Billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla plans to merge all his carbon black units and may sell shares in the combined company. Aditya Birla Group is in the process of combining the businesses under the closely held SKI Carbon Black (India) Pvt. Ltd. Aditya Birla Nuvo., which runs companies that make fertilizers to textiles, will sell its unit to make carbon black to SKI for $266 million. Columbian Chemicals, acquired by the group for $875 million in 2011, will also be merged with SKI. The new entity may sell shares in an initial public offering as early as next year. (Bloomberg)
TVS Cap to sell Papa John’s Pizza India operation: Private equity firm TVS Capital has started a process to sell majority shares in the Indian operations of Papa John's Pizza. TVS fund holds a controlling stake in Om Pizzas and Eats, the struggling franchisee of Papa John's, and plans to offload shares to prominent Indian business families or buyout funds. Lodha Capital Markets is learned to have approached suitors with a potential deal in recent weeks. Papa John's India operates around 30 outlets in India across major cities after closing down unviable ones in the recent past. (The Times Of India)
RIL-BP, Torrent, GAIL, Petronet in race for 25% in Mundra LNG terminal: Reliance Industries Ltd ’s joint venture with BP Plc , Torrent Power Ltd , GAIL (India) Ltd and Petronet LNG Ltd are in race to pick up a 25% stake in the proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at Mundra in Gujarat. Gujarat government-owned Gujarat State Petroleum Corp. Ltd (GSPC), which has a 50% stake in the project, had invited expressions of interest for companies willing to pick up stake in the INR 5,000 crore ($915.71 million) project. Adani Enterprises Ltd holds a 25% stake in the project. For 25% stake, GSPC is aiming to raise at least INR 350-400 crore ($64.1 million - $73.25 million). India Gas Solutions, a 50:50 joint venture between RIL and BP, earlier this year signed a non-committal pact with the Gujarat government for studying locations in the state to set up an LNG terminal. (Live Mint)
Ess Dee Aluminium in sale talks with Australian packaging giant Amcor: Aluminium foil maker, Ess Dee Aluminium is in talks with Australian packaging giant Amcor to sell controlling stake in the company. Amcor has offered to buy the company at a valuation of INR 2000 cr ($366.28 million) and the top officials of both the companies are meeting in Singapore today for the negotiations. Intial talks hovered around Amcor rewarding INR 100 cr manufacturing contract to Ess Dee. JPMorgan is the bank working on the deal and there is one more player in the fray, though, Amcor is turning out to be the frontrunner. (The Economic Times)
Shriram Transport Finance plans to raise INR 1k crore: Shriram Transport Finance, the country's largest truck financier, plans to raise INR 25,000 crore ($4.57 billion) debt this fiscal, including INR 1,000 crore ($183.14 million) through nonconvertible debentures this quarter, to meet its lending and redemption requirements. The funds will be used to lend, pay back debt and meet maturities. The planned NCD makes Shriram Transport Finance the first domestic financial services firm to embark on the fund raising route this fiscal. (The Economic Times)
'Motilal Oswal AMC open to partner for foreign biz': Eyeing greater foreign fund inflows, Motilal Oswal Asset Management Company (AMC) might rope in a strategic partner to gain distribution strength in international markets. Motilal Oswal AMC, which runs Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund, is also trying to expand its exchange-traded fund (ETF) product range. Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund manages about INR 538 crore of investor assets across five funds. To attract foreign investors, it plans to leverage the brand value of its parent firm Motilal Oswal, which is present across various segments of the financial services sector. (Business Standard)
Karbonn Mobiles is back in PE market: The home-grown handset maker Karbonn Mobiles is planning to raise money for funding its expansion and new product launches. According to sources in the know, a few PE investors have evinced interest in the home grown mobile company. The company, a joint venture between Delhi-based Jaina Group and Bangalore-based UTL Group, holds less than 5% share in the INR 55,000-crore Indian handset market. Karbonn is looking to raise about INR 250-400 crore ($45.78 million - $73.25 million) at present by diluting about 10-15% stake. The company is looking for a valuation of INR 5,000-6,000 crore, which is almost 3 times of company revenue of about INR 2,000 crore. (Business Standard)
Courtesy: VCCEdge