Spice Mobility Ltd is selling wholly owned subsidiary Omniventures Pvt. Ltd to Delhi-based Emma Innovation & Technology Pvt. Ltd for Rs 1 lakh, according to a stock-exchange disclosure.
Omniventures has two subsidiaries, Hotspot Sales & Solutions Pvt. Ltd and Spice Online Pvt. Ltd. Hotspot runs a multi-brand mobile handset retail business. It operates about 190 stores across the country, according to its annual report. Spice Online operates saholic.com, a shopping portal for mobile phones, tablets, laptops and accessories.
Hotspot is being acquired by its chief financial officer Subhasish Mohanty with support from an unknown private equity firm, The Economic Times reported.
Citing Spice Mobility chairman Dilip Modi, the report said that the company had last year sold a significant stake in the mobile phone business and is now selling the retailing business since these have become non-core areas.
In August 2016, Beijing Digital Telecom Co Ltd had agreed to pick up a 49% stake in Spice Online. In July 2017, Taiwanese chipmaker Mediatek had bought an 8.5% stake in Spice Mobility.
Established in 2005, Hotspot posted revenue of Rs 499.72 crore and a net loss of Rs 15.25 crore in the 10 months ended March 2017, according to its annual report.
Omniventure and its subsidiaries posted total income of Rs 514.73 crore and total loss of Rs 16.17 crore in the year through March 2017, according to the stock-exchange disclosure. It contributed close to 58% of the total consolidated income of Spice Mobility.
Separately, Mint reported that diesel engine maker Cummins Group is in talks to acquire a controlling stake in Kirloskar Oil Engines Ltd.
Citing two people aware of the development, the report said that the deal is valued above $500 million.
“There have been initial rounds of discussions with several potential buyers, including a few global private equity funds, but talks with Cummins are progressing well,†the report cited one person as saying.
Incorporated in 1946, Kirloskar Oil Engines is the flagship company of the Kirloskar group. It makes diesel engines, agricultural pumpsets and electrical generators.
In 2016-17, the consolidated income of the company was Rs 2,963.3 crore and net profit was Rs 173.8 crore.
In another report, Mint said that B9 Beverages Pvt. Ltd, which sells beer under the Bira91 brand, is close to raising $30 million (Rs 200 crore) from private equity funds.
Citing two people familiar with the matter, the report said that TPG Growth, Blackstone Group and US-based investment firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson are looking to invest in B9 Beverages.
Earlier this month, The Economic Times had reported that B9 Beverages had raised Rs 25 crore in debt funding from Chennai-based asset management company Anicut Capital.
VCCircle reported in March that the company had raised Rs 50 crore ($7.7 million) from existing investor Sequoia Capital.
Meanwhile, Bengaluru developer Concorde Group has sold its café business to entrepreneurs Vijay Sreedhar and Visakh Viswambharan for an undisclosed amount, Mint reported.
Incorporated in 2008, Concorde Cuppa Beverages Pvt. Ltd runs a chain of cafes under the brand Cuppa. The company opened its first outlet in 2009.
Sreedhar will take over as the new chief executive of the cafe chain, the report added.
In 2015-16, the company’s total income was Rs 2.42 crore and net loss was Rs 67.2 lakh, according to VCCEdge, the data research platform of VCCircle.
In a separate report, Mint said Visakhapatnam-based shrimp exporter Devi Seafoods Ltd is in talks to hire investment banks for a planned initial public offering.
“The company plans to raise up to Rs 1,000 crore through the proposed IPO, which they are eyeing in 2018,†the report cited one person as saying.
The IPO could be a mix of primary and secondary sale of shares, according to the report.
The company’s core business is processing and export of frozen and ready to cook or eat seafood products.
In 2015-16, the company’s consolidated income was Rs 1,085.6 crore and net profit was Rs 52.96 crore, according to VCCEdge.
