PFC To Launch $1B Power Sector Fund - The board of directors of Power Finance Corporation Ltd (PFC) has given an approval to a proposal to launch private equity fund for the power sector with a target of the total fund size of $1 billion (approx. Rs 4,948 crore). PFC will issue tenders for choosing a partner to the PE fund. Initially, the fund size is likely to be kept at around $300 million. (Business Standard)
Srini Raju, Saif Partners To Sell TV9 Stake - Serial entrepreneur Srini Raju promoted iLabs Capital and private equity firm SAIF Partners have struck a deal to offload their 80% stake in Hyderabad-based Associated Broadcasting Company Pvt Ltd (ABCL), which runs the TV9 chain of regional news channels, to a national media house and a US fund in a deal estimated at over Rs 500 crore. The new investors will be picking up a controlling stake in ABCL and plan to expand the broadcasting company into the regional GEC (general entertainment channel) space. (Times of India)
IDFC Plans Distress PE Fund For Power Sector - Infrastructure Development Finance Co (IDFC), the top lender to building roads and utilities, plans to launch a private equity fund next fiscal as it sees investment opportunities after the stress in the system plays out due to troubles in the power sector. The size of the fund will depend on the market conditions nine months hence. (Economic Times)
Japan Tobacco To Close India Ops - Confronted with a stringent FDI regime in tobacco, the world’s third largest publicly traded tobacco company, Japan Tobacco Inc, is closing its joint venture in India from December 31. Japan Tobacco has 50 per cent stake in JT International Indian Pvt Ltd jointly with a Mumbai-based partner. The company has closed its Hyderabad factory and sold most of the machinery. (Business Standard)
Eleven I-Bankers In Fray For HAL IPO - The Department of Disinvestment (DoD) expects to pick the four lead managers in the next week or ten days to run defence enterprise HAL's disinvestment process. Eleven merchant bankers — including Goldman Sachs (India) Securities, Barclays Securities (India), SBI Capital Markets, Enam Securities, Edelweiss Financial Services, Morgan Stanley and Kotak Investment Banking — are in the fray after submitting their bids until Tuesday evening. (Business Line)
Religare, KRC To Start Regional Airline - The financial services group Religare and KRC, a Noidabased group, will start operatiing a regional airline in the next few months linking the important cities in northern India. Religare Voyages, the aviation arm of Religare, got a no objection certificate (NOC) from the ministry of civil aviation about two weeks ago and plans to start operations in four months with 17-seater Beechcraft 1900D aircraft. (Economic Times)
