Canadian private investment firm Brookfield Infrastructure Partners is expected to lower the valuation of Reliance Communications Ltd’s tower business from the Rs 11,000 crore ($1.6 billion) agreed upon initially, say media reports.
The development comes barely hours after the merger talks between RCom and Aircel Ltd fell through due to regulatory hurdles.
RCom executive director Puneet Garg told Mint and The Times of India that discussions were still on with Brookfield and the final value will be different because the additional Aircel tenancies will no more be part of the deal.
Blackstone-Comstar
Private equity major Blackstone Group LP is in talks to acquire a controlling stake in auto component maker Comstar Automotive Technologies Pvt. Ltd, Mint reported citing two people aware of the development.
The transaction is set to value the company at $140-150 million (Rs 1,000 crore), the report added. Kotak Mahindra Capital Co. Ltd is advising Comstar on the transaction.
The report said that homegrown private equity firm CX Partners, which had joined hands with Delhi-based NRB Solutions to buy Comstar, has backed out of the deal.
Comstar, which designs and manufacturers starting and charging systems for passenger cars and commercial vehicles, was acquired by Hong Kong-based special situations investor Argyle Street Management and the Chandaria family from Ford Motors in 2007.
The company has two manufacturing plants in Chennai and Tecumseh in the US.
Fosun-Symbiotec deal
Shanghai-based Fosun Pharmaceutical is in negotiations with Indore-based active pharmaceutical ingredients company Symbiotec Pharmalab Ltd to buy its manufacturing facilities, The Economic Times reported.
Investment bank Rothschild is advising Symbiotec in the sale process. In 2013, private equity firm Actis had invested $55.14 million to pick up a 69.53% stake in the company.
Last month, Fosun had agreed to acquire 74% of Gland Pharma for $1.09 billion (Rs 6,980 crore). The Chinese company had initially planned to buy a 86% stake, but had to trim it down to clear regulatory bottlenecks.
R-Infra power biz on block
Anil Ambani-led Reliance Infrastructure Ltd is planning to sell its power business in Mumbai, The Times of India reported, adding that renewable energy firm Greenko, Hong Kong-based power utility CLP Group, Tata Power, and Italian power and gas company Enel have shown interest.
The deal value is estimated at Rs 14,000 crore. The Mumbai power business has assets in transmission, distribution and generation. It owns 500 megawatt Dahanu thermal power station.
A Reliance Infra spokesperson told the daily that the company is exploring and examining various opportunities for monetising the assets and unlocking shareholder value.
Piramal’s realty biz
Piramal Fund Management Pvt. Ltd, the real estate investment platform of Piramal Enterprises, has roped in Anarock Property Consultants to sell about 70 apartments worth Rs1,100 crore in luxury residential project Omkar 1973 in Worli, Mumbai.
Mint reported that Piramal had invested about Rs 1,400 crore in the project developed by Omkar Realtors and Developers Pvt. Ltd.
Khushru Jijina, managing director of Piramal Fund Management, told the business daily that Anarock will be the exclusive marketing partner for Omkar 1973, and the company might extend the tie-up for other projects if this deal works well.
Besides Anarock, Brickex, a division of Piramal Fund Management, will also be marketing the apartments. The price of each apartment will be in the range of Rs 11-26 crore.
In March 2015, Piramal Fund Management had made a debt investment of Rs 1,200 crore ($191 million) in Omkar 1973 Worli. About half of the debt has already been repaid, the Mint report added.
Omkar 1973, which is located off Annie Besant Road, has three high-rise towers spread over nine acres.
Apollo Tyres eyes South Korean firm
Onkar Kanwar-led Apollo Tyres Ltd is back in the race to acquire South Korea’s Kumho Tire and Industries, after Chinese tyre maker Qingdao Doublestar’s bid to buy the company had collapsed following opposition by the South Korean government, The Economic Times reported.
An unnamed person told the financial daily that the previous deal was for $830 million, while Apollo’s bid was at $775 million. However, now that the Chinese are out, the deal could be in the range of $750-800 million.
However, a spokesperson for Apollo Tyres denied the report. “The company… has no intention of making any attempts to enter the process of acquiring Kumho Tyres,†the spokesperson said.
Sembcorp moots IPO
Singapore-based infrastructure firm Sembcorp Industries Ltd is planning to list its Indian unit, Mint reported.
A Sembcorp spokesperson told the financial daily that “India was an important market for the company and it is considering a listing in India as and when appropriate. However, another person said “it can be either listed here in India or elsewhereâ€.
In August, Sembcorp Industries Ltd had agreed to buy out private equity firm IDFC Alternatives from Sembcorp Green Infra for Rs 1,410.2 crore.
*This article has been updated to include a comment from Apollo Tyres.
