Global private equity firm KKR is likely to acquire a majority stake in Avantha Power and Infrastructure Ltd, a Gautam Thapar-controlled independent power producer that's close to completing two thermal power plants of 660 mw each located in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. The PE firm has entered into an understanding to infuse $110 million (Rs 650 crore) in the company. After the fresh round of funding, KKR's economic interest in APIL will be about 55%, said two persons familiar with the development. KKR's economic interest in APIL will be about 55%, said two persons familiar with the development. KKR had already invested $125 million in Avantha Power in the last two rounds $50 million in 2010 and $75 million in 2011, giving it a 19% stake. (The Economic Times)
Manipal group scion Ranjan Pai and former Infosys director Mohandas Pai to launch new funds worth $200M: Manipal group scion Ranjan Pai and former Infosys director Mohandas Pai are launching two new funds and extending their influence in India's risk capital industry where they have now backed a total of seven investment firms. In the next two months, the two expect to close a $200 million (Rs 1,200 crore) fund which will invest in listed stocks. They will together commit up to $25 million (Rs 148 crore) in the as- yet unnamed fund, while the rest of the money will be raised from both local and overseas investors in Europe and the United States. The second, a derivatives fund will have a corpus of about Rs 20 crore ($3.37 million) and will for now, be fully backed by friends and family of the Pais, who are not related to each other. (The Economic Times)
US telecom carrier AT&T may get government's nod to raise stake to 98.67% in Indian arm: The government is likely to allow US telecom carrier AT&T Inc to raise stake in its Indian unit to 98.67% and not 100% owing to gaps in its recent application to fully own its local arm. The US carrier, which runs international and national long distance telecom operations and internet services in India, has recently sought government approval to raise stake in its local subsidiary, AT&T Global Networks Services India Pvt Ltd, to 100%. At present, AT&T Inc and its subsidiaries, including AT&T Global Network Holdings LLC, hold 74% in AT&T Global Networks Services India, while the balance 26% is held by Mahindra Telecommunications Investment Pvt. Ltd. (The Economic Times)
CVC, KKR said to mull $6.8 billion Holcim-Lafarge assets bid: CVC Capital Partners and KKR & Co are considering bids for units to be sold by cement makers Holcim Ltd. and Lafarge SA to win regulatory approval for their planned Euro 29 billion ($40 billion) merger, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The two buyout firms have met with investment banks in the past month to discuss potential offers for the assets, which may fetch more than $6.8 billion (Rs 40,289 crore), said the people. Holcim and Lafarge, which announced their merger plan in April, are working on a list of cement and building-aggregate plants to be sold in order to make a goal of merging in the first half of next year. (Business Standard)
Baba Kalyani-led BF Utilities set to raise Rs 500 cr for B'lore-Mysore road: Baba Kalyani-led BF Utilities, the publicly-held company which is executing the Rs 6,000 crore ($1.01 billion) Bangalore - Mysore expressway project, is set to raise Rs 500 crore ($84.27 million) through the equity route. The company is looking to raise this sum to fund the completion of the first phase of the expressway which has been in the works for nearly two decades due to scores of land acquisition issues. In addition to completion of the 12 kilometres of the expressway under the first phase, BF Utilities is also expected to deploy the fresh resources to start development of the township along the expressway, as and when the courts clear the compensation play to the land holders. BF Utilities is likely to tap the QIP route for this fund raise and this transaction will most probably proceed parallely with a planned move to merge an SPV (special purpose vehicle) executing the project under BF Utilities. (Business Standard)
HealthStart to pick 8 start-ups for accelerator programme at ISB: HealthStart, an accelerator programme focussed on start-ups in the healthcare sector, plans to incubate up to eight start-ups through a five-month programme at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. It has invited applications from healthcare start-ups and will finalise the list of companies before the end of this month, according to Pradeep K Jaisingh, Chairman, HealthStart. According to Jaisingh, HealthStart is looking to select between five and eight start-ups for the programme at the ISB. HealthStart will invest up to Rs 20 lakh in each company. At the end of the five-month programme, the start-ups will be prepared for the next round of funding. (Business Line)
Courtesy: VCCEdge
