Century Real Estate To Raise Rs 700Cr PE Funding - Century Real Estate Holdings, the realty development arm of three-decade old Bangalore-based Century Group, is looking to raise Rs 700 crore through private equity players in three tranches. The company is effecting this deal at the holding company level. Century Real Estate raised around $200 million from Goldman Sachs during the recession of 2008-09, is beefing up its land asset base in the development holding arm to cross the 1,500 acre mark to raise additional funding. (Business Standard)
HC Stays Vishal Retail Sale - A Delhi court has again stayed the sale of debt-laden Vishal Retail to private equity fund TPG and Chennai-based Shriram Group following LIC Mutual Fund’s plea. Delhi High Court asked the discount retailer not to dispose of its assets till a settlement is reached. LIC MF, which has an exposure of close to Rs 100 crore in the chain, had slapped a legal notice soon after Deutsche Bank obtained a court order restraining the retailer from selling its business in September last year. Vishal has unpaid debt of Rs 730 crore as of September 2010. (Economic Times)
Sistema Shyam Open To Merger - A strategic merger with one of India's top seven telecom operators could be on the cards for Sistema Shyam Teleservices provided it gets a say at the management level. The company is a joint venture between Russian conglomerate Sistema and Shyam Teleservices of India. Sistema Shyam offers services under the brand MTS. (Economic Times)
Spice Global May Raise $1B On Singapore Exchange - After scrapping its plans to get listed on the Dubai bourse in 2009, BK Modi-led Spice Global, the Singapore-based holding company, might look to raise up to $1 billion on the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) this calendar year. The funding is expected to be used for telecom-related acquisitions in Africa and West Asia. Spice Global, the group holding company that covers Spice Mobility, Spice Enfotainment, Spice Investment and Finance Advisors and Spice Innovative Technologies, has a substantial presence in India, especially in mobile telephony. (Business Standard)
Reasoning Global To Raise $12M - Reasoning Global eApplications , a start-up firm that builds software for retail operations, will raise $12 million in a second round of fund raising to expand its product portfolio and market reach. This is the second round of funding for the company that first raised early stage capital of $2.5 million from high networth individuals. The Hyderabad-based start-up has built e-commerce solutions for a host of clients including consumer goods major Godrej, Videocon and Geetanjali Jewellers. (Economic Times)
Air France-KLM Buys 26% In Max Aerospace - The Air France-KLM combine recently picked up a 26% stake in a Mumbai-based firm, Max Aerospace and will soon launch a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility for aircraft components in India. The European giant, which has become one of the first international airlines to invest in a MRO here will offer spare parts required by Indian carriers in the country itself. (Times of India)
VeriSign's Shekhar Kirani Joins Accel Partners - Shekhar Kirani, who led the Indian operations of VeriSign Inc, has joined global venture investment firm Accel Partners. Kirani, who worked with the global internet infrastructure security company, has taken over as Venture Partner at Accel’s early stage fund. His role will be to drive operational strategy and reduce the cycle time for portfolio companies across sectors. Kirani has also been an active angel investor over the past three years with direct investments in start-ups like social media firm 360BuzzAds and Valgen Business Solutions. (Economic Times)
