Wonderla Holidays, the amusement park operator owned by promoters of electrical goods maker V Guard Industries, will file draft documents for its proposed initial public offering by March. The company has appointed investment banks ICICI Securities and Edelweiss to raise the INR 500 crore ($93 million) through the pre and post public offer. The company is looking at an IPO and a pre-IPO placement to raise upto INR 500 crore, valuing the company at around INR 1300 crore. The promoters would dilute up to 25% stake in the company during the pre-IPO and IPO issue. (The Economic Times)
Farnair to hike stake in Tata-funded Quikjet: The meeting of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board next month won’t just take up Air Asia’s proposal of a maiden foreign direct investment (FDI) by an airline in a domestic passenger airline being co-promoted by the Tatas. It would also discuss a proposal from Farnair Switzerland AG to hike its investment in Quikjet Cargo Airlines, where the Tatas are co-investors. While foreign airlines were allowed only in September last year to acquire up to 49% stake in local carriers, they have been permitted since 2008 to buy up to 74% in cargo airlines. Quikjet was formed in 2007, promoted by AFL Pvt. Ltd. along with Cardinal Aviation Pte Ltd, a private equity based out of Singapore. (DNA)
Lanco Seeks Investors to Boost Solar Capacity: Lanco Infratech Ltd. (LANCI), is seeking private- equity investors to help expand its solar capacity fivefold as a coal shortage roils its thermal business and payment defaults by state utilities widen the group’s losses. Lanco needs funds to meet a plan of adding 500 megawatts annually in three years, with 350 megawatts to be built for customers and the rest coming from its own plants. A plan announced last year by the Lanco group to raise $750 million selling stake in its conventional power unit to private- equity funds has stalled amid losses that have surged nine times in the first three quarters of the financial year. (Bloomberg)
NTPC sets coupon to raise 3 bn rupees via bonds: NTPC Ltd. is looking to raise INR 300 crore ($55.35 million) through issue of 10-year bonds at 8.73%. Barclays, Darashaw, HDFC Life, IDFC, SBI Life and Yes Bank are the investors in the deal. NTPC would use part of the proceeds to finance capacity addition, coal mining projects, and refinance debt. The issue is rated "AAA" by Crisil, ICRA and Care. The pay-in date for the issuance is March 2.
Corus asset sale to lift Tata Steel earnings: Tata Steel Ltd is looking at the option of selling a part or all of the assets of Corus, its European arm, which could provide increased support to its stock this year. In a report to its institutional clients, CLSA says the FY15 earnings of Tata Steel could see a 30-150 per cent jump, depending on which Corus assets are sold, while equity value could rise by $1.5-3.1 billion or INR 85-180 a share for Tata Steel. In 2007, Tata Steel had taken over Corus for close to $12 billion in an all-cash transaction. (Business Standard)
Medfort Hospitals plans for next fund raise: Medfort Hospitals, which specializes in eye care and diabetes care, is squaring up for its next significant round of private equity fund infusion. The company is in discussions to raise as much as $30 million (INR 162 crore) through the private equity route. Medfort Hospitals had earlier seen two rounds of private equity infusion from TVS Shriram Growth Fund and ePlanet Ventures. (Business Standard)
NCC to exit power projects to bring down debt: Hyderabad-based NCC Ltd. has decided to exit the two joint venture power projects at a time when the infrastructure company is getting back to 15% growth after seeing the bottom with 3% last year. It has already brought down its debt to INR 2,500 crore from the earlier INR 2,700 crore and is looking at further pruning it to INR 2,300 crore. NCC and IL&FS hold 67% and 33% in the special purpose vehicle respectively and together would sell 100% interest in this project to the company that would operate the plant after acquisition. The second project the company wants to exit is the 1,320-Mw coal fired project at Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. NCC and Gayatri Project Ltd hold 55% and 45% equity respectively in this. (Business Standard)
Banks, Electrosteel in talks to tie up funds for steel project: A State Bank of India-led lender group is in talks with Kolkata-based Electrosteel Steels Ltd (ESL) to tie up funds for its steel project in Jharkhand which has seen delay in commissioning of its operations. Beside SBI, the other bankers to the company are Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Allahabad Bank and Central Bank of India. The lenders have exposure for a little over INR 7,500 crore ($1.39 billion). (Business Standard)
Pine Labs may look for series-B funding: Sequoia Capital backed Pine Labs, which provides payment, loyalty and retail automation systems, may look for a series-B funding. However, Sequoia Capital, which picked up a majority stake in Pine Labs in 2009, is likely to remain a “principal investor†in the company. New Atlantic Ventures had also invested in Pine Labs in 2009. (Business Standard)
Hotel Leela to sell part stake in Chennai, Bengaluru assets: After selling its IT park in Chennai last week for INR 170 crore to Reliance Industries Ltd , Debt-laden Hotel Leela Venture is now aiming to pare it debt by INR 2,200 crore by 2013-14 end with sale of its non-core assets and luxury hotel projects. The company is all set to sell part of its stake in Chennai and Bengaluru luxury projects. The company has already started the process of finding partners and expects to complete procedures within three-four month from now. The properties would be a joint venture (JV) with investor and could continue to operate the property in our name and on the long-term management contract. In the similar way, Hotel Leela had earlier sold its luxury hotel Leela Kovalam to Travancore Enterprises, owned by Dr B. Ravindran Pillai, for INR 500 crore. Currently, the company has a total debt of INR 4,750 crore ($879.61 million). (Moneycontrol.com)
Uttam Galva plans QIP to raise working capital for Lloyds Steel: Uttam Galva Steels Ltd, which is in process of raising working capital for the ailing Lloyds Steel, plans to raise funds through a qualified institutional placement. The company plans to raise INR 1,500 crore – INR 2,000 crore ($277.77 million - $370.36 million) working capital for the acquired company. The Uttam Galva Group, promoted by the Miglani family, had acquired 58.35% stake in Lloyds Steel last year. The company is also in talks with strategic investors to come on board Lloyds Steel. The acquisition was done by the Miglani family through two companies—Ultimate Logistics Solutions Pvt Ltd and Metallurgical Engineering and Equipments Ltd. (Business Standard)
Courtesy: VCCEdge
