Private equity firm General Atlantic is in talks to acquire Mumbai-based spice firm Badshah Masala, through its investee company Capital Foods Pvt. Ltd, persons with knowledge of the matter told Moneycontrol.
"The deal is at an advanced stage of negotiations and an official announcement is likely this month. Badshah Masala managing director Hemant Jhaveri plans to sell his entire stake of 55%. His cousin Kailash Jhaveri will sell close to 21% of the 45% stake he holds to Capital Foods," one of the persons told Moneycontrol.
In another development, Ranjan Pai’s Manipal Hospitals and billionaire BR Shetty-owned BRS Ventures Investment Ltd are front-runners in the race for Columbia Asia Hospitals in India, three people aware of the development told Mint.
One of the persons said that General Atlantic-backed Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences and KKR-backed Radiant Life Care Pvt. Ltd are the other players in the race.
“Columbia’s India hospitals are expected to be valued at up to Rs 2,000 crore ($280 million at current exchange rate),” said one of the persons.
In September, Columbia Pacific’s Southeast Asian operations were sold to Malaysian conglomerate Hong Leong Group and TPG Capital for about $1.2 billion. One of the persons said that Columbia wanted to combine the sale of its India and Southeast Asian hospitals.
Meanwhile, wind turbine maker Suzlon Energy and its bankers are working on a debt restructuring programme after the stake sale talks with potential buyers collapsed.
“We were talking to two global investors to invest in Suzlon Energy. Unfortunately, because of the challenging business environment, they have decided not to go ahead with the investments,” Tulsi Tanti, chairman at Suzlon, told The Economic Times.
Suzlon has submitted a restructuring plan to the lenders, which will split its Rs 7,000 crore debt into sustainable and unsustainable debt, the report said. It is also in discussions with its foreign currency convertible bondholders for settlement of borrowing which includes a waiver of a considerable amount.