The Chhabria-promoted Rs 1,200 crore (Rs 12 billion) Allied Blenders & Distillers will launch two brandy brands in South India next month.
Consolidation seems to the key word among private equity (PE) backed companies. In the first few months of 2011, about 20 merger & acquisition (M&A) deals worth $150 million took place.
Move comes at a time when the $50-billion Unilever is looking to double its turnover in 10 years.
Luckily for him, the bumps on the way got forgotten, thanks to his expertise in earning high returns for investors through patient exits.
Its tie-ups so far have been with international brands, either through licensing agreements or joint ventures, to get them into India.
Gati Coast to Coast was set up in 1986 as a service provider for all sea-bound cargo in the Bay of Bengal, Andaman Islands and Malacca Straits.
On its radar are Alberto-Culver and the personal care and laundry portfolios of Sara Lee, both recent acquisitions of Unilever.
Macquarie-SBI Infrastructure Fund (MSIF), one of the largest in this category in India, run by Macquarie SBI Infrastructure Management Pvt Ltd (MSIT), is in an advanced stage of talks with a shipping port company to make an investment of about Rs 1,000 crore ($200-220 million).
Gitanjali Gems plans to hive off various businesses.
Anti-government protests in Egypt are making Prashant Goenka, director, international business, Emami Ltd, nervous
Companies are predictably working overtime to cash in on the boom. LG, Samsung, Panasonic, Videocon have all lined up new models of both HDTV-ready and full-HDTV sets for the world cup this year.
The cola wars will no longer be restricted to Coke and Pepsi, with their Latin American competitor Ajegroup setting up shop in India.
The automobile services segment, from radio taxi services to used cars, is seeing increased interest from venture capital (VC) investors.
"Instead of plastic faces, which appear artificial, why not use real people?" asks K V Sridhar, national creative director at ad agency Leo Burnett India. "They are compelling brand ambassadors, who can lend an air of authenticity to the communication exercise."
"Both domestic and international business grew well this quarter. Growth in net sales of the domestic business was close to 50 per cent, while the international business saw nearly a three-fold growth during the same period. Our international acquisitions have played a role in helping us register good numbers this quarter."
The Rs 1,500-crore (Rs 15 billion) ladies handbag market will see some major action this year, with luggage makers V.I.P and Samsonite contemplating entry soon.
Market research based on interviews or questionnaires to understand the consumer mind will soon become pass.
"Kraft's acquisition of Cadbury is a global acquisition, where some value is attributable to India. This is different from Vodafone, where the transfer of a single share of the offshore company by Hutch resulted in the Indian business getting transferred to Vodafone," said Pranay Bhatia, associate partner at legal firm Economic Laws Practice.
"A lot of PE investors are interested in renewable energy and we are exploring PE investments for our wind energy initiatives," said Thomas John Muthoot, chairman and managing director.
Consumer durable companies are stepping up investments in production and distribution to cash in on the demand the industry is witnessing. According to a recent report by research agency Crisil, the Rs 25,000-crore consumer durable industry is slated to grow at a rate of 17-18 per cent over the next five years, to touch Rs 60,000 crore.
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