Global private equity fund Warburg Pincus will purchase as much as a fourth of Hyderabad-based drug ingredient maker Laurus Labs for $125-150 million (Rs 700-800 crore), three people with direct knowledge of the deal said. The fund, which has invested more than $1 billion in India until now, is awaiting regulatory clearances, these people said. "Warburg Pincus has agreed to purchase up to 25% stake in Laurus and its present investor PE fund, Fidelity, might exit through this transaction," a person with direct knowledge of the development said. Fidelity Growth Partners invested Rs 200 crore in 2012. Investment bank Jefferies advised the company on the fund raising. The company will use the funds to build two more factories besides the existing one in Visakhapatnam to boost its capacity to 1.4 million litres from 800,000 litres. (The Economic Times)
Bharat Business Channel Limited, Videocon's DTH arm to float IPO any time: Bharat Business Channel Limited, the DTH arm of Videocon group, would come with an initial public offer any time, a top official of the company said. Dhoot said `Videocon d2H' was the largest DTH service provider in the country with a market share of 22%. Recently, the group sold ten per cent stake in Mozambique gas field to ONGC-OIL at a realisation of Rs 15,000 crore, which it would use to pare debt. Regarding appliances business, Dhoot said it was enjoying 30% share in the domestic market. (The Economic Times)
Vodafone Group may sell stake in Bharti Airtel to comply with rules: UK-based Vodafone Group will sell its 4.4% stake in Bharti Airtel Ltd if rules no longer permit telecom operators to keep share in competitors, a top executive of Vodafone India said. In a letter to the telecom ministry last year, Vodafone had said it holds 4.4% stake indirectly in Bharti. Vodafone has to sell its entire stake in Bharti Airtel following new norms issued by government that bars a telecom operator from holding any kind of stake in competition under unified licences. Vodafone and Bharti Airtel currently operate on Unified Access Service Licence (UASL), or 2G licences, under which telecom companies are permitted to hold up to 9.9% stake in other firms. (Live Mint)
HDIL to sell land parcels in Mumbai, Hyderabad to partly repay debt: Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL) plans to raise up to Rs 1,800 crore ($308 million) this fiscal by selling stakes in some of its assets to partly repay its debt of around Rs 600-700 crore ($103 million - $120 million) in FY15. The realty firm wants to sell off its 100-acre land parcel in Hyderabad and some of its commercial projects in Mumbai this fiscal. Pandey said there are 3-4 commercial properties in Mumbai, where HDIL has a significant stake, and which it plans to dispose this year and focus only on residential projects in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Sale of these properties could fetch Rs 1,000-1200 crore ($171 million - $205 million). (Live Mint)
Centre may reduce holding in KIOCL; to cut stake to 51% : In a presentation for the Cabinet Secretary, the ministry suggested that the new government should bring down stakes in steel PSUs to 51% and utilise the proceeds for development. Steel Authority of India (SAIL), Rashtriya Ispat Nigam (RINL), iron ore miner NMDC Ltd, manganese ore producer MOIL Ltd and pellet maker KIOCL Ltd are the major PSUs under the administrative control of the Steel Ministry. Government has 80 per cent stake each in SAIL, NMDC and MOIL. RINL and KIOCL are yet to be listed. (Business Standard)
HAL to hit market during H2 FY'15; DRHP by Sept: The disinvestment department is working on launching the equity sale of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) in the second half of the present fiscal, which will be the first IPO of a state-owned firm after a gap of at least two-and-a-half years. We plan to file it with SEBI by September,†a government official said. The initial share sale offer to offload 10% stake in the state-run defence equipment maker is expected to hit the markets only in the second half of the present fiscal-ending March, 2015. In November 2012, the Cabinet had approved offloading a 10% stake or 12 million equity shares in HAL through an IPO. The government has already appointed four merchant bankers SBI Cap, Goldman Sachs, Barclays and Axis Capital for managing the HAL stake sale. (Business Standard)
SBI to tap capital markets if loan growth improves: State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest bank, might hit the capital market if loan growth exceeds 15%. Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya said on Friday that with the new government in power, in the next few months the capital markets should open up and the working capital cycle was expected to shorten. The bank would go for either a rights issue or a follow-on offer, after discussions with the government, she added. Meanwhile, the bank has put the merger plans of associate banks on the back burner. Instead it will focus on streamlining of personnel issues, she said. In the past year, SBI’s staff expenses rose nearly 22%. (Business Standard)
Courtesy: VCCEdge