Schneider, Eaton In Fray L&T's Electricals Biz - As part of a restructuring plan, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has decided to sell its electricals and electronics division. The Rs 45,000-crore engineering company is in talks with Schneider Electric of France and Eaton Corporation of the US. L&T expects to get Rs 11,500 crore for the division which makes switches, switch boards and switch gears, circuit breakers, control and automation systems, meters, relays and traffic management systems. The business has annual sales of Rs 3,700 crore and contributes 7% to L&T’s turnover. (Business Standard)
IDG, Walden, Sequoia In Talks To Invest In Happiest Minds - Several investors, who backed veteran IT leader Ashok Soota in his earlier venture, Mind-Tree, are now in talks with him for investment in Happiest Minds Technologies, the firm he launched recently. Potential investors include Sudhir Sethi, who was head of Walden India International when it invested in Mindtree and is now founder and chairman of early stage venture capital firm, IDG Ventures India, Walden India, Sequoia and one or two other venture capital firms. Happiest Minds could raise up to $45 million in funding by divesting around 15%- 20% to financial investors. (Economic Times)
IL&FS Milestone Buys Bangalore Property - IL&FS Milestone Fund, promoted by IL&FS Investment Managers and Mumbai-based Milestone Capital Advisors, has invested around Rs 100 crore in a commercial property in Bangalore. The fund house, with a corpus of Rs 3,500 crore across three funds, has invested around Rs 100 crore to acquire the property in Electronics City in Bangalore. It has been rented out to an IT company, CGI, as part of the leasing arrangement. The total area of the commercial building is 181,161 sft and has been acquired from a local developer. (Business Standard)
ICVL Eyes Two Australian Mines - International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd (ICVL), a PSU joint venture, has identified two coking coal properties in Australia for a possible buyout. ICVL is a consortium promoted by top public sector entities such as SAIL, NMDC, Coal India Ltd, RINL and NTPC to secure overseas coal assets — both thermal and coking coal. The PSU joint venture has been aggressively scouting for overseas buys to secure mineral assets for its stakeholders. (BusinessLine)
Aditya Birla Buys Kanoria Unit For Rs 830Cr - Kolkata-based Kanoria Chemicals, a leader in chemical intermediates, has sold its chlor alkali business to Aditya Birla Group for Rs 830 crore in an all-cash deal. With this, Aditya Birla Chemicals’ caustic soda capacity doubles to 220,000 tonnes a year with market share in chlor alkali reaching 22%. Kanoria will use the funds to expand its existing business and explore new related businesses. The division, located at Renukoot in Uttar Pradesh, clocked revenues of Rs 303 crore and profit before tax of Rs 47 crore in 2009-10. (Business Standard)
Abhijeet Power Plans Rs 1500Cr IPO - Abhijeet Power, the company which is part of the Nagpur-based metal and mining group, will soon file its draft red herring prospectus with market regulator Sebi. The company is looking to raise Rs 1,200-1,500 crore through a public issue. The firm also plans to raise around Rs 200-500 crore from private equity players through a pre-IPO placement. The company is developing a 1,080 megawatts power project in Jharkhand with a total investment of Rs 5,900 crore and the first phase is expected to be operational in 2012. It is also developing another 60 Mw plant in Saraikela in Jharkhand, along with its steel plant. (Business Standard)