT News
Related Posts:
CLSA buys 10.92% stake in Sanghvi Movers

Ruias funding Algoma acquisition through senior notes & loans

Essar Global will raise $900 million through a combination of senior notes and loans to fund its acquisition of Canada’s Algoma Steel, reported Economic Times. The non-recourse fund raising exercise by Essar Global is the second-largest such transaction by an Indian steel company, after Tata Steel’s almost $7 billion loan to finance its acquisition of Corus.

The Ruias’ international holding company had acquired Algoma in April for $1.58 billion in an all-cash leveraged buyout. Essar Global’s acquisition is considered the second biggest by an Indian company in North America, after Hindalco paid $6 billion to buy Atlanta-based Novelis in February.

To finance its Algoma acquisition, Essar Global will sell $450 million of senior notes, recoursed to the Canadian company’s balance sheet. The eight-year notes, denominated in dollars, may yield 9.75% to 10%. UBS is the financial advisor to the offer.

Essar Global also plans to issue $450 million in loans, based on Algoma’s earnings. The group’s own contribution will be about $500 million. It could not be ascertained how the rest of the acquisition amount — about $100 million — will be raised.

India Hospitality to buy Mars Restaurants, SkyGourmet Catering for US$110 mn

India Hospitality Corp (IHC) said it wants to create a diversified hospitality company after agreeing to buy India-based Mars Restaurants Private and airline catering company SkyGourmet Catering Private for about 110 mln usd, as reported by Business Wire.

IHC said in a statement that it will pay about 91.6 mln usd in cash and the rest in shares on completion of the transaction. An additional amount may be payable if the businesses hit certain performance targets.

Upon completion of the transaction, current India Hospitality shareholders will own approximately 88.9% of IHC and insiders, including Hayground Cove Asset Management and Navis Capital Partners, will hold approximately 51.1%. Affiliates of Navis Capital Partners and Mr. Sanjay Narang, the founder of both SkyGourmet and Mars, will continue to play an active role in the management of the combined businesses going forward.

One of the major shareholders in the target companies, private equity investor Navis Capital Partners, retains an option to reinvest a substantial portion of the sale proceeds into IHC, the company said. The option allows Navis and its affiliates to subscribe for up to 75 mln usd in cash for new IHC shares, which, if exercised will lift Navis' stake in IHC to about 20.7 pct.

Citigroup keen to divest 80% of its BPO arm

On the heels of Blackstone's acquisition of the back-office firm Intelenet, news is ripe that Citigroup is keen on selling 80 percent of its business process outsourcing (BPO) arm in India for USD 700-USD 750 million, reported the Mint .

Citigroup is in "advanced negotiations" with leading private equity firms for an all-cash deal for Citigroup Global Services, the newspaper said, citing investment bankers close to the deal. A private equity investor was most likely to emerge as the buyer with IBM Corp. and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. "likely to drop out of the race over terms being proposed by the seller", the bankers told Mint.

Citigroup Global Services operates primarily in financial services and employs about 8,000 people, its Web site showed.

Private firms are eager to invest in back-office firms in India because of the potential for fast growth in the sector. Carlyle, which has a 28 percent holding in Allsec Technologies Ltd., is reportedly bidding for another back-office firm, Cambridge Solutions Ltd.

Intelenet: Blackstones first management buyout in India

Private equity heavyweight Blackstone Group agreed to buy Indian back-office firm Intelenet Global Services Ltd. for an undisclosed sum, its first management buyout in India, reported Business Standard.

U.S.-based Blackstone, which along with rival Carlyle has been grappling with stiff resistance from Indian companies unwilling to sell out, will own 80 percent of Intelenet, with the back office firm's management holding the remainder.


Under the deal, a joint venture comprising HDFC Bank and Barclays Bank will sell its Intelenet stake to SKR Business Process Outsourcing Services, a company co-owned by Blackstone GVP Capital and Intelenet’s management. Although financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, industry Business Standard sources pegged the sale figure at around $420 million.


Intelenet’s management team will continue to be in charge of operations, with current Chief Executive Susir Kumar at the helm. Also, Intelenet will continue to provide services to Barclays in relation to certain processes currently offshored to India.


Intelenet started out in 1994 as a 50:50 joint venture between Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and HDFC. In 2004, TCS sold its stake to HDFC for Rs 161 crore when it decided to focus on its own business process outsourcing (BPO) business. Subsequently, HDFC sold 50% to the UK-based Barclays, which was looking to outsource back-office processes to India.

Related Posts:
Fujitsu in talks to buy out Intelenet Global Services, eyes acquisitions in the IT space