Evolvence to launch Indian private equity fund

Dubai-based fund-of-funds Evolvence Capital is launching an AIM-listed closed-ended FOF in January which will invest in Indian PE funds. The fund intends to raise $105 mn for the Evolvence India Fund. The FOF will invest in a number of closed-ended PE funds focused on the Indian infrastructure, pharmaceutical and retail sectors. UTI Ventures’ Ascent India Fund, Barings India Private Equity Fund II, IDFC Private Equity Fund II, India Value Fund II, IL&FS’ Leveraged India Fund and New York Life Investment Management India Fund II will be the initial beneficiaries of the fund.

Earlier this year, Evolvence had made direct investments into Emaar-MGF Land Private Limited, Centurion Bank of Punjab, Consolidated Construction Consortium Limited (an engineering and construction contractor) and Eastern Silk Industries Limited (a silk textile manufacturer). Also, sometime in the April – June quarter of 2006-07, Evolvence announced the launch of a $150 mn fund for investing in small- and medium-sized Life Sciences companies in India.

For more details, read the article from Citywire.co.uk.

Escorts in advanced talks for private equity

Dec 21, 2006

Tractor-maker Escorts Limited is looking for private equity funding to expand its construction equipment unit. The company is not disclosing the size of funding it is seeking but intends to seal the deal by February 2007. For the financial year 2006-06, it posted revenues of Rs. 350 crores. Nikhil Nanda, ED, Escorts said that the company would focus on construction equipment, tractors, railway parts and auto parts as part of its ongoing restructuring. Escorts sold it 49% stake in Carraro India to Italian JV partner Carraro for €20 mn. It had also sold a stake in Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre to Fortis Healthcare Ltd. Escorts is using the proceeds from stake sales to repay its debts, which earlier stood at Rs. 1100 crores, now at Rs. 580 crores.

Read more in the article from Reuters.com and The Times of India.

Bates buys majority stake in Sercon

This is another BTL acquisition story. Bates Enterprise, which last year had acquired Enterprise-Nexus, has acquired a majority stake in Sercon, an Indian marketing services company with presence in India and South East Asia and catering mainly to IT clients, such as Sun Microsystems, Cisco, Nortel Networks and McAfee, offering them services on customer relationship management and channel marketing. Sercon will be integrated into 141 Worldwide, the below-the-line agency of Bates Enterprise. The joint entity will be called 141 Sercon. It has also acquired marketing a Chinese services company CSSP Jochnic, providing marketing solutions to consumer goods companies in China. Bates’ Indian operations have become the largest in the Bates network in Asia. Bates had set up its Indian operations two years ago and has grown in the region through acquisitions. The Sercon acquisiton and its proposed merger with advertising agency David will make Bates even bigger.

Read The Economic Times and Business Standard for more details.

ABB to acquire Raman Boards

ABB Group is about to acquire Raman Boards (RBL), a Mysore-based company manufacturing press boards and insulation components. RBL was established in 1979 in technical collaboration with Rogers Corporation of the United States. It employs around 300 people across 4 manufacturing facilities in India at Nanjangud (Mysore), Thandavapura (near Mysore), Sonepat (near Delhi) and Navi Mumbai. The acquisition would complement ABB's global insulation components capacity, which includes making insulation material for transformers, as well as electrical and mechanical components.

Read the article from The Economic Times and Moneycontrol.com for more details.

BTL-major IMS Group about to acquire 66% in Encompass

UK-based IMS Group, a $160 mn below-the-line (BTL) marketing services major, is negotiating to acquire a 66% stake in event management and promotions firm, Encompass, for Rs 36-45 crore. Encompass has been promoted by Roshan Abbas. The acquisition would be through its recently acquired Indian subsidiary IMS-Candid Marketing. This would be its second acquisition in India, after its acquisition of 66% stake in Candid for Rs 23 crore. BTL marketing involves activities such as promotions, internet, mobile marketing, exhibitions, point-of-purchase and retail merchandising; analysts gauge the BTL market to be around Rs. 10, 000 crores. The BTL marketing space in India is seeing major movements of late. Last year, Publicis bought 60% in Delhi-based marketing services company, Solutions. Similarly, Mudra Communications picked up 74% in Kidstuff Marketing.

Read The Economic Times for more details.

Vodafone also in the race for Hutch

After Reliance, Maxis, Bharti and Essar itself, the Hutch-Essar JV seems to have found a new suitor. It seems that Vodafone, the British telecom giant, is reported to bid for Hutch-Essar. UBS, which is Vodafone’s house banker, is said to be advising the company on financing and acquisition strategies.

Both Vodafone and UBS have refused to comment on the development.

Vodafone is selling its stake in its holdings across market as it faces severe investor backlash. It sold its 25% stake in Swisscom for about $3.5 billion and a similar stake in a Belgian wireless operator to Belgacom; before that it had exited companies in both Sweden and Japan. The Japanese transaction was valued at about $16 billion.

In India, Vodafone has invested in a 10% stake in Bharti Airtel, the value of which now is estimated to be around Rs. 16, 000 crores. Vodafone might consider selling its stake in Bharti for financing the acquisition.

Read the article from The Economic Times.

Gitanjali acquires US-based Samuels

Gitanjali Gems has acquired 97% stake in Samuels Jewelers Inc, the 10th largest jewellery chain in the United States, for Rs. 200 crore. Samuels operates 97 stores across 18 states in the US with current revenue equivalent to Rs. 450 crores. The acquisition has been financed through internal accruals and proceeds of a recently concluded $110 million FCCB.

Read Business Standard, Reuters and India Infoline for more details