India's largest motorcycle maker Hero MotoCorp’s retail lending arm is in advanced talks with Reliance Capital to buy Reliance General Insurance for up to Rs 6,000 crore ($860 million at current exchange rate), people in the know told The Economic Times.
The move to sell the general insurance business to Hero FinCorp is a part of Reliance Capital’s efforts to reduce debt worth Rs 18,000 crore.
Meanwhile, homegrown private equity firm ChrysCapital may lead a $25 million (Rs 174.4 crore at current exchange rate) funding round for co-working space provider Awfis Space Solutions Pvt. Ltd, two people in the know told The Economic Times.
Awfis raised $20 million in its Series C round in July 2018. It counts among its backers Sequoia Capital; Three Sisters, which is the family office run by the three daughters of Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor; and InnoVen Capital.
Earlier this year, SoftBank-backed OYO acquired Gurugram-headquartered co-working space provider Innov8 for an estimated Rs 200 crore. In April 2019, WeWork owner The We Company said it had filed for an initial public offering (IPO) with US regulators, the latest in a swarm of US startups planning a stock market debut this year.
In another development, roads and highways platform Ashoka Concessions is attracting buyer interest from Edelweiss Infrastructure-backed Sekura Roads, Cube Highways & Infrastructure, and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), The Economic Times said. The platform, backed by Australia’s Macquarie Group, State Bank of India and listed entity Ashoka Buildcon, may sell at an enterprise valuation of up to Rs 6,000 crore ($860 million at current exchange rate).
Ashoka Concessions owns and operates six toll-road.
Also, Continuum Wind Energy, a platform owned by Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners, is now attracting buyer interest from global energy major Royal Dutch Shell and Norwegian power firm Statkraft, two people in the know told Mint. The financial daily had reported earlier this month that CLP India is in talks to acquire the platform.
Continuum received investment from Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners in 2012.
Continuum was set up by Arvind Bansal, an investment banker; Vikash Saraf, ex-Essar Group director; Sukant Gupta, former Wipro executive; Ashish Swarup, a former executive of Asia Pulp & Paper; and Gautam Chopra, a banker.
“Shell, Statkraft and CLP India have been shortlisted for the next round of bidding,” said one of the two people cited above. Continuum’s portfolio of 700 megawatt of operational wind assets is spread across Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana.
