Private Equity Fund Investments

Chinese firm Tencent leads $90-M Series C investment in Practo

Business Standard

Practo, a scheduling service for doctors, has closed $90 million (INR 574 crore) in Series-C funding led by Chinese online services company Tencent, which owns WeChat, a WhatsApp competitor. Other investors include Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, Belgian investment firm Sofina, Google Capital, Sequoia Capital Global Equities, Altimeter Capital, and existing investors Sequoia Capital India and Matrix Partners India. Practo has raised $125 million so far and the current investment values the company at about $500 million.

Practo offers a service that allows patients to fix appointments with doctors, as well as build a software platform to digitise their records. It claims to have enrolled nearly 200,000 practitioners, with a little over 10 million monthly searches by consumers. Practo has about 5,000 diagnostic centres and 8,000 hospitals on its platform. Currently, Practo has presence in India, Singapore, and the Philippines. Over the next six months, Practo will expand its product lines and continue to look for acquisitions of companies, especially in pharmaceuticals. It plans to expand from the current 35 Indian cities and three countries to 100 Indian cities and 10 countries across Southeast Asia, Latin America, West Asia, and Eastern Europe.

Sixth Sense, Inflexion, others to invest in NDTV’s gadgets, autos focused e-comm venture

Publicly listed NDTV has raised funding at a combined valuation close to $80 million for its new e-commerce ventures in Gadgets (Gadgets 360°, valued at $50-M) and Car & Bike (Fifth Gear Auto, valued at $30-M). The investors include: Sixth Sense Ventures (Founded by Nikhil Vora), Inflexionpoint (Co-founded by John Sculley, former Apple CEO), Hiro Mashita (Founder and Director of M&S Partners), Pramod Bhasin (Former CEO, Genpact), Vindi Banga (Former Chairman, Unilever), and other HNIs. The funds were raised by Avendus Wealth Management.

Gadgets 360° will provide a curated marketplace for exclusive launches of mobile phones and other electronic gadgets. Gadgets 360° (currently known as NDTV Gadgets) is India’s most viewed gadgets portal with over 20 million unique visitors every month. The other property Fifth Gear Auto is a new auto portal leveraging the following of NDTVs car and bike programming.

Ascendas India acquires Hyd IT Park for Rs 294-Cr

Economic Times

Ascendas India Trust (a-iTrust), an Indian property trust managed by Singapore-based Ascendas Property Fund Trustee, has acquired aVance3 business hub, an IT building housing large multinationals with a total floor area of nearly 6.83 lakh square feet in Hyderabad for S$63million (Rs 294 crore). Key anchor tenants of aVance3 include multinational corporations such as United Healthcare group and Value Labs.

aVance3 is the third building that the Trust acquired from the vendor, Phoenix Infocity, after acquiring in February 2012 aVance1 and aVance2, together spread over 4.22 lakh sft.

Social+Capital, Helion lead Rs 150-Cr investment in mobile POS device maker Ezetap

Mint

Bangalore-based mobile card payments firm Ezetap Mobile Solutions Pvt. Ltd has raised Rs.150 crore from existing investors US-based Social+Capital, Helion Ventures and Berggruen Holdings. Horizons Ventures, the private investment arm of Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing, and Capricorn Investment Group also joined this round of funding. Ezetap, which makes mobile point of sale (POS) devices and uses a pay-as-you-go monthly transaction-based pricing model, plans to use the funds to expand its team and increase the number of POS devices it deploys across India from 60,000 to 200,000 in the next year.

In February 2014, Ezetap raised $8 million in a funding round led by Helion Ventures, Social+Capital, and Berggruen Holdings. It raised $3.5 million in November 2012 and an undisclosed amount from American Express in March 2014.

Zodius, Atul Nishar invest $20-M in Prashant Kamat’s firm

Economic Times

Former Mahindra group executive Prashant Kamat has attracted close to $20 million for an engineering services venture he is starting, from IT industry veteran Atul Nishar and Zodius Capital which is leading the investment.

WestBridge buys addl CEAT shares worth Rs.129-Cr

WestBridge, through WestBridge Crossover Fund, has bought 1,421,375 shares at an avg. price of  INR 907.94 per share of publicly listed tyre manufacturing firm CEAT Ltd. aggregating to
INR 129.05 Cr on Jul 31, 2015. This constituted 3.51% of total outstanding shares of CEAT Ltd. Post-deal the investor would hold 5.64% stake (2,281,337 shares) in the target.

Konark Capital invests Rs.50-Cr for 20.24% in diagnostic equipment firm Agappe

Times of India

Konark Capital has acquired a 20.24% stake in Kochi-based Agappe Diagnostics Ltd (ADL) for INR 50 crore, through its investment fund Sycamore Holdings Mauritius. Founded two decades ago, ADL is a player in in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) business. The company will use the funds to expand its production facility and product portfolio. Chennai-based Veda Corporate Advisors advised ADL on the deal.

ADL is setting up its second plant near Kochi at a cost of INR 20 crore. The 40,000-sq ft plant is due for starting production by October. ADL also plans to enter the European market. In FY 2016, ADL targets a revenue of Rs 135 crore, compared to Rs 93.5 crore in FY15. The company has an employee strength of 400.

Sequoia, Accel invest $8-M in user ad messaging firm WizRocket

NextBigWhat

Targeted ad messaging firm WizRocket has raised $8 million in new funding from Sequoia Capital and existing investor Accel India. WizRocket enables brands to develop a relevant and targeted dialogue with their customers. The new funding follows an initial $1.6 M seed round led by Accel Partners.

Helion leads $3-M round for home services firm Doormint

Economic Times

Home services platform Doormint has raised $3 million in Series A round led by Helion Venture Partners with participation from Kalaari Capital. This follows its seed round from Powai Lake Ventures announced in April 2015. The funding will be used to deepen the startup's reach in Mumbai and fuel its expansion into Delhi, Gurgaon, and Bangalore in the next three months, as well as strengthen its team. The company offers its partner providers with uniforms, mobile devices, and skills training programmes.

Frontier invests Rs.15-Cr in retail lender Neogrowth

Economic Times

NeoGrowth Credit, a Mumbai-based financial technology company, has raised INR 15 crore from Frontier Investments Group as a top up to its third round of funding. This takes the funds raised in the round to INR 45 crore. The third round was led by Khosla Impact and saw participation of existing investors - Omidyar Network and Aspada Investment. NeoGrowth has so far raised INR 96 crore.

The company will use the funds raised to invest in building an additional layer on the existing platform that will allow 100% customer self-service, more sophisticated underwriting scorecards, automated loan approval and a fully-integrated marketing and lead generation engine. The company will also use the capital for digital marketing and branding activities.

SIDBI Ventures to invest Rs.15-Cr in analytics firm Pragmatix Services

From the Venture Intelligence PE/VC Deal Database: SIDBI Ventures is to invest INR 15 crore in Mumbai-based data analytics services firm Pragmatix Services across two tranches. Amit Paul, Vice President, SIDBI Ventures has joined the board of the target company. (Subscribers to the database can login to view the valuation, deal structuring and other transaction details.)

Japan’s Rebright leads $1.3 M investment in logistics tech firm Letstransport

Techstory.in

Letstransport, a Bangalore-based techno-logistics start-up, has raised $ 1.3 million in a funding round led by Singapore-based Japanese venture capital firm Rebright Partners. Serial Entrepreneurs Ankush Nijhawan, Gaurav Bhatnagar and Manish Dhingra also participated in the round. LetsTransport enables solutions for last mile logistics.

Orios leads $1.3 M investment in hyperlocal logistics player Pickingo

Times of India

Gurgaon-based on-demand, hyperlocal logistics start-up Pickingo has raised $1.3 million led by Orios Venture Partners with participation from entrepreneur and angel investor Zishaan Hayath. Pickingo, founded by a team of IIT-IIM graduates in December 2014 aims to disrupt the way goods move within a city from the merchant to the end consumer. More than 300 restaurants, groceries and pharmacies have signed up for its on demand delivery service including some large hyperlocal start-ups. The company intends to expand to more than 20 cities by the end of the year.

MCap buys addl shares of Jyothy Laboratories worth INR 6.52 Cr

MCap Fund, via Emblem FII, has bought 243,816 shares of publicly listed FMCG company Jyothy Laboratories at an average price of INR 267.7 per share in the April-June 2015, aggregating to INR 6.52 Cr. Post this purchase Mcap will hold 3,075,000 shares (1.7% stake) in the company.

From the Venture Intelligence PE/VC Deal Database: MCap has previously invested a total of INR 24.64 crores in 2011 over two rounds.

Alternative investment platform Grex raises Rs 4-Cr

Business Line

Grex, capital market-like alternative investment platform for start-ups and unlisted companies, has raised INR 4 crore from private equity investors. The first round of funding will be used to strengthen the IT backbone and bring in new financial products and features on its transaction and information sharing platform for unlisted companies. Grex claims registrations of over 200 start-ups across India and over 150 investors.

BedRock Ventures, others invest $500-K in last minute hotel room booking app NightStay

Economic Times

Last minute and expired hotel room inventory booking application NightStay has raised about $500,000 in a pre-seed round from BedRock Ventures, Rajesh Sawhney of GSF and Shailesh Vickram Singh, partner at SeedFund. Started in 2014, the company offers same day and last-minute booking for about 30%-40% discount on the actual price of a hotel room rental. NightStay is present in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

Frontline Strategy, CCube Angels acquire stake in Wetravelsolo

Mint

CCube Angels of Singapore and Frontline Strategy Pvt Ltd of Mauritius have acquired a minority stake in New Delhi-based Kulmin Trocializing India Pvt. Ltd, which operates Wetravelsolo.com, a budget custom travel portal that aims to connect like-minded solo travellers. Wetravelsolo.com, which has a one-time membership fee, aims at encouraging off-beat travel options such as solo backpacking, by providing a support community.

Infuse Ventures invests in green energy marketplace Glowship

NextBigWhat

Bangalore-based Glowship.com, an online marketplace bringing together energy and environment related products, has received funding from the cleantech focused Infuse Ventures. Glowship aims to use the funds to enhance the platform by hiring more staff, focusing on the backend and expanding to other cities.

YouWeCan Ventures invests in US burger chain Carl’s Jr’s India franchise

Times of India

YouWeCan Ventures, promoted by cricketer Yuvraj Singh, has invested in American burger chain Carl's Jr that is set to open its first store in India this weekend through CybizBrightStar, the master franchisee. YouWeCan’s stake buy will also lead to Singh acting as 'brand ambassador' for the burger chain that has been associated with celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian and Padma Lakshmi. Cybiz plans to raise Rs 180-200 crore in the next couple of years.

responsAbility, Infuse invest in Cleantech firm GIBSS

Economic Times

Cleantech startup GIBSS has raised a Series A round from Zurich-headquartered responsAbility Investments and the cleantech Infuse Ventures. The company set up in 2010 provides geothermal air-conditioning solution to 400 buildings across sectors in India, reducing their operating expenses by 70%. The current capital infusion will be utilised by the company for product development and research in geothermal solutions for greater commercial viability.

In June 2015, GIBSS had received a grant from the Seed Capital Assistance Facility implemented through United Nations Environment Program. The company had raised up to INR 2.5 crore from TiE and Hyderabad-based Sri Capital, headed by Sashi Reddy.

Liquidity Events (Private Equity)

Malaysia’s Parkway buys 74% stake in Global Hospitals for Rs.1,800-Cr

Economic Times

Parkway Hospital, owned by Malaysian healthcare group IHH, has acquired 74% stake in Hyderabad-based Global Hospitals for INR 1,800 crore (equity value) and also assumed the company’s debt of INR 350 crore. The acquirer has bought the stake of PE investor Everstone Capital, Anand Rathi Capital Advisor and other individual investors in the unlisted chain. The rest 26% stake will continue to be owned Global Hospitals founder Dr K Ravindranath. Everstone Capital is expected to make more than two-and-a-half times return on its $33 million investment. Everstone owned around 34% stake in the company, with additional 20% stake held in convertible preferential shares. Anand Rathi held around 10% stake, while 10% was with individual investors, mostly doctors.

Global Hospitals has more than 2,000 beds in Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad. It offers multi-speciality tertiary care treatments such as organ transplants. The company has an operating profit of Rs 130 crore.

WestBridge exits Astral Poly Technik by selling shares worth Rs.160-Cr, registers 7.33x

WestBridge, through Jwalamukhi Investment Holdings, has sold 4,258,314 shares at INR.375 per share on BSE of publicly listed Pipes and Fittings Manufacturer Astral Poly Technik Ltd. aggregating to INR 159.69 Cr on Aug 4 2015. This constitutes 3.60% of total outstanding shares of Astral Poly Technik Ltd.

From the Venture Intelligence PE/VC Deal Database: WestBridge invested INR 57 Cr approx between Jan 2012 and Mar 2013 for 9.93% stake.

IFC exits Gujarat State Petronet by selling shares worth Rs.72-Cr, registers 1.89x

IFC has sold 6,014,943 shares at an avg. price of INR 119.28 per share of publicly listed Oil and Gas distribution firm Gujarat State Petronet Ltd. aggregating to INR 71.74 Cr in Apr-Jun 2015. This constitutes 1.07% of total outstanding shares of Gujarat State Petronet Ltd.

From the Venture Intelligence PE/VC Deal Database: In Sep 2007, IFC invested INR 107.35 Cr for 3.33% stake at Rs.57.29 per share in the target.

ICICI Prudential exits Logix's Noida housing project for Rs 62-Cr

Economic Times

Realty player Logix Group has bought back equity stake in a housing project at Noida held by ICICI Prudential PMS for about INR 62 crore, giving the investor a multiple of 2.11 times. ICICI Prudential's India Opportunity Real Estate Fund had invested about INR 30 crore as equity in the Logix group's housing project Blossom Green at Noida in 2011.

I-Ven exits Kalpataru Power Transmission by selling shares worth Rs.59-Cr, registers 1.56x

ICICI Venture, through India Advantage Fund V, has sold 2,449,772 shares at an avg. price of INR 240.95 per share of publicly listed Infrastructure Services firm Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd. aggregating to INR 59.03 Cr in Apr-Jun 2015. This constitutes 1.60% of total outstanding shares of Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd.

From the Venture Intelligence PE/VC Deal Database: In Sep 2006, ICICI Venture invested INR 111 Cr for 5.71% stake in the target.

WestBridge sells Greenlam Industries shares worth Rs.43-Cr, registers 2x return

WestBridge, through Jwalamukhi Investment Holdings, has sold 1,175,000 shares at INR 365 per share on NSE of publicly listed Building Products Manufacturer Greenlam Industries Ltd. aggregating to INR 42.89 Cr on Aug 4, 2015. This constituted 4.87% of total outstanding shares of Greenlam Industries Ltd. Post-deal the investor would hold 4.98% stake (1,201,884 shares) of the company.

From the Venture Intelligence PE/VC Deal Database: Greenlam Industries was spun off from its fellow listed parent entity Greenply Industries (in which Westbridge is also a stakeholder) and was listed on BSE and NSE on March 02 2015.

Wayzata exits Ramkrishna Forgings; sells shares worth Rs.40-Cr, registers 2.94x

Wayzata Investment Partners, through Wayzata II Indian Ocean Limited, has sold 693,062 shares at an avg. price of INR 577.60 per share in publicly listed Ramkrishna Forgings Ltd. aggregating to INR 40.03 Cr in Apr-Jun 2015. This constituted 2.52% of total outstanding shares of Ramkrishna Forgings Ltd.

From the Venture Intelligence PE/VC Deal Database: Wayzata Investment Partners invested INR 49.44 Cr via preferential allotment in Feb 2013 and INR 20.36 Cr via public market purchase in Apr 2013.

IFC sells addl shares in Ramkrishna Forgings worth Rs.17-Cr, registers 4.27x

IFC has sold 301,437 shares at an avg. price of INR 577.60 per share in publicly listed Ramkrishna Forgings Ltd. aggregating to INR 17.41 Cr in Apr-Jun 2015. This constitutes 1.10% of total outstanding shares of Ramkrishna Forgings Ltd. Post-deal the investor would holds 4.69% stake (1,289,040 shares)

From the Venture Intelligence PE/VC Deal Database: In May 2012, IFC had approved an equity investment of $4.94 million and debt investment of $15 million in Ramrkrishna Forgings.

I-Ven exits Electrotherm; sells shares worth Rs.4.2 Cr; registers 0.06x return

ICICI Venture, through India Advantage Fund VI, has sold 1,292,231 shares at INR 32.54 per share on NSE of publicly listed manufacturing firm Electrotherm (India) Ltd. aggregating to INR 4.20 Cr on Aug 03, 2015. This constituted 11.26% of total outstanding shares of Electrotherm (India) Ltd.

From the Venture Intelligence PE/VC Deal Database: In Mar 2007, ICICI Venture invested INR 82-Cr for 14.98% stake at INR 600 per share.

Lighthouse sells addl Shaily Engineering Plastics shares worth Rs.4-Cr, registers 5.39x

Lighthouse, through its unit Motika Limited, has sold 100,433 shares at INR 411.13 per share on BSE of publicly listed Shaily Engineering Plastics Ltd. aggregating to INR 4.13 Cr on Aug 06, 2015. This constitutes 1.21% of total outstanding shares of Shaily Engineering Plastics Ltd. Post deal the investor would hold 146,167 shares (1.76% stake)

From the Venture Intelligence PE/VC Deal Database: Lighthouse had invested INR 8.39 Cr in July 2007 and INR 1.38 Cr in Aug 2009.

Angel Investment

Car rental service Revv raises funding

Yourstory.com

Car rental service Revv, set up by ex-McKinsey professionals Anupam Agarwal and Karan Jain, has received funding from a clutch of investors - including the newly hired CEO of Myntra, more than ten directors and partners from McKinsey, the CEO of a national cable TV distribution company, senior executives from an investment fund, and a German soccer professional. With a fleet of about 50 cars, the company launched operations in NCR on July 27.

Restaurant discounts app Ressy raises $400K from Mohandas Pai and others

Yourstory.com

Ressy, a Pune-based restaurant discounts start-up, has closed an angel round of USD 400,000 (about INR 2.5 crore). This investment round was led by Vikram Chachra, Founding Partner, Eight Capital, with contributions from ex-Infosys honcho Mohandas Pai, Akshay Garg, co-founder of Komli Media, Jeljo Johny Kottoor, director, ProV Venture Investments (Singapore) and Ketharaman Swaminathan, founder, GTM360.

The start-up, which currently covers restaurants in Pune and Goa, plans to expand in 10 other cities, adding over 5,000 restaurants and one million users. In Pune, it also plans to expand across sectors like wellness, adventure and retail.

Anonymous message board app Loud Shout raises funding

Nextbigwhat.com

Noida-based Loud Shout has raised funding from ShopClues co-founder Sanjay Sethi, Devyani Foods and Varun Beverages promoter Ravi Jaipuria and a Hong Kong-based investment banker. The funds will be used to add new features to the app.

Launched last month, Loud Shout is a hyper local bulletin board app, that allows users to communicate anonymously. Currently, the app is available for campuses on an invite only basis functioning across 70 campuses.

Hostel and apartment rental listing portal Zocalo raises funds

Mint

Delhi-based hostel and apartment rental listing web site Zocalo.in has raised funding from a clutch of investors in an angel round of funding and plans to use the funds to enhance technology and marketing exercises. The investors are Rajesh Sawhney, founder of GSF Accelerator; Sachin Bhatia, co-founder of MakeMyTrip; Mahesh Parasuraman, former managing director, the Carlyle Group; Laksh Vaaman Sehgal, director, Motherson Sumi Group; Dheeraj Jain, partner with a UK-based hedge fund; and Udaan Angels, along with a few more unnamed investors. The company offers listings of paying guest, hostel, shared and rental apartment accommodation. The broker-free platform will not adopt the subscription-based model, but may look at advertisements for revenue in the future.

Car rentals marketplace JustRide raises funding

Techinasia

JustRide, a Mumbai-based car-rental aggregator, has raised funding from angel investors including Alok Mittal of Angel India Network, Zeeshan Hayat from Toppr.com, Nikunj Jain of Frankly.me, and Outbox Ventures’ Niraj Singh, among others. Coinciding with the funding round, the startup also launched its services in Bangalore, Pune and Gurgaon. The startup’s mobile and web-based platform enables its customers to transact with car-rental vendors.

Alok Mittal invests in math tutorials Cue Learn

Nextbigwhat.com

Delhi-based Cue Learn, a learning solutions company that teaches kids maths after school, has raised funding from Angel Investor and former MD of Canaan Partners, Alok Mittal. Cue Learn offers programs like CueMath that uses a gamified blend of worksheets and tablet-based technology to help children after school with learning maths. The company helps stay-at-home women become micro franchisees who can teach the program from the comfort of their homes for extra income.

The company aims to employ 1000 teachers within the next year and 25000 teachers in three years with an aim to teach half a million students all across India.

From the Venture Intelligence Social VC Deal Database: In Dec-14, Cue Learn had raised INR 1 Cr from Unitus Seed Fund.

The Home Salon gets funding from VentureNursery Angels

Economic Times

On-demand home beauty and wellness services platform, The Home Salon (THS), has got seed investment by members of start-up accelerator VentureNursery. THS connects stylists, therapists and beauticians with customers looking to indulge in convenient and prompt home services and treatments which are just a click of a button away.

Platform for real estate agents Sunday Realty raises Rs.5-Cr

Business Line

Sunday Realty Solutions (formerly Sunday Mobility) has raised INR 5 crore from investors including Ramesh Jogani and Shailesh Viswanathan, co-founders of real estate fund IPAL and Jay Srinivasan, a US-based investor and a former head of Global Strategy at Dell. The funds will be used for marketing, product enhancement, and expansion across 10 cities.

Sunday Realty operates SmartAgent Connect, a business platform exclusively for real estate agents. The platform is available as a mobile App and as a website. It has over 20,000 agents across India with close to 10,000 websites created. The platform also allows builders to connect with agents and claims to have over 75 builders already integrated in Mumbai and Pune.

Wegilant raises $500-K from existing investors

Techstory.in

Wegilant, a company in the mobile app security space, has raised $500,000 from existing investors in a pre-Series A round. The investors include Ravi Gururaj-Chair NASSCOM Product Council, Gaurav Sharma-Director Yahoo Inc., Viswanath Ramachandran-Ex-Gupshup CTO, SINE-IIT Bombay Business Incubator, RippleWave and a strategic investor from a global IT security company. The flagship product of Wegilant is Appvigil, which is a Mobile Reputation Protection Suite for Enterprises.

Founded in 2011 by Toshendra Sharma an alumnus of IIT-B, the company got incubated in Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE), IIT Bombay, in August 2014. The company currently has offices in Mumbai and Gurgaon. It plans to set up offices across other cities in India. The company has also doubled its team strength from 11 to 22 employees.

Incubation / Acceleration

Traxn Labs, angels invest in apparel rental firm Humble Egg

Mint

Bangalore-based Humble Egg Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which owns premium apparel rental start-up Klozee, has raised funding from Tracxn Labs and angel investors. The company plans to use the funds to expand to Mumbai and Delhi in a month.

Klozee essentially buys apparel from premium brands such as Mango, Zara, Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge among others, as well as designers, and rents them out at one-tenth of the price of the original product. TracxnLabs had earlier invested in Elanic, a peer-to-peer marketplace for used women’s fashion products.

Other Private Equity / Strategic Investments

BCCL participates in Uber’s $1-B round

Medianama

Online taxi hailing application Uber has raised around $1 billion in funding from Microsoft and India based media company Bennett, Coleman and Company Limited (BCCL). The funding will be useful to expand to markets outside the US, most noticeably in India (its second largest market). Times Internet, the digital business owned by Times of India group, entered into a strategic partnership with Uber in advertising-cum-equity deal. The marketing part of the deal included the Times of India group’s “print, radio, OOH, and digital marketing platforms”. The Times investment is estimated at $16 million.

Social VC Investments

Aavishkaar invests Rs 32-Cr in rural e-commerce enabler Connect India

Yourstory

Aavishkaar has committed to invest INR 32 crore in Connect India, which is into building last mile network of distribution points for e-commerce across the country. With this funding, Connect India would launch its commercial operations in 17 States, 150 towns and cities with 1,500 Connect India centres in rural and urban markets.

Other Deals - Listed Firms

PTC India sells stake in Ind-Barath for Rs 312-Cr

Business Line

PTC India Financial Services has divested its entire stake in Ind-Barath Energy (Utkal) Ltd for Rs 311.93 crore. PTC India Financial Services has invested Rs 105 crore in a separate project of Ind-Barath which entails setting up of a 700 MW coal-based thermal power project in Odisha.

STAR exits Balaji, sells 26% stake for Rs 108-Cr

Business Standard

STAR India, which held nearly 26% stake in publicly listed Balaji Telefilms, has offloaded all its shares in the company at INR 63.6 a share aggregating INR 108 crore. Axis Capital acted as advisors to STAR and also executed the on-market sale. The transaction took place on the Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India (MSEI). Star had picked up stake in Balaji in August 2004.

Uniply Industries raises Rs.27-Cr

Business Standard

BSE-listed Uniply Industries has raised INR 26.68 crore from promoters and experienced stock market investors, including RK Damani, Ramesh Damani, Enam Investment Services and Sara Vallabh Bhanshali. The company will allot 2,668,000 shares of Rs 10 face value at Rs 100 per share for a total subscription of Rs 26.68 crore to various existing and new investors.

Mergers & Acquisitions

Viiking Ventures acquires Goa Kings beer for Rs.90-Cr

Economic Times

Viiking Ventures, part of actor-producer Sachiin Joshi's JMJ Group , has acquired Goa-based beer brand Kings Beer from Impala Distillery and Brewery for INR 90 crore. The production will continue to be done by Impala. Post the acquisition, the brand has also been launched in Mumbai. Viiking has its own vodka brand and is also working on launching a wine and scotch brand.

Viiking is also looking to acquire a vineyard in France or Italy with an investment of $20-40 million.

Security firm Tenon buys UK co O&G for Rs 65-Cr

Economic Times

New Delhi-based facility management services provider Tenon Group has acquired UK's Office and General (O&G) Group Ltd for INR 65 crore in a cash and stock deal. The acquisition has been financed by Barclays Bank.

O&G deals with commercial and office facility management encompassing soft and hard services in the UK. It serves universities and ministry of defence among others. The company is headquartered in London with offices in Manchester and Wolverhampton.

Sundaram Finance sells 49% in BNP Paribas Sundaram Global Securities for Rs.44-Cr

Publicly-listed Sundaram Finance has sold its entire 49% shareholding of 36,48,050 equity shares of INR 10 each in BNP Paribas Sundaram Global Securities Operations Private Limited to BNP Paribas Securities Services for a total consideration of INR 44.29 crores.

Sonata Software acquires Halosys for $5-M

Publicly-listed Sonata Software Ltd is to acquire a 100% stake in the Santa Clara, CA (USA)-based enterprise mobility enablement technology provider Halosys for $5 million. Sonata Software will pay an upfront amount of $2 million and rest will be paid over the next three years.

Airtel acquires YTS Solutions to boost wallet services

BSE, Economic Times

Bharti Airtel has bought financial products company YTS Solutions and named the startup's co-founder and MD Manish Khera chief executive officer of Airtel Money. The acquisition will help in expanding the portfolio of Airtel Money, a mobile wallet, even as the telco awaits the Reserve Bank of India's decision on its application for a payments bank licence. The buy will bring in a host of new product capabilities targeted at migrants in urban cities and their families in rural towns and villages, driving financial inclusion.

Gloob Décor acquires app development firm Banana Interactive

Economic Times

Gloob Decor, an interior designing and home furniture firm, has acquired Banana Interactive, a gaming and application development startup. With the acquisition Gloob plans to give 3D experience to its customers in the office furnishings space.

Liga Edutech acquires Learning Outcomes

Economic Times

Learning Outcomes, a firm that helps students improve their academic learning process has been acquired by LIGA EduTech in an all cash deal valued at less than $2 million. Learning Outcomes measures and analyses the quality of learning and teaching in schools, while LIGA Edu-Tech looks at behavioural assessments of students. The team of five from Learning Outcomes has moved to LIGA.

Snapdeal acqui-hires Fashiate

Economic Times

Snapdeal.com has “acqui-hired” Fashiate, a Bangalore-based technology startup, in an all-stock deal as part of its strategy to develop its multimedia research lab. The deal happened in March. The research lab, which was formed as a result of the acquisition, helped Snapdeal develop fashion discovery portal Findmystyle.in, which is currently a separate portal but will be eventually merged with Snapdeal.

Real Estate Transactions

Oberoi Group sells Darjeeling property to local businessman Garg

Telegraph

Hospitality player EIH Limited, which runs hotels under the Oberoi and Trident brands, has sold its 5-acre land and property in Darjeeling to a group of local businessmen led by B.M. Garg. The group had bought the hotel and land in the early 1950s, but it remained idle for over three decades after being damaged by fire.

Northgate Capital, a subsidiary of Religare Global Asset Management, has come in as an investor and co-sponsor in Your-Nest Angel Fund. It will join Small Industrial Development Bank of India and IIFL that have already come in as limited partners.

Currently, YourNest operates a Rs 90 crore technology and consumer Internet-focused fund and has invested in seven start-ups, including taxi aggregator Book-My-Cab and speech and data software solutions Uniphore.

Dell Ventures looking to invest in Indian start-ups

Economic Times

US computer maker Dell’s investment arm, Dell Ventures, is looking to invest in Indian start-ups.