Weekly finance and Corporate Deals

1. Top Headlines
Lodha snaps Canadian embassy building in London for
$530M.
IL&FS Transportation Networks signs JV agreement with 3
Chinese firms.
SEBI relaxes rules for infra debt funds.
Tech Mahindra to merge Mahindra Engineering with itself.
Quadria Capital may buy ICICI Venture’s majority stake in
Medica Synergie.
Bafna Pharmaceuticals looking to raise capital; Mylan said
to be among suitors.
Bharti Airtel plans to raise $1B via Euro bonds.
Danone, Fonterra & Nestle vie for Hyderabad-based
Creamline Dairy stake.
Dabur India to buy Northern Aromatics' Uttarakhand unit
for $2.4M
Inside The Story
Lodha snaps Canadian embassy building in London for
$530M.
Mumbai-based private property developer Lodha Group has acquired
the Canadian embassy building in London's Mayfair district for $530
million (Rs 3,300 crore) in its biggest move overseas. Lodha Group,
which claims to be India’s largest real estate developer, has exchanged
contracts to acquire the landmark MacDonald House in central London
from.Located on Grosvenor Square, this prominent building bears the
address of 1 Grosvenor Square and is touted as one of the most
prestigious addresses in the world, located close to Buckingham
Palace.In February this year, the Canadian government first announced
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2. the sale of the building to reposition Canada House on Trafalgar Square
in the heart of London to consolidate the Canadian High Commission’s
diplomatic activity in the UK in one central London location.The
property is believed to have a total saleable area of 1.6 lakh square feet
and with this project, Lodha will be able to connect with global
investors.
IL&FS Transportation Networks signs JV agreement with 3
Chinese firms
IL&FS Transportation Networks Ltd (ITNL), through its Singaporebased subsidiary ITNL International Pte Ltd (IIPL), has signed an
agreement with three Chinese firms to set up a joint venture (JV) firm to
expand its services to overseas projects in Southeast Asia, Africa, South
America and China, as per a stock market disclosure.The JV will be
formed under Chinese laws and named as Chongqing Heng Yi Project
Maintenance and Technology Consultancy Ltd.IIPL, which has signed
the agreement with three firms—Chongqing Expressway Group
Company Ltd (engaged in operation and construction of toll roads),
Jiangsu Transportation Institute (an engineering technology research
centre) and China Railway 13th Bureau Group Co Ltd—will hold 28 per
cent stake in the JV.
SEBI relaxes rules for infra debt funds
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) relaxed fundraising
rules on Friday for infrastructure debt mutual funds in its continued bid
to channel long-term capital to finance the country's highways, toll
roads and bridges.The SEBI said on Friday it would allow foreign feeder
funds that get at least 20 per cent of their managed assets from longterm investors such as sovereign wealth funds and pension funds to
qualify as "strategic investors".That distinction is important given SEBI
requires these infrastructure debt funds (IDFs), which operate as
mutual funds, to get a minimum commitment of Rs 250 million from
strategic investors before launching.
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3. Tech Mahindra to merge Mahindra Engineering with itself
Mahindra Group is merging its engineering services unit Mahindra
Engineering Services Ltd with its flagship IT services company Tech
Mahindra Ltd, as per a stock market disclosure.According to the scheme
of amalgamation, Mahindra Engineering shareholders will get five
shares of Tech Mahindra for every 12 shares of Mahindra Engineering.
All assets and liabilities of Mahindra Engineering will be transferred and
vested in Tech Mahindra, the company said in the release.Mumbaibased Mahindra Engineering Services is engaged in providing
engineering services to automotive, aerospace and the manufacturing
industry.
Quadria Capital may buy ICICI Venture’s majority stake in
Medica Synergie.
Asian healthcare sector-focused private equity firm Quadria Capital is
close to acquiring ICICI Venture’s majority stake in Kolkata-based
Medica Synergie Pvt Ltd for Rs 160 crore, according to media reports.If
the deal goes through, this investment would be made from Quadria’s
second fund which recently made first close at $107 million and
targeting a final close at $300 million.Earlier this year, Quadria Capital
founded by Amit Varma, Abrar Mir and William Costello acquired
Milestone Religare Investment Advisors Pvt Ltd which is an equal joint
venture between Milestone Capital and Religare.
Bafna Pharmaceuticals looking to raise capital; Mylan said
to be among suitors
Chennai-based small size drugmaker Bafna Pharmaceuticals Ltd is
looking at various options to raise capital, as per a stock market
disclosure on Tuesday.It was responding to a story in The Economic
Times, which said that US-based Mylan and two other Indian companies
are looking to acquire Bafna.Bafna said the media reports are
speculative but said it is in negotiations for a deal which is at a primitive
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4. stage right now.Bafna’s net sales rose to Rs 175 crore last year
compared with Rs 128 crore in FY12. Its net profit increased from Rs 1.8
crore to Rs 3.96 crore in the same period.Earlier, Bafna, which
manufactures drugs for iron deficiency under the Raricap brand,
announced that it will diversify into pain killer and anti-infective
segment by launching new products.
Bharti Airtel plans to raise $1B via Euro bonds.
Bharti Airtel is looking to raise up to $1 billion (Rs 6,225 crore) by
selling bonds mainly to European investors as India's largest telco seeks
to boost its coffers in preparation for upcoming spectrum auctions and
for potential acquisitions. The proposed bond issue - Bharti Airtel's
third in 2013 - is part of the company's strategy to ready a war chest of
$3-4 billion to outbid rivals in the crucial spectrum auctions likely in
January, and buy out smaller operators once the consolidation drive in
India's telecom industry begins. JPMorgan, Barclays, UBS Investment
Bank, Standard Chartered and BNP Paribas - as joint book runners and
lead managers for the bond issue. Investor meetings would begin in
Europe on November 27.
Danone, Fonterra & Nestle vie for Hyderabad-based
Creamline Dairy stake.
Three of the world's biggest dairy firms - Danone, Fonterra and Nestle
are in contention to acquire a stake in Hyderabad-based Creamline
Dairy Products after the promoters and private investor Godrej Agrovet
initiated the sale. The divestment could value Creamline, he fourthlargest private supplier of milk in South India with a 15% market share,
at about Rs 1,000 crore, said two people with direct knowledge of the
negotiations. Godrej Agrovet bought a 26% stake in the 27-year-old
company in December 2005 and is looking to sell it. Almost 60% of the
company is held by four families and another 14% by their associates.
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5. The company has hired HDFC Bank to manage the deal. Though the
promoters want to sell substantial minority stake of up to 49% they are
not completely averse to the idea of selling a majority stake of 51% if
the valuation is attractive, a source said.
Dabur India to buy Northern Aromatics' Uttarakhand unit
for $2.4M
Fast moving consumer goods maker Dabur India Ltd has struck a deal to
buy the business undertaking of Delhi-based Northern Aromatics Ltd's
(NAL) located at Pantnagar in Uttarakhand for Rs 15 crore ($2.40
million) on a slump-sale basis, as per a stock market disclosure. The
agreement has been executed on November 18, 2013.NAL is an existing
vendor of Dabur. The facility will be used to manufacture food products,
ayurvedic medicines and cosmetics.This unit deals in tooth
powder/ayurvedic extracts & intermediate confectionery and
perfumery compounds/synthetic essential oil. It manufactures glucose,
shampoos and shilajit for Dabur. NAL, which has its corporate office at
Ghaziabad in Delhi-NCR, was incorporated in 1979. It has
manufacturing operations at three locations: Sahibabad, UP; Baddi in HP
and Pantnagar in Uttarakhand.
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