GIC and IDFC Private Equity buy 31% stake in Quipo Infrastructure for Rs. 150 crores to fund growth plans

GIC Special Investments, Singapore and IDFC Private Equity have picked up around 15.5% share each, totaling 31%, in Quipo Infrastructure Equipment Limited (QIEL) for Rs. 150 crores.

Quipo has been promoted by the SREI Group, one of the largest equipment retail companies in the country. It will use the funds to part-finance a capital expenditure plan of over Rs. 3400 crores over the next two years. Following this, the paid-up equity capital of the company is estimated to be around Rs. 90 crores with a total net worth around Rs. 225 crores. SREI’s shareholding in Quipo has come down to 15.5% from 22%. Dutch FMO and SwedFund hold around 22%, while other shareholders like Ingersoll Rand and other venture capital funds hold the balance.

Apart from internal cash generation, the company plans to go in for various debt options to fund its capex plans. Around Rs. 1200 crores of debt will be raised next fiscal. A large part of the capital expenditure of almost Rs. 2000 crores will go towards building almost 6000 telecom towers across the country. Quipo, through its subsidiary has been involved in the renting of towers to leading telecom operators.

The company is expected to gross a turnover of around Rs. 200 crores in the current fiscal and the new business is likely to double revenues from next year.

Read the article in DNA Money.

Shapoorji Pallonji to raise $400 mn in private equity for real estate ventures

The 140-year-old construction firm, the Shapoorji Pallonji Group has been bitten by the private equity bug. It is raising around $400 mn from private equity investors to fund its real estate ventures. Three government-owned PE funds, Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), Dubai Capital and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), will pick up 30-40% equity in each project. The group is rolling out at least half-a-dozen projects in various cities with a total project cost of $1-1.2 bn.

Shapoorji Pallonji has a land bank of 2000 acres of prime land in cities like Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Kolkata, Gurgaon, Nagpur and Mysore. It is currently developing around 550 acres (around 50 mn sq. ft.) of residential and commercial space. The projects include IT parks hotels, shopping malls and residential properties. All these projects are FDI (foreign direct investment)-compliant projects, and are located at prime areas, which will attract substantial premium. Each project is being developed by a different special purpose vehicle (SPV), and equity by SP group is expected to be rooted through one company.

Read The Economic Times article for more.

GIC, Deutsche Bank, L&T Infra submit bids for SICOM stake

Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and L&T Infrastructure have submitted their bids along with eight others with the Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India (SU-UTI) for acquiring its 40% stake in the State Industrial Corporation of Maharashtra (SICOM), the investment arm of the Maharashtra government. The tender invited by the SU-UTI closed in the second week of February and 12 parties have submitted their expressions of interest. Currently, the Maharashtra government holds 49% in SICOM, SU-UTI 36.5% and another 3.5% stake is held by UTI AMC.

ICICI Securities has been appointed as the merchant banker by SU-UTI for the stake sale. It will hold talks with the interested buyers soon. SU-UTI is also said to be in talks with the state government to offload its stake in SICOM.

SICOM has posted a net profit of Rs. 33.98 crores in 2005-06, up 69% from Rs. 20.15 crores in the previous year. SICOM offers advisory services to the state government, Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission and other corporates. It is launching a second venture fund and would be soon offering merchant banking, treasury management and real estate development through subsidiary or joint ventures.

Read the Business Standard article.
Related Posts:
IFC, DEG planning to acquire a stake in SICOM
UTI to divest 36.58% stake in SICOM

Foreign investors pick 20% stake in Edelweiss Capital

Mumbai-based investment bank Edelweiss Capital has divested 20% stake to a number of financial investors including the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) and the New York-based hedge fund Galleon Partners for around $90 mn.

Edelweiss will announce the deal soon after the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clears the investments.

With this transaction, Edelweiss is valued at around $400-450 million. The investment bank is also considering an initial public offer (IPO) by 2008 to give an exit option to its various investor groups. Prior to deal, employees and promoters of Edelweiss were holding around 74% equity stake, with Greater Pacific Capital (GPC), a London-based strategic investment firm and Americorp Capital jointly holding the remaining 24% stake.

Edelweiss was established in 1996 and now boasts of a team of around 600 people, with services ranging from brokerage to investment banking, asset management and insurance advisory. Edelweiss has been growing at 100% growth rate over the last 3 years. Revenues grew to Rs. 147 crores in 2005-06, from Rs. 73 crores in the previous year, while PAT grew to Rs. 42 crores from Rs. 24 crores.

Read The Economic Times article.