Realty firm Hiranandani has offered to buy out its London AIM-listed investment arm Hirco Plc. The company has offered to buy out Hirco for 55 million pounds (INR 460 crore). Hirco was started in London in 2006 as the investment arm of the Hiranandani Group with an aim to co-invest in large scale mixed- use township developments in suburban locations. This is the second time that the city-based group has offered to buy out the company. Hiranandani had made an offer of 100 million pounds to shareholders, which was rejected by the board last year. (The Times Of India)
Cremica set for stake sale post family rejig: A big stake sale is in the offing at Cremica Group, following a family settlement at the Punjab-based maker of biscuits and ice-creams. The diversified group is also a supplier of sandwiches and ketchup to fast food chains like Cafe Coffee Day, McDonald's and Domino's Pizza. Cremica, owner of the Mrs Bector's brand, could see existing investor Motilal Oswal Private Equity Advisors and one of the promoter shareholders selling about a 45% stake later this year, in a deal valuing the company at about INR 750 crore ($150 million). Motilal Oswal PE, which owns a 22% stake in Cremica, along with Ajay Bector, is exploring a stake sale to either financial or strategic bidders. (The Times Of India)
Dainik Bhaskar’s power arm Diliigent Power in talks for INR 800 crore PE funding: Dainik Bhaskar Group's power generation arm, Diliigent Power, is in talks with leading private equity players to raise around INR 800 crore ($150.4 million) to fund its thermal power projects. The company is in talks with various PE players, including Actis, Khazanah, JP Morgan, Carlyle and IDFC to raise money to finance its power projects. The company has appointed investment bank Avendus to help it raise the money. (The Economic Times)
Macquarie Capital to raise $1.1 billion, may invest in infrastructure: Macquarie Capital is raising a $1.1-billion (INR 5,800 crore) fund to invest part of the money in India's infrastructure. Macquarie, which is a part of the Macquarie Group that manages $353 billion in assets, partnered India's largest lender, State Bank of India, in two previous funds with a combined corpus of over $3 billion. The new Macquarie fund is expected to be registered in Singapore, and will closely consider investment opportunities in Sri Lanka and South East Asia apart from India. (The Economic Times)
Future Ventures eyes small kirana chains: Future Ventures India Ltd, the investment arm of Kishore Biyani’s Future Group, is looking to buy food and grocery retailers to expand its presence in the neighbourhood supermarket and convenience store format. In September, the company had bought Express Retail Services Pvt. Ltd, which owned the Big Apple stores, for INR 61.35 crore. (Live Mint)
Zensar Tech eyeing acquisitions in USD 30-40 million space: Software services provider Zensar Technologies Ltd., is scouting for acquisitions in the $30-40 million range and a deal is likely to be done in 2013-14. The company has appointed two investment bankers looking for companies in SAP and IM (infrastructure management). The firm has evaluated some 7-8 companies, not really found it to be a perfect match. Apart from looking at acquisitions, Zensar is also looking at expanding its own operations here in India and overseas. (Moneycontrol.com)
Courtesy: VCCEdge