Zydus acquires Tokyo-based Nippon Universal

Cadila Healthcare today announced the acquisition of 100% stake in Tokyo-based Nippon Universal Pharmaceutical.

According to a release issued by Zydus to the BSE today, Nippon reaches out to more than 4,000 hospitals and clinics, and is expected to provide a fillip to the group’s operations in a market that is highly complex and dominated by local pharma Companies.

Pankaj R Patel, chairman and managing director, Zydus, said: “We had announced our intentions of being a long-term player in this market when we set up our subsidiary last year. Going forward, I believe this acquisition will unlock value for us as the generic market in Japan is just opening up, and post-2010 we expect this market to be a major growth driver for our global business.”

Read the article in Business Standard.

SRIT to acquire Agilent Technologies arm OSI

Sobha Renaissance Information Technology (SRIT), a Bangalore-based software company, is acquiring Objective System Integrators (OSI), a division of the $5 bn-test and measurement company Agilent Technologies, for an undisclosed amount. OSI will provide SRIT a strong foothold in the telecom management solutions space. The acquisition will be funded by SRIT through a combination of debt and internal accruals.

OSI provides software solutions for the integration and management of communications networks and is a major player in the operations support systems in the telecom sector. OSI was acquired by Agilent for $665 mn in 2000 when its revenues were pegged at around $70 mn. As of now, revenues of OSI are around $26-30 mn. It has around 120 people with presence in India and the US. This is SRIT’s second acquisition. Earlier, it had bought Billing Components, a German telecom software company.

SRIT focuses on three verticals, namely, healthcare, telecom and enterprises and currently has around 1500 people spread across 11 countries. It has registered revenues of around Rs. 200 crores for the FY07 and is targeting around Rs. 450 crores in FY08 with Rs. 280 crores coming in the telecom vertical. Currently, it gets 30% of its revenues from healthcare and telecom segment with the remaining from enterprises.

Read The Economic Times article.

Jet Airways to buy Air Sahara for around Rs. 1450 crores

Jet Airways has agreed to buy out Air Sahara for around Rs. 1450 crores, lower than what it had agreed to pay (Rs. 2300 crores) in January 2006 when the two had signed a contract that got into trouble and litigation.

Both the airlines have seemed to have reached an agreement on the commercial aspects of the deal, which will be submitted to the arbitration panel on 12th April at 5.30 pm, after two days of hectic negotiations. The offer includes Rs. 500 crores that Jet had paid Air Sahara last year. However, it is unclear whether the deal includes the Rs. 300-350 crore-debt on the books of the latter. The offer will not include Rs. 180 crores that Jet had already paid in April 2006 for the normal business operations of Air Sahara.

Jet Airways, in January last year, had signed a share-purchase agreement to acquire 100% equity of Air Sahara. As part of the deal, Jet paid Rs. 180 crores for Air Sahara’s revival and Rs. 500 crores for Air Sahara shares besides depositing Rs. 1500 crores in an escrow account opened for the purpose. However, the deal got into trouble after Jet cited lack of government clearance as the reason to walk out of the deal. The matter then went to court that ordered for the arbitration.

Read more in The Economic Times.

Rajan Raheja-promoted Hathway Investments buys 39% in ING Vysya Mutual Fund

The Economic Times reports that Hathway Investments, a company promoted by realtor Rajan Raheja, has bought out ING Vysya Bank’s entire 39% stake in ING Vysya Mutual Fund for an undisclosed sum. Post this deal, ING will hold 42.5% in the fund, Hathway 39%, and existing Indian shareholder Kirti Equities, will retain 18.5%. The fund would be renamed as ING Mutual Fund. The asset management company’s total assets under management as on March 31, 2007, were close to Rs. 3630 crores. For the year ended March 2006, the AMC had reported a net loss of Rs. 21 crores. This could have depressed the valuation of the fund house, which usually ranges from 4-6% of assets. Hathway, which earlier held a 25% stake in Franklin Templeton, is estimated to have pocketed around Rs. 300 crores from the sale of its stake, less than six months ago.

Bharati Shipyard buys out UK-based shipyard company Swan Hunter

India’s second-largest private sector shipbuilder Bharati Shipyard is acquiring UK-based Swan Hunter Shipyard for an undisclosed amount. The entire machinery and equipment from Swan Hunter will be dismantled and brought to India over six months to be re-built at Bharati’s shipyards. The acquisition might be one of the biggest deals till date in the domestic shipbuilding industry. A comparable new shipyard would have cost Rs. 200-250 crores.

Swan Hunter is a 130-year old shipyard engaged in shipbuilding, ship conversion and construction of offshore structures. It has built over 1600 ships of various types, including more than 400 naval vessels, which includes two aircraft carriers. Swan Hunter has the capacity to build vessels of up to 100,000 dead weight tonnes (DWT).

Through this acquisition, Bharati Shipyard is expected to have fully automated panel line, quayside traveling gantry cranes of up to 180-tonne capacity, 30 overhead traveling cranes of up to 60-tonne capacity, plate rolls, bending presses, robotic profiling machines, and digitally fed plasma burning equipment. This will enable Bharati to build ships and vessels with the capacity of up to 60,000 DWT. Bharati will also acquire the 20,000-ton lift capacity floating dock of Swan Hunter, which will add a lot of value to its existing operation.

Read more in the Business Standard article.

Mumbai-based machine engineering firm makes Canadian acquisition

Mumbai-based machine tool and engineering company Batliboi Limited has acquired Canadian firm Quickmill, Inc. for an estimated Rs. 22 crores.

This is Batliboi’s first acquisition, the logic behind it being leveraging on Quickmill’s distribution network and research and development capabilities. The acquisition will help Batliboi to establish its presence in North-America where Quickmill enjoys around 75% market share in the heat exchanger segment. The company plans to use Quickmill’s distribution network in North America, and utilize its strong R&D capabilities and in turn, conduct detailed engineering for Quickmill’s machinery equipment, heat exchangers, aerospace dies and moulds, bridge-building machinery and other Quickmill products in India.

Batliboi primarily manufactures machine tools, specialized machines, textile air engineering machines and air conditioners at its Surat and Bangalore facilities. The company’s clients include textile manufacturers, automobile manufacturers and power equipment makers, besides hotels which use its air conditioners and refrigerators.

Read the article in The Economic Times.

Suzlon acquires 7.7% of REpower; raises bid to €150 per share

Indian wind power major Suzlon Energy has revised its offer price for REpower Systems of Germany to €150 per share, with an acquisition of 7.7% stake in the German firm. Suzlon has purchased 627,000 shares of REpower Systems through it two step-down, wholly-owned subsidiaries, SE Drive Technik GmbH and Suzlon Windenergie GmbH. With this acquisition, the company has revised the offer price of the voluntary public tender offer to €150 from the €126 for acquiring up to 100% share of REpower. Suzlon has teamed up with Martifer, a unit of Portugal’s largest builder, Mota-Engil, to launch a bid for REpower. Martifer owns more than 25% of REpower.

Earlier in March, French nuclear power firm Areva offered €140 per share for REpower, raising its previous offer of €105 by a third, to top Suzlon’s bid of €126 per share.

Read The Economic Times article.
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Citigroup in talks to buy to hedge fund Old Lane for $600 mn; fund boss Vikram Pandit may get to head Citi’s alternative investments unit

Global banking giant Citigroup is in talks to buy Old Lane, a hedge fund firm co-founded by ex-Morgan Stanley senior executive Vikram Pandit. If such a deal happens, Mr. Pandit would probably be on his way to heading the bank’s alternative investments unit, and probably, also the top job at the world’s largest bank.

The purchase price for Old Lane is estimated to be around $600 mn. Old Lane is thought to have more than $4 bn of assets under management. The alternative investments unit is the smallest of Citigroup’s four main businesses. In 2006, profit at the unit fell 11% to $1.28 bn, and revenue dropped 15% to $2.9 bn. The unit at year-end oversaw $49.2 bn of assets, including $10.7 bn of Citigroup’s prop money.

Vikram Pandit is a former head of Morgan Stanley’s institutional securities division. Once considered a potential successor to former Morgan Stanley chief executive Philip Purcell, Pandit left the investment bank in March 2005 as part of an exodus of senior bankers and traders. He later founded Old Lane with his Morgan Stanley colleagues John Havens and Guru Ramkrishnan.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

Major financial houses in race to acquire UTI Securities stake

Major international financial powerhouses Citigroup, Macquarie Bank, Standard Chartered, Societe Generale and Kuwait-based Global Investment House are in the race to acquire 49% stake in UTI Securities. UTI Securities is currently owned by the Securities Trading Corporation of India (STCI).

STCI had bought 100% stake in UTI Securities for Rs. 265 crores in 2006 from the Specified Undertaking of UTI (SU-UTI). It is now looking to sell 49% stake to a strategic partner. As per the deal, STCI has a minimum lock-in of 51% stake in UTI Securities for three years, which will end in 2008.

The company will now divest 49% stake to a strategic partner, preferably a foreign investor, considering the expertise they would bring in. The talks were at an advanced stage and a prospective strategic partner would be short-listed soon.

Read more in the Business Standard article.

House of Pearl acquires Gurgaon-based Texport Fashions

Apparel company House of Pearl Fashions Limited has acquired textile exports firm Texport Fashions, for just above $1 mn. Texport will exclusively handle orders from departmental store chain JC Penny of the US. House of Pearls is also looking to acquire another facility in Bangladesh.

The new Gurgaon-based facility will also be used by the House of Pearl for servicing its international clients. It has recently received an order of $8-10 mn from JC Penny and the entire production at the newly acquired unit would be used to meet this demand. House of Pearl has concentrated on the woven segment till now but the acquisition of the Gurgaon facility would help it establish a stronghold in the knits segment as well and would also contribute $15 mn to the company.

With regards to the unit at Bangladesh, where House of Pearls already has a presence, the company may run the facility with a joint venture partner with the details to be worked out in a month’s time.

Read The Economic Times article.

NetWeb Solutions acquires WebPercept from JV partner Percept Holdings

The Economic Times reports that media company Percept Holdings has sold its 51% stake in WebPercept, an online and digital media agency, to its joint venture partner NetWeb Solutions. The JV was established in 1999-2000. Post acquisition, WebPercept will be re-christened id8 Labs. NetWeb plans to build id8 Labs into India’s first fully integrated online and digital media agency. The company plans to merge its existing business franchises – under Intentias, its brand in SEM & Media, IMACS (brand in online research) and the NetWeb brand in application development – into id8 Labs. id8 Labs will invest $5 mn in the next 12-18 months through internal accruals, promoter funding and strategic investments to expand its franchise in India and global markets through offices in Dubai and Singapore.

Malaysia’s Astro to invest $166 mn in Sun TV for 20% stake

The Economic Times reports that Malaysian direct-to-home (DTH) service provider Astro will invest $166 mn (€124.1 mn) for a 20% stake in Sun Direct TV, promoted by the Sun TV Network, one of India’s largest television station operators. The new venture aims to provide direct-to-home satellite TV services in India. It expects the new company to incur losses for the first five years, but aims to capitalize on India’s satellite TV market which is expected to add another 150 mn households in the next decade.

The Tata Group restructures shareholding pattern in North Indian Plantation Operations

The shareholding pattern of Amalgamated Plantations Private Limited (APPL), the new company formed by Tata Tea after restructuring its North Indian Plantation Operations (NIPO), is close to finalization. The Tata Group will hold 33-35% in APPL through Tata Investment Corporation (15%) and Tata Tea (18-20%). IL&FS and the World Bank private equity firm IFC will hold 20% stakes each in APPL, while consultancy firm Globally Managed Services will hold 12%. The balance 13-15% will be held by employees and workers of the company.

The company has received SEBI approval for the formation of APPL. Once we get shareholders’ approval, the company will come into existence with effect from April 1, 2007. The transaction process, however, remains to be completed.

Read more in The Economic Times article.
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US paints company Sherwin-Williams to acquire Nitco Paints

Cleveland-based, US paint major Sherwin-Williams marked its maiden entry into the fast-growing Indian paints market by agreeing to acquire Nitco Paints, an unlisted unit of Nitco Tiles, for an undisclosed amount, assumed to be on the lower side of Rs. 200 crores. Sherwin-Williams has also paid an undisclosed sum towards maintaining ties with flagship company and group concern Nitco Tiles. Nitco Tiles is expected to benefit due to the symbiotic relationship between tiles and paints and a common customer base. The Indian management would be retained for now to enable Sherwin-Williams to have a better understanding of the local market. Later, the company would explore the products and technologies to be introduced in India.

Nitco Paints makes and sells exterior specialty paints in western India through a network of about 3,000 dealers. It posted sales of Rs. 80 crores last year. The acquisition will give the US-based company an established presence in the Indian paint industry, which has historically grown by 1.5 to 2 times of the Indian GDP on a year-to-year basis.

Sherwin-Williams is present in other emerging markets such as China, Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina. The company has a distribution network in 20 other countries through wholly-owned subsidiaries, joint ventures and licenses of technology, trademarks and trade names.

Read The Economic Times and the Business Standard articles.
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ICICI Bank re-jigs i-banking operations

India’s largest private sector bank ICICI Bank has restructured its investment banking division, giving it a ‘global’ appellation and new functional lines. The reason cited for the exercise has been the global opportunities emerging through Indian corporates, and the bank’s need to grow beyond trade finance and working capital to corporate advisory, deal origination and M&A funding. Investment banking provided roughly 30% of ICICI Bank’s profit of Rs. 2285 crores in the nine months to December 31, 2006.

The restructuring of i-banking operations has been as follows: Corporate Products & Investment Banking Group has been renamed as the Global Investment Banking Group (GIBG). ICICI Securities, the existing wholly-owned investment banking arm of ICICI Bank, will now focus only on equity markets and research. The investment banking business of I-Sec will shift to GIBG, while the retail equity brokerage part of ICICI Bank, called ICICIDirect.com, is now a part of ICICI Securities. GIBG will have three groups under it: Global Structured Finance & Advisory Group (GSFAG), Financial Institutions and Syndications Group (FISG) and International Syndications Group (ISG).

GSFAG will be responsible for banking products across India and all international markets. FISG will work with GSFAG and ISG for domestic syndication, and with the Balance Sheet Management Group for resource-raising and securitization. It will handle the needs of financial institution clients. For deals where the approving authority requires an amount of the facility to be sold-down or syndicated in the domestic market, the FISG will approve the terms of the facility. It will also originate deals for sell-downs directly, along with GSFAG. FISG will include the Capital Markets Division and the Global Custodial Services Group of the bank. ISG will work with GSFAG and FISG for all international syndications of corporate issuances for Indian as well as international clients. It will approve terms for sell-downs / syndications in the international market and also, along with GSFAG originate deals directly for the specific purpose of sell-downs.

Read the article in DNA Money.

Saraswat Co-operative Bank planning to acquire 4 regional banks

After its successful merger with Mandvi Co-operative Bank in October 2006, Saraswat Co-operative Bank is eyeing four other banks to merge with by June 2007. The banks under consideration are Murgha Rajendra Co-operative Bank and Annasaheb Karale Bank based in Sangli, and the Nashik People Co-operative Bank and Kolhapur Janta Sahakari Bank based in Nashik and Kolhapur, respectively.

Saraswat has already signed a deal with Murgha Rajendra and Annasaheb Karale, whereas the due diligence is on for Nashik People and Kolhapur Janta Sahakari Bank. 11 branches each of Annasaheb Karale, Murgha Rajendra and Kolhapur Janta and 14 branches of Nashik People will be taken over. Saraswat Bank will absorb 200 employees from Murgha Rajendra and 160 employees from Annasaheb Karale.

Read the article from DNA Money.

Hindustan Lever sells Sangam Direct to Spinach promoter Wadhawan Food Retail

Unilever India Exports, a 100% subsidiary of Hindustan Lever, will sell is direct selling business Sangam Direct to Wadhawan Food Retail, for an undisclosed sum. Sangam Direct is a non-store home delivery retail business, while Wadhawan Food Retail operates the Spinach chain of food and grocery stores.

The Sangam business was conceptualized by Hindustan Lever in 2001 to experiment with the direct-to-consumer channel combining the twin benefits of convenience and value. The idea was to test market it in Mumbai under the brand Sangam Direct before taking a decision to extend it across the country. The decision for a larger roll-out was put on hold since Hindustan Lever felt it was not in its strategic interest to continue to be present in this format of organized retail.

Wadhawan Food Retail, is currently present in Mumbai through Spinach, which has about 23 outlets in the city. The Wadhawan Group has diversified business interests including Dewan Housing Finance Limited, a private sector housing finance company.

Read the Business Standard article.
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Hershey forms JV with Godrej Foods; acquires 51% stake in latter

Renowned US-based chocolate maker Hershey has announced a joint venture with Godrej Beverages and Foods Limited, a subsidiary of diversified conglomerate Godrej Industries. The JV, named Godrej Hershey’s Foods and Beverages Limited, would manufacture and distribute confectionery, snacks and beverages across the country.

Under the deal, Hershey will acquire 51% stake in Godrej Beverages and Foods for $60 mn. The parent company Godrej Industries and Hershey will hold 43% in the new venture, and the remaining 6% will be held by JV CEO A Mahendran. Hershey is acquiring 40% from IL&FS which is exiting the venture. Hershey would license to Godrej Foods some of its trademark rights for $2 mn, in addition to royalty payments of less than 5% for domestic sales and 8% for exports. Hershey may also use the facilities of GBFL as a manufacturing base for the company in India. The new entity would get two of Godrej Foods’ existing manufacturing facilities at Mandideep and Chittur.

Read more in The Economic Times article.
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Global Hospitals buys Chennai-based Sankara Hospital for Rs. 257 crores

Hyderabad-based Global Hospitals, part of Ravindranath GE Medical Associates, has acquired Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Sankara Hospital (formerly Tamilnad Hospital) in an all-cash deal, for Rs. 257 crores. The amount would be paid in tranches. The Chennai-based Sankara Hospital is spread over 46 acres and has 450 beds.

In July 2006, a division bench of the Madras High Court had permitted the Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam Charitable Trust to sell the Sankara Hospital. The trust, in its application to sell the hospital, said it could not run it and had become heavily indebted. Subsequently, corporates and healthcare majors, including the Murugappa Group, Satya Sai Hospitals of Chennai, Bangalore-based Shriram Properties, Kolkata-based Advanced Medical and Research Institute and Global Hospitals bid for the property. Global emerged winner by quoting Rs. 257 crores and assured that it would run the existing hospital, retain the employees and provide 50 free beds.

Global Hospitals plans to transform the Sankara Hospital into a ‘Health City’ by incorporating facilities like liver, kidney and a multi-organ transplant institute, a heart and lung institute, neurosciences, trauma, orthopedic and cancer institutes and providing alternative therapy in the next 5-10 years at an investment of around Rs. 750 crores. The acquirer also plans to construct service apartments, and subsequently, also increase the number of beds to 1000.

Read more in the Business Standard article.

Financial Technologies sells 1% in Dubai commodity bourse for $12.5 mn

Indian IT company and MCX promoter Financial Technologies has sold a 1% stake in its Middle East-based venture, the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX), to its partner, the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC). The size of the deal is around $12.5 mn valuing the year-and-a-half old DGCX at $1.25 bn. Financial Technologies would now hold a 49% stake in DGCX.

DGCX is an electronic futures and options exchange which utilizes trading, clearing and settlement technology developed by Financial Technologies. The exchange lists futures contracts in gold, silver, currencies and fuel oil. It has recently announced the imminent launch of futures contracts in steel and options contracts on gold. DGCX has also foreshadowed the future listing of various agricultural, metal, and energy products.

Read the article in Business Standard.
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Ahmedabad-based CRO Synchron acquires local firm Innovance

DNA Money reports that Ahmedabad-based contract research organization (CRO) Synchron Research Services Private Limited has taken over Innovance, a local start-up CRO. The financial details of the transaction, which was facilitated by Deloitte, have not been disclosed. The acquisition is touted as a first-of-its-kind in the Indian CRO space.

Innovance has been co-promoted by Dr. BB Lohray, the former head of research at Zydus Cadila who was in the headlines recently for being fired by the company for alleged embezzlement of funds. The promoters of Innovance wanted to sell off the firm and had approached Synchron 4-5 months ago.

The deal will help Synchron hike its bed capacity to nearly 200 from the 90 and catapult it to the league of Asia’s largest CROs. However, the company is not planning a halt in its inorganic growth strategy anytime soon. It is looking for more acquisitions in India and even in other parts of Asia to increase its Asian footprint, as per company officials.

Q1 2007: M&As – $42 bn; VC / PE – $2.4 bn

The first quarter of Jan-Mar for the calendar year 2007 has seen mergers and acquisitions (M&As) touch a figure of a whopping $42 bn. This has resulted in the M&A / GDP ratio standing at around 18%, against the global average of 8.8%. Out of the total deals announced by India Inc during the quarter, $38.9 bn represent strategic M&As including the big ticket Tata-Corus, Hindalco-Novelis and Vodafone-Hutch deals. In March there were 54 M&A deals announced worth $2.14 bn. The big ones last month were Tata Power’s $1.1 bn deal for a strategic stake in coal assets in Indonesia and Havell’s $300 mn deal to acquire German lighting company SLI Sylvania.

With the spurt in M&A transactions in the Jan-Mar quarter, venture capital (VC) / private equity (PE) investments in India also seem to be riding on a crest. The first quarter of 2007 has seen VC / PE investments almost double to about $2.4 bn across 78 deals compared with $1.4 bn across 69 deals in the same period last year. The figure of $2.4 bn doesn’t include real estate investments made in the first three months of the year. IT, manufacturing, financial services, engineering and construction, transport and logistics are the happening segments, going by investments in these sectors in this quarter. However, there has been a flat growth in VC investments, which accounted for only about $100 mn in Q1 across 15 deals. The figure includes 11 deals in the sub-$10 mn category.

Some of the big deals announced in the first quarter include a combined deal of about $500 mn for stake in National Stock Exchange by New York Stock Exchange, Goldman Sachs, Softbank and General Atlantic; Nimbus Communications received funding of about $125 mn from British PE firm 3i, Cisco Systems and Oman International Fund in January; Khazanah Nasional Berhad, the investment arm of the Malaysian government, hiking its stake in IDFC to 9.95% by paying around Rs. 820 crores in March; Kotak Mahindra Bank’s Private Equity Group investment of Rs. 100 crores in DRS Logistics, a logistics and transportation service provider based out of Hyderabad; ADM, an HK-based fund, invested $82 mn for a 10% stake in SKNL; Ramky Infrastructure, a Hyderabad-based construction company, raised Rs. 125 crores from IL&FS Investment Managers and UAE based Sabre-Abraaj PE Fund.

Read The Economic Times articles – 1 & 2.

Moser Baer Photo Voltaic picks up 40% stake in Slovenia solar company Solarvalue for $10 mn; Warburg Pincus ups stake in Moser Baer

Moser Baer India, through group company Moser Baer Photo Voltaic has acquired 40% stake in Slovenia-based Solarvalue Proizvodnja. Moser Baer would acquire the stake from Germany-based Solarvalue AG, which currently holds 100% stake in the Slovenian company. Solarvalue Proizvodnja is involved in solar silicon production. The total value of investment stands at $10 mn, of which $6 mn is the initial commitment and the balance investment, is based on certain milestones.

Moser Baer Photo Voltaic is in the process of setting up a photo voltaic cell and module manufacturing project with an 80 MW capacity in India’s first renewable energy SEZ at Greater Noida. It has already concluded trials for 40 MW capacity and hopes to commission another 40 MW by the second half of next fiscal. Solarvalue plans to set up a capacity of over 4000 tonnes of solar grade silicon by end of 2008. With the acquisition Moser Baer Photo Voltaic now has a supply agreement for 40% of the output of the solar grid poly-silicon project.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

In a related development, affiliates of private equity investor Warburg Pincus have hiked their stake in Moser Baer to 33.75% through conversion of 47,500 Global Depository Receipts (GDRs). Woodgreen Investment, Bloom Investments, Ealing Investments, Randall Investments and Elm International – all affiliates of Warburg Pincus – have acquired an additional 4.26% stake in Moser Baer. Each GDR represented 100 underlying equity shares, leading to 4.75 mn equity shares. From around 329 mn shares representing 29.49% stake earlier, Warburg Pincus affiliates now holds approximately 376 mn shares.

More in The Economic Times article.

Tata Power to acquire 30% stake in Indonesian coal firm Bumi resources for $1.3 bn

Tata Power will pay $1.3 bn to buy stakes in Indonesian PT Bumi Resources Tbk’s two coal mines. Tata Power will acquire 30% stakes in Bumi’s PT Kaltim Prima Coal and PT Arutmin Indonesia, two of Indonesia’s largest coal mines, and a related trading company. The two coal mines produced 53.5 mn tonnes of coal per year in 2006.

Tata Power will also buy 10 mn tonnes of coal from Kaltim Prima Coal for two proposed power projects with a capacity to generate a total of 7000 MW. The plants will be built on the west coast of India over the next five years.

Tata Power generates 2300 MW of power in the country and has been eyeing coal reserves in Australia, Indonesia and South Africa to tie up supplies for its proposed 15,000 MW-capacity expansion plan. Tata Power needs about 21 mn tonnes of imported coal. The company expects that 50% of the demand will be addressed through this deal.

Tata Power has three months to complete the transaction.

Read more in The Economic Times article.
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Hong Kong-based Kerry Logistics buys 51% stake in Chennai company RFF

Hong Kong-based logistics firm Kerry Logistics Network has picked up a 51% equity stake in Chennai-based logistics company Reliable Freight Forwarders for an undisclosed sum. The Indian promoters will hold 49% in the company now renamed as Kerry Reliable Logistics.

Though the deal has been announced recently, Kerry Reliable Logistics has been in operation in India since October 2006. The focus of Kerry Reliable Logistics in India will be mainly on establishing bonded warehouses and distribution centres. The company plans to establish 2-5 warehouses and distribution centres and the entire exercise will be backed by the Hong Kong company’s IT systems and solution infrastructure. The company will largely look at opportunities in providing four main services – products, sourcing, distribution and project logistics. It hopes to clock revenues to the tune of Rs. 100 crores in 2007-08.

Kerry Logistics Network is part of the Hong Kong-based KUOK Group with diversified interests in logistics, property, hotels & resorts. The 10-year old Reliable Freight Forwarders is part of the Indev Group engaged in providing CFS, transportation, warehousing and container repair services.

Read the article in The Economic Times.

Rain Commodities not to bid anymore for GLC Carbon

Hyderabad-based Rain Commodities’ wholly-owned North American subsidiaries, Rain USA and Rain Canada, have withdrawn as rival bidder to Oxbow’s proposal of C$14.00 per unit for acquiring the assets of the Toronto-based Great Lakes Carbon Income Fund. GLC Income Fund is a trust established to indirectly hold the securities of GLC Carbon USA, Inc., the world’s largest producer of both anode and industrial grade calcined petroleum coke. Rain Canada would receive a termination fee of C$17 mn (Rs. 64 crores) in cash from the fund prior to it actually entering into an agreement with Oxbow as required under the terms of its agreement with GLC Carbon Fund.

Rain USA stills retains the option to sell its indirect 20.22% stake in GLC Carbon, acquired in March 2006, as the fund is required to ensure that US-based Oxbow makes an offer to each stockholder of GLC Carbon to buy such equity interests.

Read the article in Business Standard.
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TCS sells 40% stake Sitel India to JV partner Sitel for $17.73 mn

Business Standard reports that Tata Consultancy Services has divested its 40% stake in the BPO firm Sitel India to US-based Sitel Corporation for $17.732 mn. Sitel India is a joint venture between the Tata Group and Sitel Corporation, formed in 2000, with both parties holding 50% of the equity. Tata International, which holds 10% stake in the JV, has also agreed to sell its stake. The joint venture company provides voice-based contact centre BPO services from India. With over 4000 professionals, the JV is a provider of fully integrated customer care and back office processing services operating from five centers in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Gurgaon.

Glenmark acquires 90% stake in Czech firm Medicamenta

The Economic Times reports that domestic pharma company Glenmark Pharmaceuticals has acquired a majority stake in Czech firm Medicamenta through its wholly-owned Swiss subsidiary, Glenmark Holdings SA. As per the Czech Law, a holding of more than 90% shares in a company would trigger a mandatory takeover bid for the remaining shares. Glenmark will acquire more than 90% in Medicamenta. The financial details of the deal have not been disclosed.

Mumbai-headquartered Glenmark employs 400 scientists and 4000 staff. It sells its products in over 80 countries worldwide and had recorded revenues of $250 mn in the last fiscal year. Medicamenta’s projected revenues for 2007 are about $8 mn. The Czech firm has 60 employees and manufactures 29 solid and semi-solid formulations.

HCL Technologies may bid for Cambridge Solutions

One of India’s premier IT companies, the $1.1 bn-HCL Technologies may bid for Cambridge Solutions, one of the top BPO outfits of the country, valued at around $350 mn. If the deal sails through, it may be the biggest M&A ever in the Indian IT space.

HCL has signaled early interest to acquire around 42% promoter holding put up for sale. The promoters of Cambridge have mandated Lehman Brothers to scout for potential suitors. The promoters of Cambridge, which includes names like ex-McKinsey chief Rajat Gupta, the US-Canadian Bronfman family of Seagram fame, serial investor Ramesh Vangal and former PepsiCo chairman Chris Sinclair, together hold 59.15% stake. It is learnt that Mr. Vangal, who is the single largest individual investor with around 18% stake, is unlikely to offer his shares.

Almost two-thirds of Cambridge’s revenues comes from high-end BPO operations spread across the US, India and Europe. It has a strong presence in the lucrative insurance processing domain, with around 2000 of its total 4500 employees located in the US. HCL has BPO operations at nine centres in India, two in the UK and one in Malaysia, which provide both voice and non-voice services. The BPO operations constitute around 17% of revenues and employ around 10,000 people.

Read the article in The Economic Times.
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Dabur to buy 60% stake in Singapore-based FMCG company Unza for Rs. 675 crores

Dabur is about to acquire over 60% stake in Singapore-based consumer goods company Unza Holdings for Rs. 600-675 crores. Dabur is expected to buy out the holdings of private equity funds Actis and Standard Chartered who hold 30% each in the $150 mn-Singapore company. The deal is touted to be one of the largest overseas acquisition deals in the FMCG space, and make it the third-largest FMCG company in India behind HLL and ITC with manufacturing facilities in China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Unza is a leading personal care manufacturer and marketer in South-east Asia with 48 brands in its portfolio, and is equally owned by the company management and the two private equity funds.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

Merrill Lynch eyes stake in India Infoline distribution arm

US-based brokerage and investment bank Merrill Lynch has initiated talks with India Infoline for acquiring a significant stake in its distribution subsidiary, India Infoline Distribution Company Limited (IILD). Merrill had recently hiked its stake in India Infoline to 14.10%. It may pick up to 26% in IILD for over Rs. 150 crores. In December 2006, India Infoline sold its stake in the subsidiary Khambhat Investment & Trading Company Private Limited, a non-banking finance company, to Merrill Lynch.

Merrill Lynch plans to enter into the Indian mortgage business, and is accordingly planning a tie-up with India Infoline for the same. The company expects to create synergies with India Infoline as it has a wide retail network of over 200 branches. IILD, apart from the distribution of financial products such as mutual funds, IPOs and fixed deposits, also distributes mortgages and loan products.

Read more in the article in Business Standard.

Chennai-based IT firm Quintegra acquires firms in US, Singapore

Chennai-based listed software firm Quintegra Solutions has acquired US-based ValleyUS and Jadelite Technologies of Singapore for a total consideration of $ 10.5 mn (Rs. 46.50 crores). ValleyUS cost $9.5 mn, while the Singapore firm $1 mn.

ValleyUS is focused on domains like client-server, legacy, CRM and e-commerce. It has partnership with big five IT consulting firms in the Silicon Valley. Its major client is publishing house CTB McGraw Hill. Others are EBay, Wal-Mart, E-trade, Wells Fargo Bank, Yahoo, Google and BEA Systems. The acquisition of JadeLite, which has award-winning ERP for educational sector, is expected to improve Quintegra’s market share in the education and training management software.

Quintegra had raised a loan of $5 mn from State Bank of India for part funding the takeover of ValleyUS. The balance amount is to be paid on an earn-out model over a period linked to the firm achieving certain milestones. The takeovers will increase his people strength to 600 from the current 400.

The US market accounts for bulk of company’s revenues and the takeover of ValleyUS has synergies to strengthen its presence there. The US firm had clocked revenues of Rs. 53 crores ($12 mn) for the year ended March 31, 2006 and it is projected to achieve Rs. 80 crores ($18 mn) in 2007-08. The Singapore firm is expected to achieve revenues of Rs. 80 to Rs. 90 crores in the next three years.

Read the article in The Economic Times.

BCCL to buy 3.5% in Refex Refrigerants

The Economic Times reports that Bennett, Coleman & Company Limited (BCCL) will pick up a stake of around 3.5% in Chennai-based Refex Refrigerants, for an undisclosed sum. Refex is engaged in refilling-ozone friendly refrigerants and marketing refrigerant products in India. Refex is the only player in the country which has the distinction of refilling and marketing hydro-fluoro-carbons, which is a non-ozone depleting, environmentally safe refrigerant developed to replace chlorofluorocarbons in several air conditioning and refrigeration applications.

AIG Capital India acquires housing fiancé company Weizmann Homes

AIG Capital India will acquire Bangalore-based housing finance company Weizmann Homes Limited. AIG Capital India is the wholly-owned Indian subsidiary of US-based financial services giant American International Group, Inc. the company is being bought from Weizmann Limited, Federal Bank, Asian Investment & Finance Corporation Limited and other minority shareholders. The transaction is expected to close in April 2007.

Weizmann Homes is a 12-year-old, Bangalore-based housing finance company, with a branch network across 33 cities in India.

This is the second acquisition this year by AIG Capital India in the Indian retail finance industry. Earlier, it had earlier acquired a controlling stake in Chennai-based Vivek Hire Purchase and Leasing.

For more, read the press release on Moneycontrol.com.

Textile firm RSWM picks up 48.17% in Cheslind Textiles for around Rs. 28 crores

Rajasthan Spinning and Weaving Mills (RSWM), an LNJ Bhilwara Group textile company, has acquired a 48.17% equity stake in Bangalore-based Cheslind Textiles from its promoters for Rs. 27.8 crores. Cheslind is a 100% export-oriented unit manufacturing cotton yarn with a turnover of about Rs. 120 crores. Post-acquisition, RSWM would become one of the top yarn manufacturers in terms of the number of spindles. ICICI Securities was the advisor for this transaction.

RSWM is also making an open offer for acquiring another 20% of Cheslind at a price of Rs. 25 per share, at a 16% premium to Cheslind’s closing market price on the bourses. A successful open offer would take the cumulative acquisition cost for 68.17% equity stake in Cheslind Textiles at Rs. 39.3 crores. The acquisition will be financed through internal accruals.

The acquisition brings in a basket of products including super fine count cotton yarns and would also provide RSWM with an established foothold in the international market. The deal would bring an additional 64,500 spindles under RSWM taking its total spindlage to about 360,000 spindles, pegging it amongst the top yarn manufacturers in the country.

Read the article in The Economic Times.
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Torrent Pharma bids $5-6 bn for Merck’s generics business; Ranbaxy pulls out

Two surprising developments have taken place with the Merck deal. Ahmedabad-based Torrent Pharmaceuticals has reportedly emerged as one of the aggressive bidders for German pharma major Merck’s generics business. Torrent has valued Merck Generics at a whopping $5-6 bn. Torrent has made the bid with the help of private equity funds. With this, Torrent joins the league of global pharma giants like Teva, Mylan Laboratories, Novartis and Actavis who are in vying for Merck’s generics business. At the home turf, it is pitted against pharma companies Cipla and Ranbaxy.

Also, it has been learnt that Ranbaxy is pulling out of Merck bid on account of concerns of over-valuation. Ranbaxy was being advised by Goldman Sachs and Citigroup on the deal.

Opto Circuits to buy European medical equipment firm for around €16 mn

Bangalore-based Opto Circuits India Limited is planning to acquire a medical devices company in Western Europe. The name of the company has not been disclosed. The deal, estimated to be around €16 mn, is likely to be an all-cash deal and would most likely be concluded early in the next financial year.

The European company manufactures a wide range of balloon catheters assemblies and related products for coronary and other applications. Opto Circuits has a presence in the non-invasive medical devices segment.

In January 2006, Opto Circuits acquired Germany’s EuroCor GmbH for Rs. 60 crores. EuroCor designs and manufactures stents.

Read more in the DNA Money article.

Dutch firm Robeco to buy 49% in Canbank MF

Dutch asset manager Robeco Groep NV, a part of European banking giant Rabobank Groep, will buy 49% stake in Canara Bank’s asset management arm to gain a foothold in the Indian mutual fund industry.

Robeco has assets under management of €139 bn worldwide and posted operating profits of €233 mn in 2005. It will pay Rs. 115 crores to Canara Bank for its stake in Canbank Investment Management Services Limited (CIMS).

Reserve Bank has given its assent to the proposed venture, and approval from market regulator SEBI and Foreign Investment Promotion Board would be sought soon.

In all, India has 32 mutual fund players with total AUMs of more than Rs. 350,000 crores. Canbank is a relatively smaller player with AUMs of about Rs. 2200 crores.

The asset management company, to be called Canara Robeco, would aim to capture 5% market share in the next five years. The JV would float five new products, especially equity-based, in the coming months.

Read The Economic Times article.

Zydus Cadila acquires Liva Healthcare

Ahmedabad-based pharma company Zydus Cadila has acquired a 97.5% stake in Liva Healthcare in an all-cash deal. The acquisition will be funded through cash accruals and debt.

Zydus expects the acquisition of Liva Healthcare will help the former to establish its presence in the Rs. 1500 crores derma segment, seventh largest therapeutic segment in the Indian pharma market. The market for dermatology products has grown at a CAGR of 14.1% over the last three years.

Zydus’ domestic formulations business contributes to over 50% of the group’s turnover with as many as 17 brands amongst the top 300 pharma brands in India. In the participated segments, the group is a leader in the cardiovascular, gastro-intestinal, women’s healthcare segments and has a strong presence in the respiratory, pain management and anti-infective segments.

Liva Healthcare is growing at more than 15%. It is a profit making company and it is likely to post sales in excess of Rs. 37 crores in 2006-07. Zydus Cadila has a turnover of Rs. 1800 crores. In the past, the group acquired Recon Healthcare, German Remedies, Banyan Chemicals and Alpharma France.

Read the article in Business Standard.

Spices company McCormick planning to acquire Indian spice firms Eastern, Lalah’s

US-based McCormick, the world’s largest spice and seasoning company, is scouting for other Indian companies after its failure to buy MTR Foods, later bought by Orkla Foods of Norway. McCormick is looking at some other South-based spice brands such as Eastern and Lalah’s.

The Rs. 170 crore-Eastern is one of the bigger local players in the packaged spices market. Eastern, with a predominant presence in the southern markets, has been interested in a better national spread through the inorganic route. Private equity firm New Vernon is already an investor in the company. It’s learnt that the McCormick team had also visited other players in the packaged spice market such as MDH and Lalah’s.

McCormick’s joint venture company in India, the Kochi-based AVT McCormick, engaged in processing and exports of spices, is reportedly helping the US company with its acquisition plans. McCormick’s Indian JV, which kicked off in 1994, exports Rs. 100 crores worth of value-added spices to developed markets. AVT has over eight decades of experience in agri-business including rubber, tea and a portfolio of spices.

Read The Economic Times article.

Chinese aluminium firm buys 50% stake in Indian plant

The Times of India reports that Chinese aluminium firm Qingtongxia Aluminium Group is acquiring a 50% stake in an aluminium project of Ashapura Minechem in western India. The outlay on this project is somewhere around $651 mn. This is the first, and the biggest, Chinese investment in India in the aluminium sector. Qingtongxia has obtained approval from the National Development and Reforms Commission, the country’s top planning body. The proposed facility will have an annual capacity of 1 mn tonnes annually.

Areva ups bid price for REpower to €140 / share; Suzlon mulling counter-bidding options

It seems to be the seasons for biddings and counter-biddings. French energy major Areva has upped the price for acquiring Germany’s third-largest wind power company, REpower Systems AG, by putting in a counter-bid of €140 per share. Areva had earlier made an offer to buy stake in REpower at €105 per share, and its revised offer is 33.3% higher than the first bid. The new figure is 11.1% higher than the Suzlon Energy-Martifer’s offer of €126 per share. Suzlon had recently received the approval of German regulator for its bid for REpower Systems. It had offered €1.2 bn ($1.33 bn) to acquire REpower Systems.

Read the Business Standard article.
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Suzlon Energy bids $1.3 bn for German company REpower

It is learnt that Suzlon Energy is likely to revise its offer to buy out REpower. The company is in talks with a consortium of banks led by ABN-AMRO and may come out with a revised offer of close to €160 per share, which will raise the value of REpower to $1.7 bn. Areva’s revised offer has raised the value of REpower to $1.5 bn.

REpower, Germany’s third-largest maker of wind-power equipment behind Vestas Wind Systems and Enercon, reported a profit of €7.1 mn in 2006. In Germany, REpower has a 10% market share.

ITC Foods to bid for UK’s pickles and spices brands Patak’s

ITC Foods may turn out to put in a formal bid for Britain’s popular pickles and Indian curries brand Patak’s. Heinz, which already has a partnership with Patak’s, is also said to be interested in the company. The valuation of Patak’s has been put around £200 mn, which is considered to be bit pricier for potential partners or buyers. ITC Foods has been approached by Patak’s investment banker NM Rothschild with a proposal.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

JP Morgan in talks with Enam for strategic alliance; may buy stake in the latter

Vallabh Bhansali-controlled Enam Financial Consultants, one of the leading home-grown investment banks in India, is learnt to be in talks with JP Morgan for a strategic alliance, and might also include acquisition of equity in Enam, with talks being at an advanced stage.

Lehman Brothers, which had also expressed interest in Enam earlier, is learnt to be out of the race, making JP Morgan the sole candidate for a strategic tie-up. JP Morgan was looking at buying 50 % stake in Enam. JP Morgan had ended its joint venture with ICICI Securities in the late nineties, and has not been very active in the Indian capital market since then.

While JP Morgan is among the top five players in the institutional broking business in India, Enam is a major player in investment banking and in the equity capital market. With its network of over 5000 dedicated franchisees, Enam mobilizes approximately 25% of all funds raised in the Indian equity markets. It is also one of the largest underwriters in India. The company also provides investment banking, corporate advisory, equity, debt and capital market services to companies and institutions.

Read more in the article in Business Standard.

Reliance Industries giving shape to global ambitions; in talks with Carrefour, Dow Chemicals for strategic alliances

Reliance Industries is reportedly in talks with French retail major Carrefour as well as other global players for acquiring controlling stake in these companies to reach out to international consumers with its basket of Indian food produce.

Reliance has created a war-chest of Rs. 100,000 crores and is looking to create international business arms for accessing global markets by leveraging on its supply chain that was put in place as part of the farm-to-fork project. Besides Carrefour, Reliance is also talking to Tier-2 companies like Salisbury and Marks and Spencer for food business.

Carrefour on its part has denied any sort of discussions with Reliance for either a controlling stake in the former or a joint venture. In a related development, Reliance is also in talks with Dow Chemicals and is expected to form a petrochemical JV.

Times Group to acquire 667,000 shares in textile firm Sumeet Industries

Bennett, Coleman & Company Limited (BCCL) has entered into an agreement to acquire 667,000 equity shares in Surat-based textile firm Sumeet Industries. Sumeet is a public-listed company engaged in the manufacturing and export of synthetic textile yarn and export of yarn and fabrics. The funds raised may be used to fund the company’s expansion plans that include increasing its polyester spinning capacity from the existing 12,000 tonne per annum to 56,000 tonne per annum. They are also setting up another 10 lines of polyester spinning plant with an annual installed capacity of 44,000 tonnes.

The company is also planning to develop an industrial park for medium & small industries near Kandla port in Kutch. The company owns 55 acres of land in this area and will be adding another 200 acres on which they will set up the infrastructure like roads, water and power supply.

Article in The Economic Times.

BNP Paribas buys 34.4% stake in broking firm Geojit Financial Services

BNP Paribas, the French banking giant has bought 34.35% in Geojit Financial Services for about Rs. 207 crores ($47 mn). The deal at Rs 26 per share is a combination of equity shares and warrants that could be converted into shares. The bank will also make an open offer to the shareholders of Geojit for another 20% in the company.

With its entry into the retail broking space, BNP has completed another leg of its financial services business in India. BNP already has presence in the life insurance sector through SBI Life Insurance and in the asset management business through Sundaram BNP Paribas Mutual Fund. Riding on Geojit’s experience in Indian stock market, BNP is now considering entry into institutional broking business.

In October, Geojit’s board had approved issuance of up to 79.6 mn shares (of Re. 1 face value) to BNP Paribas. The financial services firm has now issued 56.8 mn shares to BNP Paribas at Rs. 26 per share. It has also issued 22.8 mn warrants to the bank, which would be converted to as many shares at the same price in 18 months.

The post-deal open offer, expected in a few days, could increase BNP Paribas’s stake in Geojit to over 50%. The company’s name will be changed to ‘Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services’ and three members nominated by the French bank will join Geojit’s board. The current management will continue to be in charge of the company.

Read The Times of India article.

Rain, Oxbow bids C$13.50 for GLC Carbon; draws Rain Commodities into bidding war

US-based Oxbow Carbon & Minerals Holdings, Inc. has bettered Rain Commodities’ offer of C$ 13.25 for the assets of Great Lakes Carbon Income Fund consisting of 73.56% ownership interest in GLC Carbon USA, Inc., the world’s biggest calcinated petroleum coke (CPC) maker.

Rain had acquired 20% ownership in the GLC Income Fund in March 2006 at an enterprise value for GLC Carbon at $656 mn. The company was looking at buying out the remaining equity and had entered into an agreement with the GLC Income Fund at a price of C$11.60 per unit. Oxbow entered the bidding on March 7 with an offer of C$13 per unit, forcing Rain to increase the bid to C$13.25. However, Oxbow seems to have bettered Rain’s revised bid with an offer of C$13.50 on Monday.

Oxbow is the world’s largest marketer of petroleum coke, a byproduct of oil refining, used in the production of electrodes for the steel and aluminum industries. Acquiring GLC Carbon will clearly give Oxbow a strangle-hold over the global market. Likewise for Rain, the acquisition means adding to its own substantial CPC capacity through wholly owned subsidiary Rain Calcining which will give it 28% market share in the West and a footprint across the Middle East, US and Argentina.

GLC Carbon has three plants in the US and one in Argentina. Rain has five days to make a revised offer. Oxbow also holds 5% equity in Rain Calcining which is set to be merged with the parent later this month. Rain stands to gain a break-up fee of C$17 mn in case GLC accepts another offer.

Read the article in DNA Money.
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Reliance Industries likely to buy stake in Welspun Gujarat Stahl Rohren

Metal pipes manufacturer Welspun Gujarat Stahl Rohren Limited, the flagship company of the $1 bn-Welspun Group, may reportedly dilute its stake to Reliance Industries.

Reliance Industries wanted to have control in one of the steel pipe-making companies due to its larger interest in oil and gas where pipe companies have a larger role to play. The company recently has made two new natural gas discoveries in its east coast blocks in the Krishna-Godavari and Mahanadi basins. Moreover, the current global boom in oil and gas and spurt of investments in oil companies has sent pipeline demand skyrocketing across the world.

In December, ABN-AMRO picked up 0.67% stake by acquiring 900,000 equity shares of Welspun at a price of Rs. 93 each.

Meanwhile, Welspun Gujarat Stahl Rohren has earmarked an investment of Rs. 1300 crores funded through a mix of equity, overseas and domestic debt to set up a captive steel plant and plate mill. Its manufacturing facilities are located near Dahej in Gujarat.

In the global markets, Welspun Gujarat supplied pipes to oil and gas majors such as British Gas, Exxon Mobil, Shell and Saudi Aramco and in domestic front, it supplies to Gas Authority of India, Indian Oil, ONGC and Bharat Petroleum.

Read more in the DNA Money article.

Havell’s acquire German lighting firm Sylvania for $300 mn

Havell’s India has acquired Germany’s SLI Sylvania’s lighting business for $300 mn (about Rs. 1350 crores) in an all-cash deal, from a group of private equity firms. This is the biggest overseas takeover by an Indian electrical equipment manufacturer in the lighting business.

The acquisition was made through Havell’s Dutch subsidiary, Havell’s Netherlands BV and would be funded through a mix of debt and internal accruals. The combined revenues are expected to be $1 bn. Deutsche Bank was the advisor to Havell’s on the transaction and Barclays Capital would provide the financing to the deal.

SLI Sylvania operates in key geographies of Europe, Latin America and Africa through 10 manufacturing facilities. The company would get access to all of Sylvania’s markets across the world except Mexico, US, Australia and New Zealand where the business is owned by German lighting firm Osram, one of the largest lamp manufacturers in the world. Sylvania Osram had sold its lighting business to a consortium of three private equity funds comprising Subros, JP Morgan and DDG Capital and Havell’s has acquired the business from this consortium.

Read more on this in Moneycontrol.com.
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