Thursday, December 28, 2006

Indian M&A Moves

--The UB group says it's earmarking anywhere upto $1 billion for foreign acquisition. A Business Standard report says that the UB group may complete a $500 million acquisition in Scotland next year. The idea is to become a significantly large player in the "premium whisky and scotch" segment in the world. The group was reportedly in talks with Scottish firm Whyte & Mackay for acquisition.

--3i Infotech (formerly ICICI Infotech) is looking at acquiring companies with software products in life insurance or trade finance space. It may also look at acquiring domestic BPO firms that offer expertise in cheque trunkation, credit verification, soft recovery and soft collections. 3i Infotech already has 19 acquisitions under its belt.

--Indian telcos have decided to demerge their tower businesses. Reliance Communications will hold an extraordinary general meeting on January 27, 2007, to seek shareholders’ approval for the separation of its tower assets.

Bharti Airtel is also demerging its tower assets. The company has some 40,000 telecom towers. It's likely some private equity funds would pick up stake in the tower businesses of these telcos. Besides, American Towers, the US-based company, has also declared its intention to invest in the towers business in India.

--The grapevine is that more and more diamond and jewellery companies will look at acquiring front-end stores in the US. Gitanjali Gems recently acquired Samuels for $40 million recently. There is buzz that Shrenuj and Co is looking at acquiring a retail jewellery chain in US. The deal size is likely to be around Rs 100-150 crore, says media reports. The board of the company has approved plans to raise upto Rs 130 crore ($29 million) via GDR/ADR/FCCB. The other name heard is Rajesh Exports.

Source: VCCircle

Venture Deals

India-based Perlecan Pharma said this week that its anti-diabetic drug candidate DRL-16436 had entered the first phase of clinical trials, according to The Economic Times. The company has more than $50 million in financial backing from Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. (NYSE: RDY), Citigroup Venture Capital International Growth Partnership Mauritius Ltd., and ICICI Venture Funds Management Company. The phase-one clinical trials are being conducted in the Netherlands. www.drreddys.com.

iMedica Corp., a Carrollton, Texas-based developer of electronic medical record systems, has sold $6.8 million of preferred stock in a Series C financing round, according to a Form D filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company seeks to draw $9 million altogether in the round. Investors listed on the filing include Leavitt Covington Ventures LLC, North American Venture Fund II LP and CDIB Venture Management (USA) Inc. The company’s flagship product is designed to improve the flow of data among doctors, staff and insurance providers. CEO Michael Nissenbaum and COO Neil Simon are at the helm. www.imedica.com

PE Exits

Private equity shop Apax has hired Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs to look into the possible sale or IPO for Molnlycke Health Care, a Gothenburg, Sweden-based supplier of surgical gloves, wound dressings and other medical products, according to the Financial Times. Among the potential bidders cited in the story are Smith & Nephew, Johnson & Johnson and Stryker and Zimimer. Apax acquired Molnlycke Health Care from Nordic Capital in July 2005, then merged it with portfolio companies Regent Medical and Medlock. The company employs about 5,500 people, and generated sales of about 374 million Euros ($491 million) in the first half of 2006. http://www.molnlycke.com/

Buyout Deals

A consortium of investors that includes Goldman Sachs Capital Partners and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. has closed the purchase of KION Group, the Germany-based forklift division of Linde AG. The price was 4 billion Euro ($5.2 billion). With 20,000 employees, KION Group generated sales of about 3.6 billion Euro ($4.7 billion) in its 2005 fiscal year. The company sells forklift trucks and warehouse equipment under the brand names Linde, STILL and OM. www.kiongroup.com

The largest shareholder in Chinatrust Financial Holding Co., owner of Taiwan’s largest private bank, is looking to sell a portion of its stake to investors, according to an article in The Wall Street Journal Asia. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Fobon Financial Holding Co. and The Carlyle Group are reportedly among the parties interested in talking to the Koo family of Taiwan. A source quoted in the story estimated the size of the stake to be sold at around 10% to 20% of the company, which has a market capi talization of an estimated $7.2 billion. www.chinatrust.com
Delta Private Equity Partners, which backs fast-growing companies in Russia, plans to launch a third fund, this one with a $300 million target, in the next two or three months, PE Week Wire has learned. With offices in Moscow and New York, Delta Private Equity has invested about $400 million in 51 companies through The U.S. Russia Investment Fund established in 1994 and the Delta Russia Fund formed in 2004. The firm is led by the indomitable Patricia M. Cloherty, former co-chairman, president and general p artner of Apax Partners Inc. San Francisco-based Denning & Co. has been tapped to assist with marketing. www.deltacap.ru

The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) has raised $6.5 billion for its first fund earmarked for investments in infrastructure deals—toll roads, airports, ports, along with regulated gas, water and electrical utilities. The investment bank committed $750 million of the sum, with additional dollars flowing in from pension funds, insurance companies and banks. The firm plans to concentrate mainly on opportunities in Europe and North America. Steven Feldman and William Young are the co-heads of the infrastructure group, which is tucked inside the merchant banking division of Goldman Sachs. www.gs.com

Sequoia Capital India is backing Bangalore-based online educational tutoring company TutorVista Global to the tune of an additional $3 million, according to The Economic Times. The investment is part of a second round of venture financing totaling $10.75 million; Sequoia capital India earlier this year invested $2 million. This latest round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, which is investing $7 million; Silicon Valley Bank also made a small investment. The company plans to use the cash for branding, marketing, and may also look to make acquisitions. www.tutorvista.com

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Latest VC Deals

Online shopping software developer Venda has secured $20 million from an investor group led by Investor Growth Capital, the venture capital division of Swedish investment firm Investor, according to The Sunday Times. The deal values Venda at $100 million pre-money; ICG’s Noah Walley and Phil Dur are joining Venda’s board. Customers pay Venda a flat monthly fee to use its off-the-shelf shopping Web sites. www.venda.com

Harmony Information Systems, provider of case management software to human resources executives, has lined up $7.5 million in a first-round of institutional financing from JMI Equity and Updata Partners. The money will be earmarked for product development and marketing. Brad Woloson, a general partner at JMI, and Tim Meyers, a general partner at Updata, are taking seats on Harmony’s board of directors. Founded in 1998, Harmony is based in Reston, Va. www.harmonyis.com

Symphony Medical inc. has raised another $5 million in Series B funding to help make additional progress developing treatments for arrhythmias and other heart afflictions, VentureWire Pro reports. Investors in the most recent funding include Domain Associates, Johnson & Johnson Development Corp., Morgenthaler Ventures and Triathlon Medical Ventures; all four, along with Guidant Compass Group, participated in a $6.2 million Series B round a year ago. www.symphonymed.com

Netage Capital Partners Inc., a Japanese venture capital firm, has spent $1.5 million to acquire a 40 percent stake in an Internet start-up business launched by Swiss telecom company Swisscom, according to the Jiji Press English News Service. The company, coComment, lets customers keep track of the comments they post on different Web sites. www.cocomment.com

Friday, December 01, 2006

Top Deals in Indian RealEstate

Emaar MGF Forms JV With France's Accor For Budget Hotels; IPO In 2007

Here is a big move in the hospitality sector. Emaar MGF Land Pvt Ltd has formed a joint venture with French hospitality group Accor to build 100 hotels in India over the next ten years, reports Reuters. The joint venture with Accor - christened as Budget Hotels India Pvt Ltd - plans to invest $300 million. The JV would create a supply of at least 10,000 rooms. The brand will be called "Formule 1" hotels.
India is a key market for Emaar (Gulf's largest real estate player in value) which plans to invest $1 billion in India. The JV is also looking at an IPO next year which will dilute some 5-10 per cent of the equity. Evolvence India Fund had recently invested $41 million in Emaar MGF.
Indian hospitality sector is witnessing a lot of investment - foreign as well as domestic. In August, Warburg Pincus invested Rs 280 crore in Lemon Tree Hotels and its budget hotel division Redfox Hotels. In April, a Dubai private equity fund Istithmar joined hands with Europe's easyGroup to start a chain of budget (non-frills) hotels in India. easyGroup is the owner of Europe's leading budget airline easyJet and hotel chain easyHotel. UK private equity fund Trikona Capital and US fund Starwood Capital Group are some of the other groups planning investments in the Indian hospitality sector.

Emaar-MGF To Invest $1.5-2 Billion In Punjab Over 5 Years

Here is an interview with Shravan Gupta, managing director of Emaar-MGF, a real estate joint venture with Delhi business group MGF and Dubai's Emaar. The JV is developing a 3,000 acre township at Mohali (Punjab), which will have residential, retail and office space. They are investing $1.5-2 billion in Punjab over 5-7 years. Now they plan to move pan India. "The whole of India is our priority. We are acquiring land in many states across the country...wherever we can. Of course, the national capital region (NCR) is the best market in the country," says Gupta.

Evolvence India Invests In Six Funds And Four Companies

Evolvence India Fund, a Dubai-based fund of funds, has invested in six funds and made additional investments into four Indian companies. It has made undisclosed investments in six funds namely - UTI Ventures, New York Life Investment Management, IDFC Private Equity, IL&FS Investment Managers, India Value Fund Advisors and Baring India Private Equity. Besides, Evolvence has also directly made additional investments into Emaar-MGF Land Pvt Limited, Centurion Bank of Punjab, Consolidated Construction Consortium Limited (a leading engineering and construction contractor) and Eastern Silk Industries Limited (a silk textile manufacturer). The quantum of investments has not been disclosed. Jay Jegannathan, Managing Director of the Evolvence India Fund, said, 'We foresee exceptional growth in India, especially in the manufacturing, services, Infrastructure and real estate sectors we have targeted with this initial investment. We expect to add significant global investments to our India portfolio in the near future." The fund plans to invest an additional $150 million as growth capital into various funds and companies in India focused on manufacturing, services, infrastructure and real estate. Evolvence Capital, an alternative investment group established in year 2000 with $750 million assets under management, is the sponsor and cornerstone investor in Evolvence India Fund.

Europe's easyGroup, Dubai's Istithmar Join Hands To Launch Budget Hotels In India

Dubia private equity firm Istithmar and Europe's easyGroup have joined hands to start a chain of budget (non-frills) hotels in India. They would offer only rooms with no food and beverage outlets. easyGroup is the owner of Europe's leading budget airline easyJet and hotel chain easyHotel. The JV will establish four easyHotel properties in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata by 2008. This will be followed by four more budget hotels in the following year, easyGroup founder Stelios Haji Ioannou said. The two have lined up an investment of around $100 million for India foray, said Istithmar CEO Muneef Tarmoom. Istithmar already owns an 11 per cent stake in low-cost carrier SpiceJet. [Via The Times Of India] The Dubai investment firm also recently launched Istithmar Hotels FZE --a 100 per cent subsidiary formed by Istithmar for its investments in the hospitality and leisure sector. It has appointed Joe Sita as the CEO of Istithmar Hotels.

Trikona Capital Too Want A Slice Of Hospitality Pie

Here is another real estate fund looking at hospitality business. Trikona Capital plans to acquire mid-market hotel brands in India. The fund, co-founded by Rak Chugh and Aashish Kalra, had raised $500 million to invest in India by listing one of its funds, Trinity Capital, on London Stock Exchange earlier this year. Trikona Capital wants to focus on 3-star and 4-star hotels, essentially the budget segment. It apparently plans to build an inventory of 4,000-5,000 hotel rooms in the next 3 to 5 years. The Economic Times quotes Kalra, one of the founders: “The focus is on the 3-4 star hotels. We could acquire a brand or come up with a brand of our own. We may end the year by acquiring strategic stake in some existing hotel properties.” Trikona could set up a sub-fund for this purpose. Another related news is that Trikona has picked up a minority stake in IL&FS Transportation & Networks Ltd (ITNL) for about $10 million. Trikona has so far made a total investment of $110 million in India. The three recent ones are - an integrated township project in Thane ($20 million); residential project in Mumbai ($22 million) and about $55 million into an IT park in Greater Noida. The fund also has partnerships with HDFC and IL&FS to make investments in India. Read all Trikona Capital stories here.

Starwood Capital Plans To Enter Hospitality Business In India

Indian hospitality space will see some action with new global entrants like Starwood Capital planning an entry into the sector. The international real estate fund plans to launch in India its luxury hotel brand Hotel de Crillon, eco-friendly hotel brand ‘I’ and budget hotel chain, Campanile. The fund, which has $2.5 billion under management, will invest close to $300 million in India over the next 18 months, Barry Sternlicht, chairman & CEO, Starwood Capital, told The Economic Times. Indian hospitality space is pretty attractive with a major shortage of rooms in commercial centres like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. The hospitality industry has grown at 23.7 per cent in 2005-06. The all-India occupancy mark too touched the 70.8 per cent-mark for the first time, while there is a severe demand-supply imbalance in cities like Hyderabad, Jaipur and Bangalore. The room tariffs have also been on a rise. The largest increases were seen in the luxury segment, followed by the mid-market and budget segments, acording to hospitality consulting and appraisal firm HVS International.

DLF Group To Invest $800 Million In Hospitality Foray

Here are some details of DLF Group's hospitality plans. The Delhi-based realty group plans to invest $700-800 million in select hotel property over the next seven years, says a report. The details culled out from the company's draft red herring prospectus says that it has identified 21 sites for developing hotels. It has a tie-up with Lalit Suri's Bharat Hotels in acquiring a four acres in Chandigarh, which will be used to develop a five-star hotel. Earlier this year, DLF had successfully bid Rs 97 crore ($22 million) for a hotel site in Rohini, New Delhi. [Via Rediff.com]

Lemon Tree And Red Fox Hotels Announce Rs 280 Crore Investment From Warburg Pincus

Lemon Tree Hotels and newly floated group company Red Fox Hotels have announced an investment of Rs 280 crore from private equity firm Warburg Pincus. According to The Economic Times report, Warburg will pick up 27 per cent stake in Lemon Tree. Of the funding, Rs 210 crore will be invested in the Lemon Tree hotels which will have a network of 25 properties, aggergating a total of 1,300 rooms. The remaining Rs 70 crore will be invested in a new chain of limited service budget/economy hotel called Red Fox Hotels priced Rs 800-2000 per room night. It's being floated as a separate company. Lemon Tree Hotels was promoted in 2002 by ex-Taj Group manager Patu Keswani. It also has investors like Ravi Jaipuria, a Delhi-based businessman.