The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and US-based global investment banking giant Goldman Sachs are among a group of institutional investors who are about to buy around a 5% stake each in National Stock Exchange (NSE), India’s biggest bourse. The NYSE, Goldman Sachs, General Atlantic Partners and Softbank Asian Infrastructure Fund have entered into an agreement with ICICI Bank, IFCI, IL&FS, PNB and GIC for the purchase.
NSE shareholders IL&FS and IFCI are selling 5% each of their holdings in the exchange to Goldman Sachs and NYSE in two separate deals expected to be signed soon. The two shareholders currently hold 7.1% each in the exchange. IDBI and ICICI Bank, the two other institutional promoters, are also expected to offload part of their holdings in the exchange in subsequent deals. The valuation of the NSE is expected to be over $2 billion.
Earlier, Fidelity had bought around 9% in MCX; later, Goldman acquired over 7% in NCDEX, the other online commodity exchange.
The proposed sale of stakes comes close on the heels of guidelines issued by the RBI on foreign investment in Indian stock exchanges. The RBI has allowed foreign investment up to 49% in stock exchanges, fixing foreign direct investment (FDI) cap at 26% and FII limit at 23%. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has stipulated investment limit for single foreign investor at 5% beyond which an FII or any other investor like foreign stock exchange will not raise its stake in stock exchanges.
NSE has 21 promoters: an assorted medley of public sector banks, LIC, ICICI Bank, IL&FS and IDFC. ICICI holds 12.5% and IL&FS has 7.1%. NSE is an extremely profitable entity. In FY06, it had a net profit of Rs. 206 crores on revenues of Rs. 472 crores. In FY07 it is expected to report a profit of Rs. 250 crores. It has 70% share of all stock transactions in India.
Read more about the deal in The Economic Times and IndiaInfoline.com.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
The Pawar family may buy 49% in UB Group winery
Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar’s family could take up to 49% stake in the UB Group’s Four Seasons winery in Baramati, Maharashtra. The Pawar family will also have a strong boardroom presence in the UB Group’s first wine venture in the country. United Spirits, the spirits flagship of UB Group, will directly hold at least 51% stake in Four Seasons. The Pawar family and a few other local stakeholders will own the rest. The Pawar family is expected to keep a significant minority stake in the venture. The seven-member company board, headed by Mr. Vijay Mallya, is likely to have three Pawar family members on it.
The winery will have a five mn-litre capacity (7 mn bottles) and would attract investments of over Rs. 70 crores, when completed. Four Seasons is likely to hit the market with its first premium offering in October this year even though an economy range could be launched earlier.
Read the complete article in The Economic Times.
The winery will have a five mn-litre capacity (7 mn bottles) and would attract investments of over Rs. 70 crores, when completed. Four Seasons is likely to hit the market with its first premium offering in October this year even though an economy range could be launched earlier.
Read the complete article in The Economic Times.
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala buys legal and healthcare KPO Inventurus
India’s Warren Buffet and ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala has bought majority stake in Inventurus Knowledge Solution, a company that does back-office work for US- and UK-based legal and healthcare firms, for an undisclosed sum.
Jhunjhunwala had recently acquired Aptech, an IT training firm. He also owns large stakes in Shipping Corporation of India and Kochi-based retail broking firm Geojit Securities.
Inventurus has a 25-seater office in suburban Mumbai and plans to increase the number of seats to 1000. The knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) company hopes to tap into the estimated $5 bn US outsourcing market.
Read the article in The Times of India.
Jhunjhunwala had recently acquired Aptech, an IT training firm. He also owns large stakes in Shipping Corporation of India and Kochi-based retail broking firm Geojit Securities.
Inventurus has a 25-seater office in suburban Mumbai and plans to increase the number of seats to 1000. The knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) company hopes to tap into the estimated $5 bn US outsourcing market.
Read the article in The Times of India.
Paradyne Infotech close to acquiring a US software firm
Paradyne Infotech, an Indian IT services company specializing in infrastructure management and services is in the advanced stages of acquiring a US-based software services company with a turnover of around $10 million for the FY 2005-06. The company has approximately 20-25 customers and one of them is retail giant Wal-Mart. The deal is expected to be finalized by January-end. Funds for the acquisition will be raised through internal accruals and debt.
Paradyne has a turnover of around Rs. 87.70 crores, and is already in talks for acquiring a few other Indian companies in the product development space. Its clients includes JM Morgan Stanley, SIDBI, Bank of India, Corporation Bank, Punjab National Bank, NABARD, Bank of Baroda, Rochem Separations Systems, Globus Stores, ONGC, UTV, Outlook Publishing, Indian Navy, Geometric Software, KPIT Cummins and Syntel.
With an employee-strength of 300 in India, Paradyne also has a US presence through its wholly-owned subsidiary Dyne Techservices.
Read the article in Business Standard.
Paradyne has a turnover of around Rs. 87.70 crores, and is already in talks for acquiring a few other Indian companies in the product development space. Its clients includes JM Morgan Stanley, SIDBI, Bank of India, Corporation Bank, Punjab National Bank, NABARD, Bank of Baroda, Rochem Separations Systems, Globus Stores, ONGC, UTV, Outlook Publishing, Indian Navy, Geometric Software, KPIT Cummins and Syntel.
With an employee-strength of 300 in India, Paradyne also has a US presence through its wholly-owned subsidiary Dyne Techservices.
Read the article in Business Standard.
Kotak lines up a second $350 mn real estate fund
The real estate investment arm of Kotak Mahindra Limited is raising its second fund. Kotak Realty’s Kotak India Real Estate Fund II is planning a corpus of around $350 mn, and has got commitments from international investors, financial institutions, multilateral agencies and high-net worth investors in the United States, the Middle East and Europe for investing in Indian real estate. The fund is expected to be closed in the next 5-6 weeks.
In May 2005, Kotak Mahindra Investments started Kotak Realty Fund with the setting up of the Kotak India Real Estate Fund I — a $100-min fund for investing in real estate. The fund will be probably closed by March 2007.
Kotak’s new fund would seek equity investments in development projects and enterprise level investments in real estate operating companies. These would include hotels, healthcare, retailing, education and property management. The proposed fund will also focus on the northern region.
Kotak Realty’s first fund, a closed-ended fund of seven years, is said to have deployed nearly 65-70% of its corpus. While it invested through the pre-IPO placement in Bangalore-based Sobha Developers, the fund has also invested in the Delhi-based hotel chain Lemon Tree Hotels and Red Fox Hotels. Both these hotel chains have also been funded by private equity major Warburg Pincus. The fund, which will be organized as a scheme of Kotak Mahindra Realty Fund, will have Kotak Mahindra Investments Ltd as the investment manager.
Read more about the fund in The Economic Times article.
In May 2005, Kotak Mahindra Investments started Kotak Realty Fund with the setting up of the Kotak India Real Estate Fund I — a $100-min fund for investing in real estate. The fund will be probably closed by March 2007.
Kotak’s new fund would seek equity investments in development projects and enterprise level investments in real estate operating companies. These would include hotels, healthcare, retailing, education and property management. The proposed fund will also focus on the northern region.
Kotak Realty’s first fund, a closed-ended fund of seven years, is said to have deployed nearly 65-70% of its corpus. While it invested through the pre-IPO placement in Bangalore-based Sobha Developers, the fund has also invested in the Delhi-based hotel chain Lemon Tree Hotels and Red Fox Hotels. Both these hotel chains have also been funded by private equity major Warburg Pincus. The fund, which will be organized as a scheme of Kotak Mahindra Realty Fund, will have Kotak Mahindra Investments Ltd as the investment manager.
Read more about the fund in The Economic Times article.
Italian Annabelle acquires sick Tamil Nadu-based footwear company
Annabelle, an Italian shoemaker, has acquired AS Nissar Ahmed and Co., an Ambur-based sick leather footwear unit, in the leather belt of Tamil Nadu for an estimated €800,000 (Rs 4.6 crores approximately). This is reportedly the first foreign direct investment (FDI) in the formal male footwear segment.
All previous investments have been made in the sports footwear and the foot component sectors. The company will soon commence production to meet its global demands. Annabelle will significantly invest additional capital, besides bringing along technology to make world class footwear. Currently, AS Nissar Ahmed and Co. manufactures around 3000 pairs a day. Annabelle is looking to scale up the production capacity to about 10,000 pairs a day. The Italian shoemaker is sourcing 15,000 pairs of footwear and components, mainly leather shoe uppers and leather unit soles, from India and Bangladesh. Its manufacturing unit in the south of Italy produces close to 15,000 pairs a day.
According to a Council for Leather Exports report, global trade in leather footwear is worth $30 bn, while non-leather footwear is $18 bn. India's share is a mere 1.4% and 0.15% respectively.
Read The Economic Times article.
All previous investments have been made in the sports footwear and the foot component sectors. The company will soon commence production to meet its global demands. Annabelle will significantly invest additional capital, besides bringing along technology to make world class footwear. Currently, AS Nissar Ahmed and Co. manufactures around 3000 pairs a day. Annabelle is looking to scale up the production capacity to about 10,000 pairs a day. The Italian shoemaker is sourcing 15,000 pairs of footwear and components, mainly leather shoe uppers and leather unit soles, from India and Bangladesh. Its manufacturing unit in the south of Italy produces close to 15,000 pairs a day.
According to a Council for Leather Exports report, global trade in leather footwear is worth $30 bn, while non-leather footwear is $18 bn. India's share is a mere 1.4% and 0.15% respectively.
Read The Economic Times article.
Dabur Pharma acquires Thailand-based Biosciences
Dabur India’s pharma subsidiary has acquired the sales and distribution network of a Thai-based associate. Dabur Pharma has acquired Biosciences its long-term partner in oncology products distribution and marketing, for an undisclosed amount. The deal will make the New Delhi-based Dabur Pharma the largest Asian company in the oncology segment.
The deal was funded from internal accruals. The company has been looking out for brand acquisitions for a long time and has also considered some products of the US-based Abbot Laboratories.
The $290 million Dabur Pharma is India's largest player in the oncology segment and has marketing presence in more than 40 countries including the US and Europe. In addition to India and Thailand, it has major market share in South Asian countries such as Malaysia and Philippines. It develops, manufactures and markets a wide range of medicines from injectables and oral dosage forms to intermediates and active pharmaceutical ingredients across oncology and women's health.
For more, read the articles in Business Standard and The Economic Times – 1 2.
The deal was funded from internal accruals. The company has been looking out for brand acquisitions for a long time and has also considered some products of the US-based Abbot Laboratories.
The $290 million Dabur Pharma is India's largest player in the oncology segment and has marketing presence in more than 40 countries including the US and Europe. In addition to India and Thailand, it has major market share in South Asian countries such as Malaysia and Philippines. It develops, manufactures and markets a wide range of medicines from injectables and oral dosage forms to intermediates and active pharmaceutical ingredients across oncology and women's health.
For more, read the articles in Business Standard and The Economic Times – 1 2.
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