Venture Intelligence
October 26, 2018 - Weekly Edition
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The Big Story

Zydus Cadila to acquire Complan, Glucon-D, other Heinz India brands for Rs.4,595-Cr

Press Release, Bar and Bench

Publicly listed, Ahmedabad Zydus Wellness Ltd., jointly with its parent firm Cadila Healthcare Ltd., is to acquire Heinz India Private Limited, the Indian subsidiary of Chicago, IL (USA)-based Kraft Heinz, for INR 4,595 crore. The valuation includes net working capital of INR 40 crore, cash of INR 15 crore and assumes no debt. For the 12 months period ending June 30, Mumbai-based Heinz India had recorded revenues of about INR 1,150 crore and EBITDA of about INR 225 crore. Avendus Capital acted as financial advisor and Khaitan & Co. acted as the legal advisor to the acquirer. Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher were the legal advisors to Kraft Heinz.

The deal brings the acquirer well known brands like Complan, Glucon D, Nycil and Sampriti Ghee; two large manufacturing facilities in Aligarh and Sitarganj; and teams devoted to operations, research, sales, marketing and support. Heinz India, which employs 900 people across its manufacturing facilities and four branch offices, has a distribution network consisting of over 800 distributors and more than 20,000 wholesalers covering 29 states. The deal, which will take Zydus Wellness' consolidated revenues to about INR 1,700 crore, is proposed to be financed by a mix of equity (including from PE funds) and debt.

Done Deals
Done Deals

Private Equity Fund Investments

Indiabulls Ventures to raise Rs.1,539-Cr via preferential allotment, CCDs

BSE

Publicly-listed financial services company Indiabulls Ventures is to raise INR 1539.20 crore from Tamarind Capital, Steadview Capital, ABG Capital and DF International Partners. Indiabulls Consumer Finance Ltd (formerly IVL Finance Ltd) and Indiabulls Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd, subsidiaries of Indiabulls Ventures, will make a preferential offer and issue compulsorily convertible debentures (CCDs) to the investors.

The CCDs will be converted into fully paid-up equity shares (face value of INR 2 each) at INR 550 per share (which is at a premium of about 35% on the previous closing market price of INR 408.20 per share), before 18 months from the date of their allotment. The issue carries a coupon of 14.9% p.a.

Solar power producer Azure raises $185-M from CDPQ, others

Business Line

NYSE-listed solar power producers Azure Power has raised around USD 185 million in through a primary equity offering. Canadian pension fund Caisse de d�p�t et placement du Qu�bec (CDPQ) has contributed USD 100 million (around INR 730 crore) to the issue, raising the fund�s stake in the company to 40%. CDPQ had earlier invested USD 140 million in 2016 before the company went public. Apart from CDPQ, IFC and Helion Ventures are among the company�s large shareholders.

The company�s revenue for the quarter ended June 30, 2018 stood at INR 242 crore, up 29% from INR 187 crore during the corresponding period of the previous financial year. Net income for the quarter was INR 2.9 crore as against INR 20 crore. The company has a solar portfolio of over 3GW spread across 23 states.

Online tax filing platform ClearTax raises $50-M from Composite Capital

Business Line

Online tax filing and investment platform ClearTax has raised around USD 50 million (around INR 365 crore) funding in a Series B round led by Composite Capital. The company plans to use funds to accelerate growth, expand suite of products and invest in R&D and tech development and acquisitions.

Earlier, ClearTax had raised USD 12 million in a Series A round of funding led by Ravi Adusumalli of SAIF Partners in June 2016, about USD 2 million in a pre-Series A round from PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel�s Founders Fund Angel (FF Angel) and Sequoia Capital and USD 1.3 million from Silicon Valley investors, including PayPal co-founder Max Levchin.

Edtech firm Byju�s attracts Rs.200-Cr from General Atlantic

Venture Intelligence Research, Business Standard

General Atlantic, via General Atlantic Singapore TL Pte Ltd, has subscribed to 27,432 Series F CCCPS at INR 72,580.46 per share of Think & Learn Private Limited (which owns edtech service Byju�s) on Oct 19, 2018. The purchase, which aggregates to INR 199.10 Cr, constitutes a 0.94% stake in the company on a fully-diluted-basis. The investment provides Byju�s a Pre-Money Valuation of INR 21,027.22 Cr - an over 4.5x increase from the previous round which happened in July 2017. According to a previous Business Standard report, GA is set to invest $100 million.

For FY17, Byju�s had reported revenue of INR 247.23 (INR 110.34 Cr in FY16) and a loss of INR 61.84 Cr (versus a loss of INR 49.48 Cr in FY16).

From the Venture Intelligence PE-VC Deal Database: Starting with INR 50 Cr from Aarin Capital in Nov 2012, Byjus had previously attracted over $236 million from PE-VC investors such as Sequoia Capital India, Innoven Capital, Lightspeed Ventures, Sofina, IFC, Chan Zuckerberg Education Initiative, Verlinvest and Tencent.

CRM player Capillary raises more funds from Warburg Pincus for China expansion

DealStreetAsia

Capillary Technologies, a Bangalore-based company which offers customer relationship management software and marketing analytics for retailers, has received funding from existing investor Warburg Pincus. The fresh funding will be used to expand its sales and delivery network and product offerings across China.

This latest investment follows a USD 20 million round the company had closed earlier this year from its existing investors including Warburg Pincus and Sequoia Capital India, along with some secondary transactions. Prior to that, the company had raised over USD 80 million in equity financing. It had also raised venture debt from InnoVen Capital.

Celebrity fashion co Universal Sportsbiz raises Rs.100-Cr from Accel, NB Ventures, Alteria

Economic Times

Celebrity fashion company Universal Sportsbiz has raised about INR 100 crore led by Accel India and Accel USA at a post money valuation of INR 1,200 crore. The round also saw participation from NB Ventures and venture debt firm Alteria Capital (which made an equity investment of USD 1 million). The funds will be used to expand offline retail network and enhance presence across a portfolio of fashion brands to over 1,300 stores across India over the next two years, up from the 305 stores at present.

The company had raised INR 100 crore from Accel last year at a valuation of USD 100 million. The latest infusion brings its total equity funding to close to USD 50 million. The company had earlier this year raised debt funding of INR 30 crore from Alteria Capital.

Healthkart raises Rs.72-Cr from Sequoia Capital India, others

Venture Intelligence Research

Sequoia Capital India, IIFL VC and GHI Holdings Mauritius are to invest INR 71.90 Cr, in return for a 9.14% stake, in healthcare products e-tailer Healthkart. While existing investor Sequoia Capital India will invest INR 43.14 Cr, IIFL VC and GHI Holdings Mauritius will invest INR 14.38 Cr each. The deal provides the company a Pre-Money Valuation of INR 715 Cr.

On Oct 1, 2018, Healthkart issued 60,415 Series F CCPS at INR 7140.57 per share to Sequoia Capital India�s SCI Growth Investments II unit and 20,138 Series F CCPS to GHI Holdings Mauritius. The company will issue 20,138 Series F CCPS to IIFL Alternate Asset Advisors Limited.

For FY17, Healthkart had posted revenue of INR 124.51 Cr (INR 79.29 Cr in FY16) and a loss of INR 41.91 Cr (versus a loss of INR 71.81 Cr in FY16)

From the Venture Intelligence PE-VC Deal Database: In Oct 2011, Sequoia Capital India and Kae Capital invested INR 4.5 Cr for 42.19% stake. The company subsequently raised funding worth INR 287.14 Cr from various investors.

SaaS startup Hiver raises $4-M from Kalaari, Kae Capital

Economic Times

Bangalore-based SaaS startup Hiver has raised USD 4 million (INR 30 crore) in a new round of funding led by Kalaari Capital and Kae Capital. Hiver, which claims to have over 1,100 companies as paying customers, largely based across the US, Europe and Australia, is a shared inbox management solution, built for Google Suite users, and which assists businesses manage shared inboxes like support, sales and admin from their Gmail. Gaurav Chaturvedi, venture partner at Kae Capital, and Rajesh Raju, Managing Director at Kalaari Capital, will join the Hiver board.

The seven-year-old startup will use the proceeds from the new round of funding for product development, as well as for expanding global customer base. In 2012, Hiver had raised USD 130,000 in seed funding from the Citrix Startup Accelerator and Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma.

Investment advisory co Cube Wealth raises Rs.14-Cr from Beenext, Asuka, 500 Startups

Mint

Mumbai-based financial planning startup Cube Wealth has raised INR 14 crore (about USD 2 million) in a Series A round from Singapore-based venture fund Beenext, Japan-based Asuka Holding and 500 Startups, a US-based early stage venture fund. Cube Wealth helps manage investment portfolios and provides investment advice from registered advisers. The funds will be used to grow sales in Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Pune and expand to Europe and Japan, targeting non-resident Indians.

Video-Learning Startup VideoKen raises $1-M more from SRI Capital, Others

TechStory

US- and Bengaluru-based, Artificial Intelligence-powered video-based learning startup VideoKen has raised INR 6.8 crores in its second round of seed funding. The investors include the Touchstone Equities, Hyderabad Angels and existing investor SRI Capital. The startup is planning to use the funds for further expansion in North America. The startup leverages Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence to automatically index videos, phrase cloud, and create the table of contents and thus, help outline the key topics in a video.

From the Venture Intelligence Angel Deals Database: In Apr-17, VideoKen had raised $1 M (approx. INR 6.4 crore) from SRI Capital and other investors.

Dialysis chain RAHI Care attracts funding from Neev Fund

United News of India

SBICAPS Ventures, through its Neev Fund, has invested in Chandigarh-based dialysis chain operator RAHI Care Private Limited. RAHI plans to increase the number of dialysis centres it operates across India, including under invested states, to 100 by 2022. Indium Capital were the exclusive financial advisors to RAHI Care in this deal.

Healthtech startup Medimetry raises seed funding

BioSpectrum

Haryana based healthtech startup Medimetry, currently operational in Delhi-NCR, has raised seed funding from US-headquartered hedge fund Blue Sky Capital Management. The startup offers an online platform for telemedicine, electronic medical records and disease management. It plans to use the fresh capital for sales, marketing and to upgrade its digital disease management platform.

Waterless personal hygiene startup Clensta raises funding from IAN Fund, IAN

Economic Times

Clensta International, a biotech start-up in waterless personal hygiene space, has raised seed funding from Indian Angel Network and its associate VC fund, IAN Fund. The deal was led by IAN members Rishabh Mehta, Founder & CEO, LOCAD Pte Ltd. (who will join the startup's board); Pradeep Gupta, Co-Founder IAN; Anirudh Agarwal and Sajiv Dhawan. Other investors included Ajai Chowdhry, Co-founder, HCL; Arvind Singal, Founder & MD Technopak Advisors; Bikky Khosla, CEO Trade India; Raman Roy, Chairman, NASSCOM and Anand Ladsariya, Founder, Everest Flavours. The investment will assist Clensta to launch its products in the B2C space and develop newer products in the personal hygiene category.

Founded in 2016 by Dr. Puneet Gupta (CEO) and Prof Anurag S. Rathore of IIT Delhi, Clensta has launched a range of waterless personal hygiene products which consists of waterless shampoo and body bath. Clensta Waterless Body Bath & Shampoo is designed free of alcohol, parabens and SLS, or any other harmful ingredients to provide a bathing experience but without using water. founder & CEO, Clensta International. The products are already live on Government E-Marketplace (GeM), being supplied both to government and private hospitals and are being considered by the Indian Army.

Angel Funding

Tutoring co GuruQ raises Rs. 2.5 Cr from HNIs

Business Wire India

GuruQ, a Delhi-based edu-tech startup, has raised INR 2.5 crore (USD 330,000) from a group of HNIs. The Pre-Series A funding will see GuruQ expanding its operations in Punjab and Haryana. It will offer services in Ambala, Rohtak, Karnal, Meerut, Hisar, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar and Chandigarh.

GuruQ provides online and offline tutoring. The company was founded by Minal Anand in 2016.

Fintech firm Insorce attracts funding from 1Crowd

Investor Newsletter, Venture Intelligence Research

US- and India-based Insorce, focused on automating the design of optimal target operating models for financial services firms, has attracted funding from the 1Crowd angel network. Anil Gudibande of 1Crowd has joined the company�s board in August 2018.

Insource's Maven is an algorithm driven product for Design and Optimization of financial services target operational models. The company was founded in 2007.

Media tech firm Voiro attracts funding from 1Crowd

Investor Newsletter

Bangalore-based Voira, that provides revenue management solutions to digital publishers, has attracted funding from 1crowd.

Incubation/Acceleration

BII selects 11 startups for first batch of Financial Inclusion Lab

Inc42

The Financial Inclusion Lab, a part of IIM(A)-CIIE�s Bharat Inclusion Initiative (BII), has selected 11 fintech startups for its first batch. The companies include:

Easyplan: Headquartered in Mumbai, Easyplan has built an app for the millennials that provides a separate a goal-based savings bank account aimed at assisting them to save money through effective ways.

ExpressMojo: Delhi-based ExpressMojo has built a platform where small fleet owners and individual drivers can connect directly with the customers.

Finlok: connects people on social network where they can also borrow money from their friends and community while providing people with ways to save money.

GramCover: Noida-based GramCover is an insurance tech marketplace for rural India.

Jai Kisan: Jai Kisan is an e-commerce platform that uses multiple data points to create a credit scoring for small farmers � enabling them an access to low-cost capital to purchase agri-input and types of equipment.

Kaarva: Bengaluru-based Kaarva offers instant small credit through its pay-what-you-like model to salaried professionals to meet their short term financial needs.

MunshiG: Based in Udaipur, MunshiG is a platform for small grocery stores that uses AI-based technologies to understand the behaviors of their customers, which is helpful in managing inventory.

Navaana Tech: uses voice-assisted and image-based friendly digital interfaces to improve the quality of life for individuals with low levels of literacy.

SureClaim: Bengaluru-based SureClaim helps process insurance claims.

WonderLend Hubs: is focused on harnessing the power of big data, machine decisioning and human innovation, to make affordable finance easily accessible to the people.

XtraCap: Delhi-based Xtracap Fintech which is registered under the domain of Bridge2capital uses GST (Goods & Services Tax) data to assess the credit risk of small businesses, providing them access to short-term liquidity against supplier invoices.

Liquidity Events

E-Commerce marketing platform Betaout acquired by US-based Bluecore

Press Release

New York, USA-based retail technology marketing company Bluecore has acquired Betaout, a Noida-based provider of customer intelligence and marketing automation platform to ecommerce companies. Betaout�s technology will complement Bluecore�s marketing tech stack, adding Facebook, onsite, mobile push and SMS as channels for real-time customer engagement and hyper-targeted personalization campaigns.

From the Venture Intelligence PE-VC Deal Database: Founded in 2014, Betaout had attracted high profile angel investors including Anupam Mittal; Vijay Shekhar Sharma; Rohit Bansal; Kunal Bahl; Phanindra Sama; Girish Mathrubootham; Pallav Nadhani and Amit Ranjan by Aug-2015. In mid 2016, Mumbai Angels, Stanford Angels, Chennai Angels, Hyderabad Angels and Manav Garg joined the list. The company raised venture capital funding Beenos Partners and Grace Capital Ventures in Apr-2016 and from East Ventures in Jan-2017.

Other Private Equity/Strategic Investments

Digital news startup Asiaville attracts Rs.14-Cr from Aban Infrastructure, angel investors

Venture Intelligence Research

Aban Infrastructure Ltd, Parambathkandi Mohamad Ali, Pradeep Cholayil and BlueWater Business Associates Private Limited have committed to invest INR 5 Cr, INR 5 Cr, INR 3 Cr and INR 1 Cr respectively in Chennai-based Asiaville Interactive Private Limited. The purchase, which constitutes 28% stake of the company, aggregates to INR 14 Cr. The investment was made at a Post-Money Valuation of INR 50 Cr.

On Sep 3, 2018, Asiaville issued 7,142 equity shares at INR 3500 per share to Aban Infrastructure Limited, 4,285 equity shares each to Parambathkandi Mohamad Ali and Pradeep Cholayil, 2,857 equity shares to BlueWater Business Associates Private Limited. On Sep 24, 2018, it issued 2,857 equity shares to Aban Infrastructure Limited. On Oct 10, 2018, it issued 4,285 equity shares to Parambathkandi Mohamad Ali.

Founded in Nov 2017 by former Asianet founder Sashi Kumar, Asiaville is positioned as South Asia�s first multi-media and multi-lingual digital news company.

Korean razor co Dorco picks 10% stake in LetsShave

DealStreetAsia

Korean razor company Dorco Ltd has made its first investment in India by acquiring a 10% stake in grooming startup LetsShave. The company plans to use its Series A funding towards online business and to expand its product portfolio to cater to men�s and women�s grooming needs.

M&A

NBCC to acquire govt owned healthcare consulting firm HSCC for Rs.285-Cr

Economic Times

The Competition Commission has approved construction major NBCC's bid to acquire of 100% stake in fellow public sector Hospital Services Consultancy Corporation (HSCC) for INR 285 crore. HSCC, currently under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, is engaged in the provision of consultancy services in healthcare and other social sectors in India and abroad.

Tata Steel to sell stake in South African mining arm for $25.6 M

BSE

Publicly listed Tata Steel is to divest its entire stake in its wholly owned step down subsidiary Black Ginger 461 Pty Ltd, which in turn holds 64% in Sedibeng Iron ore Pty Ltd, South Africa, for ZAR 366 million (about USD 25.6 million). The stake has been divested to IMR Asia Holding Pte Ltd which is a group company of IMR Metallurgical Resources AG, a global metals and mining group headquartered in Switzerland and a supplier of raw materials to the steel industry.

Ebix acquires 67% stake in truck logistics marketplace Routier

Press Release

US-based Nasdaq-listed Ebix Inc, via its EbixCash unit, has acquired a 67% stake in Delhi-based Routier, which operates a marketplace for trucking logistics.

Routier�s marketplace allows Carriers the ability to win a Shipper�s business by bidding online. It counts Coca Cola, Asian Paints, and Samsung among its clients.

E-grocer BigBasket acquires Morning Cart, Kwik24

Inc42

Online grocery company BigBasket has acquired 100% stake in Morning Cart and a controlling stake in smart vending machines startup Kwik24 (which has installed 100 smart vending machines in Bengaluru). BigBasket had earlier acquired 100% stake in milk delivery startup RainCan. With this, BigBasket looks to tap the micro-delivery segment which includes milk delivery and omnichannel grocery delivery.

EbixCash acquires assets of Business Travels Group

Press Release

EbixCash, the Financial Exchange Division of NASDAQ-listed Ebix, Inc., has acquired the assets of Business Travels Private Limited through its business unit Via. As part of the deal, Business Travels' promoter Praveen Chugh has joined Via as its Chief Operating Officer, Agency Sales.

From the Venture Intelligence M&A Deals Database: The deal marks Ebix's 14th acquisition in India since 2014. It had acquired Via in Oc-014 for $75 million. (Subscribers to the database can login to view the valuation, deal structuring and other transaction details.)

Celebrity mgmt co Kwan�s founders to buy JV partner Anirban Blah�s stake in Mojostar

Economic Times

Celebrity management firm Kwan Entertainment�s founding partners are buying out the stake of co-founder Anirban Blah in joint venture retail company Mojostar. Blah has stepped down as director of Mojostar after accusations of sexual harassment by several women, which had earlier led to his exit from Kwan Entertainment.

Mojostar is a JV between Kwan and Dream Theatre, a brand licensing and marketing firm. The JV was set up last year, with Anirban Blah holding majority stake. Mojostar handles retail branding for actors including Tiger Shroff and Jacqueline Fernandes.

Concept acquires PR monitoring service BlueBlytes

TelevisionPost

Concept Business Intelligence Unit (Concept BIU) has acquired Bluebytes News, the media monitoring agency business of Comniscient Group. The acquisition will make Concept BIU the largest Media Monitoring & Analytics service provider in India. With this acquisition, Concept BIU will be servicing around 550 clients.

Other Deals

Softbank, Temasek, others to invest $1.25 B in Airtel Africa

Press Release

Six global investors including Warburg Pincus, Temasek, Singtel and SoftBank Group International, have agreed to invest $1.25 billion through a primary equity issuance in Airtel Africa, for an about 28.4% stake. The investment will be used to reduce Airtel Africa's existing debt of approximately $5 billion and for growth of its African operations.

Airtel Africa is an UK incorporated subsidiary of Delhi-based India listed Bharti Airtel Limited. Its operations have turned around in recent years. Airtel Africa is planning an IPO on an international exchange and use the proceeds to further pare its debt.

Singapore-based food tech co TabSquare raises $10-M

Press Release

TabSquare, a Singapore-based provider of AI-powered smart in-restaurant solutions, has raised USD 10 million in Series B funding round. The round was led by Kakaku.com with the support of Coca-Cola Amatil, Resorts World Inc., and participation from its Series A and existing investor Walden International. TabSquare is a portfolio company of Calcutta Angels Network (CAN). It will use the money to enhance tech solutions, grow geographic presence across Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, and increase manpower to aid these efforts.

From Venture Intelligence Angel Database: Existing investors in TabSquare include Calcutta Angels, Get2Volume, Serguei Netessine, Walden International, Infocomm Investments Pte Ltd, Phillip Private Equity and serial investor Ivan Lee's private investment vehicle, Raging Bull.

Omidyar leads $1.1 M investment in Pakistani MFI Tez Financial

Deal Street Asia

Tez Financial Services, a fully digital non-bank microfinance company (NBMFC) in Pakistan, has raised USD 1.1 million in a seed round led by impact investment firm Omidyar Network. Other investors in the round included Accion Venture Lab and Planet N. The funds will be used by the company to build its credit portfolio, enhance its mobile technology platform, and secure the company�s NBMFC license.

Real Estate Transactions

Welspun MD Rajesh Mandawewala buys three Mumbai flats for Rs.150-Cr

Business Standard

Rajesh Mandawewala, managing director of textile firm Welspun India, has bought three apartments in an upcoming ultra-luxury residential project in Prabhadevi area of central Mumbai, for about INR 150 crore. Mandawewala paid more than INR 83,000 per sq ft in the sea-facing project of The Wadhwa Group and Hubtown. The apartments will be delivered in 2023. The flats are located in the top-three floors � 45, 46, and 47.

Puravankara buys 2-acre land in Chembur for Rs.147-Cr to enter Mumbai realty market

Mint

Bengaluru-based Puravankara has purchased a two-acre plot at Chembur in suburban Mumbai from Food and Inn Ltd, a food exports company, for INR 147 crore to develop a residential project. The project, with development potential of 3.5 million sq. ft, is estimated to cost around INR 500 crore. JLL India was the transaction adviser to the deal.

Debt Financing

BlackSoil lends to WebEngage

Investor Disclosure

Blacksoil Capital has provided venture debt to Webklipper Technologies Private Limited that provides WebEngage, a multi-channel user engagement platform which automates communication across users' life-cycle. The funds will be used for working capital & general corporate requirements.

Innoven Capital lends to Grey Orange Robotics

Investor Disclosure

Innoven Capital has provided venture debt to GreyOrange that designs, manufactures and deploys advanced robotics systems for automation in warehouses, distribution and fulfillment centers.

BlackSoil lends to Rubique

Investor Disclosure

Blacksoil Capital has provided venture debt to fintech startup Rubique Technologies Private Limited. The funds will be used for working capital requirements and general corporate purpose until next round of funding.

Done Deals Fund News
Fund News

Tiger Global raises $3.75-B Private Investment Partners XI Fund

Financial Times

International investment firm Tiger Global has raised USD 3.75 billion for its latest venture capital fund, Private Investment Partners XI. It will focus on consumer internet, cloud and industry-specific software, as well as direct-to-consumer companies in China, India and the US.

Motilal Oswal PE raises Rs.2,300-Cr third fund

Mint

Motilal Oswal Private Equity (MOPE) has raised INR 2,300 crore (about USD 320 million) for its India Business Excellence Fund III (IBEF III). About 75% of the corpus was raised from domestic investors. IBEF III has already invested in Gujarat-based non-banking financial company (NBFC) MAS Financial Service; in N. Ranga Rao & Sons Pvt Ltd, which makes Cycle incense sticks; and in Ludhiana-based autocomp maker Happy Forging Ltd, a major manufacturer of crankshafts used in automobiles. Between 60-70% of the fund will be deployed in sectors such as financial services, consumer and healthcare.

MOPE had raised an INR 550 crore (USD 115 million) fund in 2007, which was followed by INR 1,000 crore (USD 155 million) second fund in 2012.

Kotak Realty provides exit worth $350-M to investors in Fund IV

Times of India

Kotak Realty Fund IV has returned about USD 350 million (about INR 2,600 crore) to its investors. The fund was floated with the objective of investing in structured credit in the domestic real estate market and had funded projects across Mumbai, NCR, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. 70% of the exits were facilitated by refinancing deals with NBFCs. The fund had drawn down $220 million out of the $350 million in committed capital.

TVS Capital hits first close of Rs.832-Cr for third fund

Mint

TVS Capital Funds Pvt. Ltd has made a first close of INR 832 crore (approx USD 114 million) for its latest fund TVS Shriram Growth Fund 3. The fund is jointly sponsored by the TVS Group and the Shriram Group. The sponsors have invested over INR 200 crore in the fund. The fund has raised INR 500 crore from family offices and ultra high net-worth individuals (UHNI). TVS Capital is targeting a final close of around INR 1,200 crore for the third fund. The fund will focus largely on financial services and consumption themes such as food and lifestyle.

With the first close of its third fund, the total corpus raised by TVS Capital has exceeded INR 2,000 crore.

Realtor Ajmera to invest $10-M in startups

Economic Times

Real estate developer Ajmera Group is committing USD 10 million for investment in startups. The group has already invested in BookMeIn, Sports Gurukul and Modulex. The developer will invest across sectors such as e-commerce, customer internet, solar and fintech.

Cryus Mistry launches VC firm; hires former BCG head to head it

Business Line

Former Tata Sons Chairman Cryus Mistry along with his elder brother Shapoor Mistry has started a VC investment firm, Mistry Ventures LLP. The brothers belong to the promoter family of Shapoorji Pallonji Group (SP Group), a conglomerate operating in the engineering and construction, infrastructure, real estate, energy and financial services. Ashish Iyer, Senior Partner and previously Global Leader, Strategy Practice at the Boston Consulting Group, has been roped in to lead Mistry Ventures.

KKR Capstone hires Ananya Tripathi

Press Release

Ananya Tripathi, who served most recently as Myntra�s chief strategy officer, is set to join global private equity firm KKR in January 2019 as part of its consulting unit KKR Capstone. Ananya will serve as director for KKR Capstone India, assisting portfolio companies of KKR with strategy and operations.

Blume Ventures elevates CFO Ashish Fafadia to partner

Business Standard

Early Stage venture capital (VC) entity Blume Ventures has elevated Ashish Fafadia, a long-time leadership team member, to the position of Partner. Fafadia has been Blume�s chief financial officer and has played a key role in the firm�s growth investments. Fafadia represents Blume on the boards of Purplle, NowFloats, Slicepay and Turtlemint.

 

 

VI Updates

 

VI Update

 

Deal Showcase

Legasis Partners

The Deal: Equity funding round by early-stage venture capital platform 1Crowd in LightSaber Food ventures Private Limited.

Advisor: Legasis Partners

Client: 1 Crowd Group

Deal Date: October  10, 2018

Deal Description:  Equity funding round

Advisory Role: Advising on legal aspects of the transaction including conducting legal due diligence and drafting and finalizing transaction documents.

Advisory Team:  
Legasis Partners Partner -  Apurv Sardeshmukh and associates -  Mugdha Joshi, Vaishnavi Bhat and Aanchal Lamba advised the 1 Crowd Group.

Media Mentions

Building a Rs 100 crore FMCG firm now doable in 4 years

Business Today


A Business Today article quotes Venture Intelligence data on investments in consumer brands:

In 2017, 24 deals amounting to $274 million were invested in the sector, according to data from Venture Intelligence. That's a growth of 165 per cent over 2016. In 2018, till date, more than $100 million has been invested.

Highlighted Sponsor

Avalon Consulting

Avalon Consulting, among Asia�s top-rated consulting firms, is proud to announce a partnership with Cordence Worldwide. With this partnership, Avalon becomes the 11th member firm of the partnership, which now has 3000+ professionals, a presence in 23 countries through 70+ network offices around the world. For more details click here

Founded in 1989, Avalon Consulting is an international management consulting firm that offers services in growth strategy, business transformation and transaction support to clients across a wide range of sectors including Agribusiness, Automotive, Chemicals, Construction, Education, Engineering, FMCG, Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals and Retail. It has offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore and Singapore serving clients across India, Middle East, South East Asia, China, Europe and the US. Avalon Consulting is a member firm of Cordence Worldwide, a global management consulting partnership.

Connect with Avalon Consulting on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to receive interesting insights and updates.

Deals in the Making
Deals in the Making

Private Equity/Strategic Investments

S�pore co Mapletree in talks to buy Chennai�s SP Infocity for Rs.2,400-Cr

Mint (E-Paper)

Singapore-based Mapletree Investment Pte. Ltd, a realty development, investment and capital management company backed by Temasek Holdings, is close to buying Chennai-based information technology park SP Infocity, jointly owned by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and Shapoorji Pallonji Investment Advisors, for about INR 2,300-2,400 crore.

Located on the Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR), the property spans 2.7 million sq.ft of leasable space and over 99% of it is occupied by tenants including the World Bank, HSBC and BNP Paribas. SPREP Pte. Ltd, a joint venture between CPPIB and Shapoorji Pallonji Group, acquired the IT park for USD 220 million in 2015 from Faery Estates Ltd.

JSW Steel looking to raise PE funding for Rs.19,700-Cr Bhushan Power and Steel bid

Business Line

JSW Steel is scouting for private equity to fund its INR 19,700-crore bid to acquire the stressed Bhushan Power and Steel asset. JSW Steel emerged the highest bidder trumping Liberty House and Tata Steel. Bhushan Power and Steel, which had defaulted on INR 47,000-crore loan, was among the first 12 stressed assets referred for insolvency process in July 2017.

Leap Green Energy to raise $250-M

Business Line

Renewable energy developer Leap Green Energy plans to raise around USD 250 million, to help treble its capacity from current 1.1 GW to 3 GW by 2020. The developer has appointed Barclays Bank PLC as its financial advisor. The expansion strategy includes both greenfield projects and brownfield opportunities. The company currently has around 750 MW of operational wind assets and projects under construction with cumulative capacity of 400 MW.

From the Venture Intelligence PE-VC Deal Database: In October 2010 and September 2011, JP Morgan had invested INR 107.5 crore and INR 100 crore in Leap Green Energy.

Baby products retailer FirstCry in talks with Alibaba, SoftBank for $150-M

Mint

FirstCry, a Pune-based online retailer of baby products, is in talks with China�s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Japan�s SoftBank Group Corp, to raise at least USD 100-150 million. Earlier, Singapore�s Temasek and China�s Tencent have held talks with FirstCry.

Since its founding in 2010 by Supam Maheshwari and Amitava Saha, FirstCry (Brainbees Solutions Pvt. Ltd) has raised more than USD 100 million from Mahindra, IDG Ventures India (now Chiratae Ventures), New Enterprise Associates, SAIF Partners, Vertex Ventures and others.

Morgan Stanley arm in talks to invest $55-M in KSH�s warehouse assets

Mint

Morgan Stanley is in advanced talks with Pune-based KSH Group to invest around INR 400 crore (approximately USD 55 million) in its warehousing assets. KSH Group operates in domestic logistics, manufacturing, service and distribution sectors, with over 600 employees spread across eight cities.

The group operates through various companies such as KSH Distriparks, KSH Logistics, KSH Infra, KSH International and Waterloo Distributors. KSH has around 1 million sq.ft of industrial warehousing and logistics infrastructure, including assets in use and under development. The group plans to build out 5 million sq. ft of warehousing space in Pune by 2020.

Big data analysis co Crayon to raise $11-M Series B round

Business Standard

Crayon Data, a Chennai-based big data analysis company, in which industrialist Ratan Tata and Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan have invested, is planning to raise Series B round of about USD 11 million from existing and new investors. The fund would be used for expansion in western markets, including in the US and for technology development. The firm has raised USD 18 million so far.

From Venture Intelligence PE-VC Deal Database: In Nov 2017, Crayon Data raised funding from Ratan Tata, Kris Gopalakrishnan, Jungle Ventures and Spring Seeds. (Subscribers to the database can login to view the valuation, deal structuring and other transaction details).

Battery tech firm Gegadyne Energy to raise $10-M

The Hindu

Gegadyne Energy, a Mumbai-based startup working in the area of battery technology, is planning to raise up to USD 10 million in Series A funding. Most of the funds will be utilised to set up a laboratory facility in Mumbai. The firm is developing a proprietary battery technology that can charge a battery from 0-100% in under 15 minutes.

From Venture Intelligence Angel Database: In Mar 2018, Gegadyne Energy raised angel funding from Mumbai Angels and Nirav Choksi. (Subscribers to the database can login to view the valuation, deal structuring and other transaction details).

Naspers looks to raise stake in Swiggy in fresh funding round

Mint

South Africa-based technology investor Naspers plans to increase its stake in Indian online food delivery business Swiggy, by supporting a financing round that could raise more than USD 600 million. There�s also an opportunity to buy stakes from investors such as Bessemer Venture Partners. Chinese Internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd, in which Naspers owns 31% stake, is also planning to invest in Swiggy.

From Venture Intelligence PE-VC Deal Database: Till June 2018, Naspers has invested around INR 390 crore in Swiggy for 22.84% stake.

Germany�s AviAlliance, Australian co AMP Capital join race for Mumbai airport stake

Mint

German airport operator AviAlliance, Australia�s AMP Capital and US-based Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) have submitted non-binding bids to buy a minority stake in Mumbai International Airport Ltd. The GVK Group owns 50.5% in the Mumbai airport. GVK is seeking an enterprise valuation of roughly INR 20,000 crore and is looking to raise around INR 6,000 crore. Citigroup is managing the transaction.

Mumbai airport�s other shareholders are South Africa�s Bidvest Group (13.5%), Airports Co South Africa Ltd (10%) and state-run Airports Authority of India (26%).

Other Strategic Investments

Hero energy arm in talks with Petronas, Masdar, Sembcorp to raise $300-M for 30% stake sale

Economic Times

Malaysia�s Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas), Abu Dhabi-based energy company Masdar Clean Energy and Singaporean alternative energy firm Sembcorp are in talks to acquire 30% of Delhi-based Hero Future Energies, the renewable energy arm of the Hero Group. Hero is looking to raise USD 300 million, valuing the unit at around USD 1 billion. JP Morgan is advising Hero Future on the stake-sale process. International Finance Corp. (IFC) holds a minority stake in Hero Future with an investment of USD 125 million made in 2017.

IPOs

Affle India, Dodla Dairy, Chalet Hotels, Harsha Engineers get Sebi nod for IPO

Economic Times

Affle India and Dodla Dairy have received the capital markets regulator Sebi's go-ahead to launch their initial share-sale offerings. Two others who got Sebi�s nod are Chalet Hotels and Harsha Engineers.

Affle India's IPO comprises fresh issue of shares of INR 90 crore, besides an offer for sale of up to 55 lakh equity shares by Singapore-based Affle Holdings. The company is expected to raise around INR 650 crore through its IPO. ICICI Securities and Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities (India) will manage the company's public issue.

The IPO of Dodla Dairy comprises fresh issuance of shares worth up to INR 150 crore besides an offer for sale of up to 95,43,770 equity shares by TPG Dodla Dairy Holdings Pte Ltd and Dodla Deepa Reddy. Edelweiss Financial Services and ICICI Securities will manage the company's initial share sale.

K Raheja Corp's hospitality company Chalet Hotel's IPO consists of fresh issue of shares of INR 950 crore, besides an offer for sale of up to 24,685,000 equity shares by the existing shareholders. JM Financial, Axis Capital and Morgan Stanley India will manage the company's public issue.

The public issue of Harsha Engineers, manufacturer of precision bearing cage, comprises a fresh issuance aggregating up to INR 370 crore and an offer for sale of up to 13.25 lakh equity shares by the selling shareholders. Axis Capital and Edelweiss Financial Services are the book running lead managers to the issue.

Secondary Issues

SBI to raise Rs.20,000-Cr equity capital in FY19

Business Standard

Publicly listed State Bank of India (SBI) seeks to raise up to INR 25,000 crore during the current financial year, including INR 5000 crore through bonds, to meet capital adequacy norms. The board has given a nod for raising equity capital of INR 20,000 crore during FY 2018-19 from the market by way of FPO / QIP / Preferential allotment / Rights lssue / or a combination of these modes.

M&A

UAE-based BRS Ventures to invest $300-M to acquire hospitals in India

Business Line

UAE-based BRS Ventures plans to acquire hospitals in India. BRS Ventures, through BR Life, which is a holding company for Indian healthcare enterprises, plans to invest USD 300 million to acquire hospitals in various cities. BR Life has already acquired five hospitals in India with a total bed strength of 1,500.

JNPT mulls acquisition of 3 ports in Maharashtra

Economic Times

State-run Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) is planning to acquire three ports in Maharashtra - Vijaydurg, Revas and Dighi - as it targets to more than double its profits. Of the three ports, only Dighi is an operational port while the other two are concessions held by corporations with little or no development on the ground. JNPT is also going ahead with its efforts to develop an offshore port at Wadhwan, north of Mumbai.

Hero Group in talks to buy German e-bike firm

Times of India

The Hero Group is on the verge of acquiring an electric bike firm in Germany to boost its foray into electric bicycles. The acquisition is part of Hero Cycle�s value push as higher-priced leisure/ sport bike sales take off, particularly in southern markets.

Reliance in talks to buy multi-system-operator GTPL Hathway

Economic Times

Reliance Industries (RIL) has begun talks to acquire a controlling stake in GTPL Hathway, a multi-system-operator (MSO) that dominates the Gujarat market. This follows the announcement of plans by RIL to acquire a majority interest in cable TV and broadband services providers Hathway Cable & Datacom and DEN Networks. GTPL Hathway has 7.6 million active digital cable subscribers.

TPG-Manipal combine eyes majority stake in Medanta Hospital

Mint

The TPG Capital and Manipal Health Enterprises combine is in talks to buy a majority stake in hospital operator Medanta from Naresh Trehan and other investors. Manipal-TPG is likely to offer a valuation of INR 6,000 crore for Medanta. TPG-Manipal is the only party that is pursuing Medanta after Malaysia�s IHH Healthcare Bhd withdrew its non-binding bid following its acquisition of the hospital business of crisis-ridden Fortis Healthcare Ltd in July, outbidding TPG-Manipal.

Govt invites EoI from investors to buy out construction firm Bridge & Roof Co

Economic Times

The Union Government has invited bids for buying out 100% stake in PSU construction firm Bridge & Roof Company. The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) has asked interested bidders to submit their Expression of Interest (EoI) for buying the company by December 25, 2018. The company had posted a Profit after Tax (PAT) of INR 16.37 crore and total revenue of INR 1,751 crore in 2016-17. Established in 1920, Bridge & Roof is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises. The DIPAM has appointed Yes Bank to advise the government on the proposed strategic sale.

Other Deals - Listed firms

DHFL arm Aadhar looks to sell loan book to infuse cash

Economic Times

Mumbai-based Aadhar Housing Finance, a unit of Wadhawan Global Capital and a group company linked to Dewan Housing Finance (holds 9.2%), is in talks with State Bank of (SBI), Bank of Baroda and ICICI Bank, to sell loans worth INR 1,200 crore. The company has a loan book of INR 8,700 crore, with disbursement targets of INR 450-500 crore a month. The company merged with DHFL Vysya last year.

Other Deals

Indiabulls to sell residual stake in UK lender OakNorth

Economic Times

Indiabulls Housing Finance plans to sell all or part of its 18.7% stake in UK-based lender OakNorth Holdings to a private equity fund. The deal will help the company rake in over six times gain on investment in less than three years.

In November 2017, Indiabulls had sold around 10% of its stake in OakNorth Bank to GIC, the investment arm of Government of Singapore for INR 770 crore.

Real Estate Transactions

Tata Realty may acquire 22-acre plot in Chennai for Rs.500-Cr

Economic Times

Mumbai based Tata Realty and Infrastructure (TRIL) has emerged as the frontrunner to acquire a 22-acre land parcel in Chennai from Xander Investment Management and Real Value Promoters for about INR 500 crore. Xander had invested about INR 220 crore as debt 4-5 years ago in a residential project by Real Value, but the project failed to take off.

Air India calls off plan to sell off iconic Mumbai tower to JNPT

Business Line

Air India has abandoned plans to sell its iconic 23-storey tower at Nariman Point in Mumbai to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) to raise funds. The move to sell the 2.2 lakh sq ft building to the cash-rich and India�s busiest container port was mooted a few days after a plan to privatise the carrier fell through for lack of bidder interest.

Other News
Other News

India Ahoy!

Xiaomi's smart lighting solutions arm Yeelight enters India

Economic Times

Xiaomi-owned smart lighting solutions maker Yeelight has announced its foray into the Indian market. The company has introduced four products including a smart lamp, a light strip and two smart bulbs, priced between INR 2,000 to 10,000. In the first phase, its products will be exclusively available on Amazon and later, it would also be available at retail outlets. Yeelight products will be imported and distributed in India by its partner PR Innovations. Incubated by SOSVenture, Yeelight became a part of Xiaomi ecosystem in 2014.

New Incubators

Artha Venture Fund to launch startup accelerator programme

DealStreetAsia

Mumbai-based seed stage investor Artha Venture Fund plans to start an accelerator programme, through which it will mentor and invest in a select bunch of startups. The fund is looking for sponsors to set up a school for entrepreneurship within the next six months. Artha is close to finalizing a deal with a major US university to partner the programme.

Expansion/Diversification

Paytm enters Japan's mobile wallet market with 'PayPay'

Business Standard

One97 Communications-backed Paytm announced that PayPay Corporation, its joint venture with SoftBank Corp and Yahoo Japan Corporation, has launched PayPay, a smartphone-based settlement service in Japan. It is built around the QR-technology from Paytm that has over 300 million customers and over 9.5 million offline merchants. PayPay will expand the number of users by including the customer base of SoftBank and �Yahoo! Wallet�, which comprises approximately 40 million accounts.

Cookware maker Stovekraft in licensing deal with US-based Black + Decker

Economic Times

Sequoia Capital-backed Stovekraft plans to focus on the premium segment in kitchen appliances with its licensed brand Black + Decker by rolling out products like blenders and juicers, breakfast appliances, water heaters and small domestic appliances. The Bengaluru-based company, whose flagship brands include Pigeon and Gilma that together contributes 85% to sales, had entered into a partnership with US-based Black & Decker Corporation last year.

Sequoia Capital currently holds around 25% stake in Stovekraft while the promoter family holds the balance 75% stake.

People

Goldman Sachs names Todd Leland as Asia investment banking head

Mint

Goldman Sachs veteran Todd Leland is to become the firm�s Asia investment banking head. He will replace Andrea Vella and Kate Richdale. Leland was named a co-president of the bank for Asia Pacific excluding Japan in September last year.

AZB hires ex-SBI chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya as consultant

Legally India

AZB & Partners Mumbai has hired former State Bank of India (SBI) chairwoman Arundhati Bhattacharya as a senior consultant. Bhattacharya headed SBI between 2013 and 2017.

JSA hires ex Wadia partner Farid Karachiwala

Press Release

Farid Karachiwala has joined J. Sagar Associates (JSA) as an equity partner in their Mumbai office. He was an equity partner at Wadia Ghandy & Co., and anchored their general litigation practice.

Ravichandra Hegde, a partner in the Mumbai office of JSA will be leaving the firm at the end of the month to pursue independent practice.

SME lender IntelleGrow names Nikesh Kumar Sinha as CEO

Business Standard

Startup and SME lender IntelleGrow, an Aavishkaar Intellecap Group company, has appointed Nikesh Kumar Sinha as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Sinha was the Head of the Medium Enterprises Group at Axis Bank.

Satish Kumar Gupta is new MD & CEO of Paytm Payments Bank

Mint

Paytm Payments Bank, a unit of One97 Communications Ltd., had appointed Satish Kumar Gupta as managing director and chief executive officer of the digital bank. Gupta previously had stints as the chief product officer at National Payments Corporation of India and State Bank of India. Renu Satti had stepped down as the CEO of Paytm Payments Bank to head the new retail segment at the company as chief operating officer.

Regulatory News

SEBI partially modifies order in Satyam scam, gives relief to three officials

Bar and Bench

The Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has partially modified its order in the Satyam Scam, on the limited points of disgorgement of illegal gains and period of debarment from securities market against three officials. In 2014, SEBI had passed an order against the three officials and promoters/directors Vadlamani Srinivas (ex CFO), G Ramakrishna (ex Vice President - Finance) and V S Prabhakara Gupta (ex internal auditor) who were restrained from the market for a period of 14 years. An appeal against the said order was preferred before the SAT, and the SAT in May 2017, while upholding the order of SEBI on merits, remanded the case back to SEBI for reconsidering the amount to be disgorged by these three persons and the period of debarment from securities market.

In the case of Vadlamani Srinivas and G Ramakrishna, the period of debarment has been reduced by SEBI to 7 years from the earlier period of 14 years. For Gupta, the period is reduced to 4 years. The debarment period would include the years of ban already undergone by these individuals. No change was made to the amount to be disgorged by Ramakrishna, but the amount to be disgorged by Srinivas was reduced from INR 29.50 crore to INR 15.65 crore and for Gupta, to INR 48 lakh from INR 51.26 lakh.

IBC not a substitute to a recovery forum: Supreme Court

Economic Times

The Supreme Court (SC) has held that the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) is not intended to be a substitute to a recovery forum. �It is also laid down that whenever there is existence of real dispute, the IBC provisions cannot be invoked. It is clear, therefore, that once the operational creditor has filed an application, which is otherwise complete, the adjudicating authority must reject the application under Section 9(5)(2)(d) if notice of dispute has been received by the operational creditor or there is a record of dispute in the information utility,� the Supreme Court said.

Bankruptcy

Essar Steel seeks withdrawal from IBC process; offers Rs.54,389-Cr to all creditors

Economic Times

The shareholders of Essar Steel have submitted a proposal to the Committee of Creditors (CoC) for full settlement of the entire admitted claims of the financial creditors, operational creditors, and workmen and employees of Essar Steel India Ltd (ESIL), aggregating INR 54,389 crore, under Section 12A of the Code. The plan includes an upfront cash payment of INR 47,507 crore to all creditors, including INR 45,559 crore to the senior secured financial creditors.

KKR files bankruptcy plea against dairy firm Kwality

Economic Times

Global private equity player KKR has filed insolvency plea against dairy firm Kwality Ltd before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) under Section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016.

In 2016, Kwality Ltd had raised INR 300 crore from KKR India Financial Services and got additional commitment of INR 220 crore to fund its expansion plans and for entering into consumer segment. Kwality has six milk processing units in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan with a capacity of 3.2 million litre per day. It sells milk and milk products under different brands including Kwality and Dairy Best.

SBI looks for adviser to streamline resolution of 15 Videocon entities

Mint

The State Bank of India (SBI) wants to appoint an adviser to liaison among the separate resolution professionals (RPs) and prospective bidders for the 15 Videocon group entities that it referred to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). The bank has mandated SBI Capital Markets to look for this common process adviser. The adviser will need to coordinate among the committees of creditors and resolution professionals of the 15 companies and be the single point of contact for the prospective bidders on behalf of the lenders.

Tata Steel moves NCLAT against finalization of JSW�s bid for BPSL

Mint

Tata Steel Ltd has objected to lenders of debt-laden Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd (BPSL) finalizing a bid of its rival JSW Steel Ltd. The lenders allowed JSW Steel to change the basic parameters of its bid after having previously declared Tata Steel as the highest bidder, according to a plea filed by Tata Steel at the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). NCLAT has heard the arguments made by the counsel appearing for Tata Steel and adjourned the hearing to 1 November.

Tata Sponge to carry out Usha Martin's steel biz acquisition

Economic Times

Tata Sponge Iron Ltd, a subsidiary of Tata Steel, will carry out the acquisition of Usha Martin's steel business. Tata Steel announced on September 22 that it had executed definitive agreements for acquisition of the steel business of Usha Martin Ltd (UML) by itself or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates. The acquisition will be through a slump sale process.

The steel business undertaking of UML comprises of a specialised one million tonne per annum alloy based manufacturing capacity in long products segment based in Jamshedpur, an iron-ore mine, a coal mine under development and captive power plants.

SBI moves SC; seeks amendment in pacts between power cos, discoms

Economic Times

SBI has moved the Supreme Court seeking implementation of a high power panel's recommendation to amend the PPAs between various discoms and three Gujarat-based electricity producers who were running losses as they could not hike tariffs to compensate for the rise in cost of coal imported from Indonesia. SBI is part of a consortium of banks that funded the three power producers - Tata Mundra, Adani and Essar, who were not allowed by the apex court to charge compensatory tariff in lieu of the increase in cost of coal they were importing from Indonesia.

Blackstone, Sattva lead race to buy Trident Hotel in Hyderabad

Economic Times

Global private equity major Blackstone and Bengaluru-based realtor Sattva Group have emerged as the front-runners for the Hyderabad Trident Hotel property. The sale, being supervised by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), is expected to fetch around INR 450 crore. The Oberoi chain, owned by EIH Ltd, operates the property through a management contract.

Located in the Hi-Tech city area of Hyderabad, the Trident property is operated by a special purpose vehicle called Golden Jubilee Hotel. Earlier this year, NCLT initiated insolvency process against Golden Jubilee Hotels that owes around INR 728 crore to various lenders.

Others

Daiichi Sankyo accuses Fortis� Singh brothers of siphoning off Rs.2,900-Cr

Business Line

Japanese drug-maker Daiichi Sankyo told the Delhi High Court that erstwhile Fortis Healthcare promoters Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, through a web of downstream companies, had diverted close to INR 2,900 crore. Daiichi has filed three new applications in the high court, stating the monies were parked in 25 companies and this was not declared by the brothers in their affidavits. The brothers owe Daiichi INR 3,500 crore to settle an arbitration award announced in a Singapore tribunal.

C Sivasankaran offers to pay $33-M, settles dispute with Bahraini telco Batelco

Economic Times

Maverick NRI businessman C Sivasankaran and his bellicose partner Batelco, a Bahraini telecom firm, have settled their dispute with mutual consent, resulting in a worldwide settlement scheme, approved by the Supreme Court of Seychelles. Under the terms, Sivasankaran will offer assets (mostly real estate properties) worth USD 33 million, held in the name of Jayalakshmi, his ex-wife to Batelco�s subsidiary BMIC. He will also transfer the 24 million shares that he owns in Tata Tele in favour of Batelco, (the value of which today is zero as Tata Sons have written off the entire investment). In return, BMIC will withdraw all asset freeze and litigations it had enforced on Sivasankaran in Seychelles, India, Bermuda and London. BMIC had claimed USD 225 million for settlement of this dispute.

The background to the saga stems from the contract between Batelco and S Tel, which was awarded 2G mobile license in January 2008. During 2009, BMIC subscribed to acquire 42.7% of S Tel for USD 174 million. Following this, S Tel became a joint venture between BMIC (as minority partner) and Sivasankaran (as majority partner). As part of the joint venture, Sivasankaran stood personal guarantee for the proposed investment by BMIC.

Once the Supreme Court cancelled the 2G licenses on the February 2, 2012, Batelco enforced the personal guarantee given by Sivasankaran in a London court and obtained a court decree which ordered Sivasankaran to pay nearly USD 212 million.

After shutting down ops in India, crypto exchange Zebpay moves to Malta

Entrackr

Zebpay, which shut its operation last month, now has moved to Malta. Before the RBI ban, the company used to process more than half of cryptocurrency transactions in India. The new Zebpay exchange will provide services to residents of about 20 European countries including Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France and Germany. Indian citizens have been banned from transacting on its platform.

Direct seller Amway drags Flipkart to court for �illegally� selling its products

Inc42

The US-based direct selling company Amway has reportedly sent a notice to e-commerce platform Flipkart for allowing Amway�s direct sale representatives to sell its products �illegally� on its platform. The company had earlier sent notices to Flipkart asking it to bar such sellers from the platform but the marketplace had apparently failed to do so, thus prompting Amway to seek legal action.

Paytm staffers held for trying to blackmail CEO with data leakage

Economic Times

Three people, including a female employee of Paytm, were arrested for allegedly trying to extort INR 20 crore from the e-wallet giant�s founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma after threatening to leak stolen personal data and confidential information.

IL&FS board appoints financial, restructuring advisors for turnaround plan

Business Standard

The new board of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) has appointed two financial and transaction advisors and a restructuring advisor. Arpwood Capital and JM Financial Consultants, as financial advisors, will help the board with transaction and monetisation decisions. Alvarez & Marsal will assist in maintaining controls on and managing liquidity on a day-to-day basis at all levels in the group, evolving a resolution plan, and management of stakeholders as regards the resolution at the time of the implementation.

RBI lifts ban; Fino Payments Bank to restart opening new accounts

Business Standard

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) lifted its ban on adding new customers for Fino Payments Bank. The ban had been placed by the RBI in May because of non-compliance of operational guidelines, particularly certain accounts having deposits in excess of the allowed amount. RBI's operating guidelines for payments banks stipulate that aggregate limit for customer in his/her bank account shall not exceed INR 100,000.

Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas withdraws clean chit given to Chanda Kochhar: report

Economic Times

Law firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has withdrawn its 2016 report that had given a clean chit to former ICICI Bank chief executive Chanda Kochhar with regard to nepotism allegations against her.

Bitonic, Aayuv, Infeedo in Nasscom�s list of top 10 innovative tech startups

Mint

Noida-based software lobby Nasscom has named top 10 startups, as part of its �Emerge 50� 2018 awards, which use innovative technology across sectors such as healthcare, architecture, human resources and real estate in India. Nasscom received more than 420 applications this year, with more than 70% in the B2B segment.

The 10 selected startups are: chatbot platform Bitonic Technology Labs Pvt. Ltd; healthcare start-up Aayuv Technologies Pvt. Ltd; GIEOM - a banking software provider; people analytics startup Infeedo; pharma supply chain Medicea Technology Solutions Pvt Ltd; virtual reality product company SmartVizX; homeland security application Staqu Technologies; SaaS platform Synup; supply chain management firm Tagbox Solutions Pvt. Ltd and mixed reality hardware startup Tesseract.

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