Prudential has two JVs with ICICI Bank in the country, one in insurance business with 26 per cent stake and another in the mutual fund business with 49 per cent equity. While asserting that the two businesses were well-capitalised and did not need any immediate capital infusion, Tucker said Prudential was open to consider raising its stake in the insurance JV as and when the regulatory framework permitted the same.
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.
Pharma major GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Ltd has sold its Worli plot for Rs 107.6 crore (Rs 1.08 billion) to I-Ven Realty Ltd, a joint venture between ICICI Venture Funds Management Company Ltd and Oberoi Constructions.
Experts see company-specific transactions rather than sector-specific ones in the private equity dealings. More transactions & buyouts will result in PE firms acquiring controlling stakes in firms in 08. The PE activity will be tougher this year as it will be company-driven rather than sector-driven investing. Real estate will continue to be a focus sector followed by infrastructure. Analysts say that PE players bring a lot of value to a firm that is planning to go public.
Distressed retailer Subhiksha on Thursday said its 15,000 employees have been unpaid since October last and it has been directed by Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) to pay the assessed dues at the earliest.
Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) with a lock-in period performed better than the ones that allow investors to withdraw capital at any time. Close-ended schemes had a median return of 5.62 per cent in December, according to data from industry tracker PMSBazaar. The median returns for open-ended schemes were 3.91 per cent
The public spat with private equity firm ICICI Venture notwithstanding, retail chain Subhiksha Managing Director R Subramanian today said they can together bring the firm back on track provided one shareholder is not allowed to force its decisions on the firm.
Deals indicate growing interest of private equity firms in India's pharma and healthcare segments.
ICICI Venture Funds Management Co. acquired 3.55 per cent, Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services 5 per cent and Kotak Group 1 per cent in MCX from the holding company Financial Technologies. The transaction values the company at $1.1 billion.
The bank would take a call on the subject once the laws are amended to hike foreign direct investment in insurance sector from 26 per cent to 49 per cent, ICICI Bank CEO and managing director Chanda Kochhar told PTI. This would help create value for the stake holders, she clarified while pointing out that ICICI Bank's share price had increased three times in the last six months to about Rs 750 a share.
Some of the significant deals include private equity firm FMO's 14.48-million-dollar investment in Magma Leasing, Singapore based investment group Orient Global's 26.88-million-dollar investment in domestic brokerage firm India Infoline, ICICI Venture's $44.57-million investment in Centurion Bank of Punjab and French banking group BNP Baribas' 50.14-million-dollar investment in stock broking firm Geojit Financials.
Chidambaram clears holding company for insurance & mutual fund subject to RBI clearance.
Private equity major DE Shaw is investing Rs 630 crore (Rs 6.3 billion) in Noida-based International Amusement Ltd (IAL), the promoters of Appu Ghar. This is the country's first private equity (PE) deal in an amusement park.
In what is amongst the first focused fund in the space, India Media Entertainment Fund (IMEF) is raising Rs 500 crore, which will provide both equity as well as instruments like non-convertible debentures (NCD) to companies in the content, distribution platform and services areas. The private equity fund has appointed a high-profile advisory body which includes ad guru Prahlad Kakkar, managing director of Red Chillies Entertainment and cricket team KKR Sports, actress and entrepreneur Raadhika Sarathkumar, who has starred in Malayalam, Hindi and Kannada films and runs Radaan Mediaworks. It also includes Ramnath Pradeep, former chairman and managing director of Corporation Bank, and Rajesh Gupta, senior partner of law firm SNG Partners.
A private equity arm of Citibank has picked up the shares, representing 1.25 per cent stake, at Rs 270 per share, indicating the pricing of the IPO.
This is a good opportunity for long-term investors to pick quality small and midcap stocks at reasonable valuations.
In a bid to enhance its auto-finance business, ICICI Bank plans to acquire 100 per cent stake in Transamerica Apple Distribution Finance, an auto distribution finance company, in an all cash deal for Rs 74 crore.
Brokerages have maintained their ratings and target prices on FSN E-Commerce Ventures, the parent company of Nykaa, after the fashion and beauty online retailer posted in-line numbers during the October-December quarter (Q3) of financial year 2023-24 (FY24). They have, however, cut earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) estimates after weak demand weighed across line items in Q3. "While revenue growth was healthy at 22 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), gross margins declined 90 basis points (bps), weighed by higher discounting in own brands and lower ad income.
Analysts said with more power sector companies referred to the NCLT by banks, large companies would be at an advantage.
ICICI Bank said on Thursday it has constituted a Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) loan fund for assisting companies engaged in the green business or abetting eco-friendly activity.
Investors are increasingly turning optimistic about shares of new-age companies. From broad-based 'sell' calls, analysts are giving thumbs up to Zomato, Paytm, and FSN e-Commerce Ventures-owned Nykaa as these companies have shifted focus to sustainable profits. The shares of Zomato hit a fresh 52-week high of Rs 126 apiece on the BSE on November 7, having rallied 15.4 per cent in one week.
German retail giant Metro Cash & Carry and India's emerging retail venture Reliance Retail have roped in the property services group of ICICI Bank for identifying retail properties for its proposed pan India expansion.
To tackle increasing demand, the Union Ministry of Power has urged central and state public-sector power-generating companies (gencos) and state power and energy departments to pick projects that are undergoing insolvency proceedings. The power ministry is looking at a quicker turnaround of these stressed power plants and enhancing power supply. Increasing demand is pushing states to scout for more power sources. "It is requested that state-owned gencos may be encouraged to participate in the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) of stressed power assets, which are of strategic and commercial significance to the capacity addition plans of the states concerned.
ICICI Bank puts up a good show in Q4.
Shares of Reliance Industries (RIL) traded 2 per cent higher at Rs 2,310.10 on the BSE in intra-day trade in an otherwise volatile market after the company reported a 27.4 per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth in its consolidated net profit at Rs 17,394 crore for the September quarter (Q2FY24). While revenue growth of the company was flattish YoY at Rs 2.32 trillion, the profit rose on the back of operational improvement across most segments, especially higher profits in the O2C (oil-to-chemicals) and oil & gas businesses, as well as the retail business. "Strong operational and financial contribution from all business segments has helped Reliance deliver another quarter of robust growth," said Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of the company.
Dixon Technologies right now is a beehive of activity. It is building a new facility in Noida to make 1.3 million laptops for Taiwanese PC maker Acer. The facility must be up and running in four months. The pace of activity will only increase. Last week Dixon won a similar contract from Lenovo, the Chinese personal computer maker and the third largest information technology (IT) hardware brand in India, to assemble laptops and notebooks. Though the clientele in these two cases is Taiwanese and Chinese, Dixon is a company reaching for the stars with its feet planted firmly in the Indian government's policy.
'The deal pipeline across products is robust for 2024.'
ICICI Bank has quashed rumours of favouritism, nepotism and quid pro quo. The bank clarified that while Chanda Kochhar was on the credit committee, she was not the chairperson. Videocon Chairman Venugopal Dhoot said there was no impropriety in the deal.
State Bank of India (SBI) may carry out a planned Rs 10,000 crore sale of infrastructure bonds in the market this week, with the securities likely to be of 15-year maturity, sources told Business Standard. SBI, the country's largest bank, had last week said its board had approved the issuance of infrastructure bonds in the current fiscal year. It, however, had not mentioned the maturity of the bonds or when the sale would take place.
'In India, most funds have one or at most two platforms, but we are the only one which has four -- growth equity practice, real estate practice, a special situation and credit platform, and infrastructure.'
Lower crude oil costs and higher marketing margins are expected to raise the fortunes of oil marketing companies (OMCs) in the first quarter (Q1) of 2023-24 (FY24), while city gas distribution (CGD) companies could also benefit from lower spot prices of liquefied natural gas (LNG). However, in a break from the past, growth trends are expected to diverge for various segments within the broad energy sector. Analysts expect the earnings from gas production to go down for upstream national oil and gas companies such as Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India (OIL) due to the introduction of the new domestic gas pricing regime on April 1. After showing steep losses over the first half of 2022-23 (FY23), the marketing margins of OMCs have steadily recovered in four months.
Be wary of co-operative banks which have historically been most vulnerable.
UCO Bank mulls AT1 offering to raise Rs 1,000 cr.
Thanks to a big payout by the group's cash cow, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Tata Sons is set to earn a record-high equity dividend worth nearly Rs 33,350 crore from the group's listed companies for FY23, up 130 per cent from Rs 14,529 crore in FY22. Nearly 90 per cent of this, or around Rs 30,500 crore, is estimated to accrue to Tata Sons while the rest will show up in its profit & loss account for FY24. This is because nearly 80 per cent of the dividend payout by TCS for FY23 was done before the end of the financial year through three quarterly interim instalments and a special one in January this year.
'The book captures Rana Kapoor's hunger for real estate leading to bungalows in Delhi, Mumbai, London and other cities; the multiple companies -- over 100 -- to fund his family's various ventures; the attempt to game the system by showing lower non-performing assets,' notes Joydeep Ghosh.
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