Warburg eyes CAMS; Tata Teleservices may offer stake in tower firm to ATC

By Keshav Sunkara

  • 04 Dec 2017
Credit: Thinkstock

Private equity major Warburg Pincus has joined the fray to acquire mutual fund transfer agent Computer Age Management Services Pvt. Ltd (CAMS), The Times of India reported citing people aware of the development.

PE firm True North has joined hands with Switzerland-based global private markets investment manager Partners Group to bid for Chennai-based CAMS at a valuation of about Rs 3,400 crore ($528 million), the report said. US-based TA Associates has also shown interest.

Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India is currently reviewing private equity ownership of market infrastructure institutions, it added.

As on March 2017, promoter group Acsys Investment Pvt. Ltd held 31.83%, NSE Strategic Investment Corporation Ltd had 45%, and HDFC Group held 23.17% in CAMS, according to VCCEdge, the data research arm of VCCircle.

The company’s total income was Rs 502.6 crore and profit after tax stood at Rs 127.1 crore in the year through March 2017.

In another development, Tata Teleservices Ltd is looking to offer its 26% stake in joint venture ATC Telecom Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd to controlling shareholder American Tower Corporation for not honouring telecom infrastructure commitments, The Economic Times reported citing two people aware of the development.

The value of the stake is around Rs 5,000 crore and penalty for early termination may be as much as Rs 7,000 crore, the report added.

The development comes following Tata Teleservices' exit from the consumer telecom business.

Tata Teleservices is discontinuing around 30,000 tower tenancies with ATC India and its unit Viom Networks, about half of what its network used, the report cited an executive as saying.

ATC expects to fully enforce the average non-cancelable remaining contract terms on the leases with Tata Teleservices as well as the other contractual provisions included in the Viom transaction, it had said in a statement in October.

In October 2015, ATC had acquired 51% in Viom for Rs 7,635 crore ($1.2 billion) in cash. ATC holds a 51% controlling interest in the tower infrastructure company while Tata Teleservices and Tata Sons Ltd hold 33% and 2%, respectively.

Zee Learn Ltd, the education arm of media baron Subhash Chandra’s Essel Group, is looking to acquire a controlling stake in education services firm MT Educare Ltd, The Economic Times reported.

Zee Learn will initially buy out the promoters, and follow it up with an open offer for a 20% stake, the report added.

As on September 2017, the promoter group held a 42.78% stake in the company.

MT Educare, which was listed on the stock exchanges in April 2012, caters to students from class IX to those appearing for engineering and medical entrance exams, chartered accountancy and business administration. In 2016-17, the company’s total income was Rs 312.5 crore and net profit was Rs 17.1 crore.