Gaming arcade operator Smaaash Entertainment Pvt. Ltd has raised Rs 280 crore (about $44 million) for overseas expansion and acquisitions, Mint reported, citing two people aware of the development.
Non-banking finance company ECL Finance invested Rs 258 crore through debt while Smaaash founders made equity investments of Rs 22 crore, the report cited one person as saying.
ECL Finance is part of financial services provider Edelweiss Group.
Smaaash is backed by cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and sports investment fund FidelisWorld. In April, VCCircle had reported that Smaaash had hired Axis Capital Ltd and Edelweiss Financial Services Ltd to manage its proposed initial public offering.
Set up in 2009, Smaaash owns and operates sports-centric digital entertainment centres for cricket, football, racing, bowling and other recreational activities.
In May 2014, FidelisWorld bought a 39% stake in the company for $10.8 million. In August this year, the company agreed to acquire multiplex chain PVR Ltd’s bowling joint-venture BluO Entertainment Ltd for Rs 86 crore ($13.5 million) in cash.
In another report, The Times of India said that Singapore-based Mandala Capital has acquired an about 15% stake in Keventer Agro Ltd for $25 million (Rs 165-170 crore). The deal gives Keventer Agro an enterprise valuation of around Rs 1,200 crore.
The report said that Keventer Agro managing director Mayank Jain confirmed the development but didn’t divulge details.
Mandala’s portfolio in India includes Jain Irrigation, Jain Farm Fresh, Efrac, SAFL, Arcadia and Gati Kausar.
In January, VCCircle had reported that Mandala Capital was putting in around Rs 150 crore in Keventer Agro, the food processing arm of the Kolkata-based Keventer Group, for a significant minority stake.
Keventer Group has two other business verticals—steel and real estate—but food processing is its flagship business. Keventer Agro, which works on a farm-to-fork business model, offers processed foods, snacks and fast foods, milk and dairy products, fresh fruits, pulps and juices.
