Magma HDI raises funding from ICICI Venture, Morgan Stanley, Poonawala group, others

Magma HDI General Insurance has raised funding from ICICI Venture and Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia, Cyza Chem (Poonawalla Group company) and two family offices. The total transaction size is Rs 525 crore: primary capital-raise of Rs 250 crore and secondary sale of Rs 275 crore. The fresh capital will be used for expanding distribution capabilities. The secondary sale helps Magma Fincorp and group companies in complying with guidelines for ownership of insurance companies.

Here are some latest financial news of private equity, venture capital and mergers & acquisitions:

Private Equity

Warburg Pincus to invest in Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone:
Warburg Pincus will invest Rs 800 crore (about $110 million) for a 0.49% stake, in Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone. The board of APSEZ has approved the issuance of shares.

 (Source: VC Circle 8 March, 2021)

Singapore’s Temasek partners with impact investor LeapFrog:
Temasek, a Singapore state-run investment firm, has entered into a $500 million (around Rs 3,654 crore) partnership with LeapFrog Investments, an Africa and Asia-focussed impact investor. This partnership will take the form of a multi-fund investment strategy by Temasek, with the limited partner (LP) acting as an anchor for LeapFrog’s vehicles.

(Source: VC Circle 9 March, 2021)

Ares SSG completes purchase of Altico Capital:
Ares SSG has acquired Altico for about Rs 2,800 crore ($380 million). Ares SSG, the brand name for SSG Capital Holdings after New York-listed Ares Management Corp acquired a controlling stake in the firm, had offered Rs 2,754 crore and promised Rs 354 crore in the form of security receipts. 

(Source: VC Circle 11 March, 2021)

KKR-backed SPAC raises $1.2 bn in US IPO:
KKR Acquisition Holdings I Corp, a blank-check firm backed by private equity firm KKR & Co Inc, had raised $1.2 billion in an upsized initial public offering. The special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) said it sold 120 million units, up from the 100 million units it had marketed earlier, at $10 each.

 (Source: VC Circle 17 March, 2021)

KKR, Sequoia, others invest in small business lender Five Star:
Five Star Business Finance Ltd, a lender to small businesses, has got $234 million (Rs 1,700 crore) from new and existing investors at a valuation of $1.4 billion (Rs 10,300 crore). The round included existing investors – led by Sequoia Capital India with participation from Norwest Venture Partners – as well as new investors led by KKR with participation from TVS Capital.

 (Source: VC Circle 26 March, 2021)

Venture Capital

Drone maker ideaForge raises $2 mn from BlackSoil:
Mumbai headquartered drone startup ideaForge Technology has raised $2 million (about Rs 15 crore) from venture debt and banking financial company (NBFC) BlackSoil. The startup has so far raised around $15 million from US-based WRVI Capital, Qualcomm and Infosys. The fresh funds will be used to meet the working capital requirements of ideaForge.

 (Source: VC Circle 02 March, 2021)

Serum Institute chief exec, others pump more money in Svasti Microfinance:
Svasti Microfinance, which focuses on women, has raised Rs 31 crore (around $4.3 million) from existing investor. Participants in this round include Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla, Nordic Microfinance Initiative, and the Rajiv Dadlani Group.

 (Source: VC Circle 11 March, 2021)

B Capital leads Series F round in Icertis; valuation hits $2.8 bn:
Icertis, an enterprise contract lifecycle manager, has raised $80 million (around Rs 580 crore) in a Series F round, a move that has taken its valuation to $2.8 billion. The round in the United States and India-based company was led by existing investor B Capital Group, whose founders include Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin.

(Source: VC Circle 11 March, 2021)

Amazon Pay raises $30 mn in funding from parent:
Amazon Pay India raised the capital from parent entities Amazon Corporate Holdings in Singapore, which invested the majority share at Rs 224.9 crore, while Mauritius headquartered Amazon.com.incs Limited offered the rest. The payment arm of Amazon in India had raised Rs 2055.03cr across two tranches in 2020.

(Source: VC Circle 15 March, 2021)

Rentomojo raises $1.3 mn in latest tranche of Series C funding round:
Bengaluru-based Edunetwork, which runs online furniture rental platform Rentomojo, has raised Rs 10 crore ($1.3 million as per current exchange rates) in a fresh tranche of the ongoing Series C round of funding from two returning investors. 

(Source: VC Circle 15 March, 2021)

Returning investor Kimera writes fresh cheque for edtech firm iNurture:
Higher education services provider iNurture Education Solutions has raised Rs 71.5 crore (around $10 million) from returning investor Kimera. Bengaluru-based iNurture has allotted 71,49,821 Series C CCDs (Compulsory Convertible Debentures) of Rs 10 each to Kimera to raise the amount.

 (Source: VC Circle 19 March, 2021)

Google, others invest Series A money in DotPe:
DotPe, which helps businesses with online operations, has raised $27.5 mn (around Rs 199.6 crore) in a Series A round. The round DotPe has been led by existing investor PayU. Other participants include Info Edge Ventures and technology giant Google. 

 (Source: VC Circle 26 March, 2021)

Mergers & Acquisition

Wipro to acquire London based Capco in $1.45 bn all-cash deal:
Wipro, the country’s fourth largest IT services exporter, will acquire London based Capco, inclusive of holding companies Cardinal US Holdings and Cardinal Foreign Holdings and its Indian subsidiary Capco Technologies, in a $1.45 billion all-cash transaction. The acquisition is also the second largest in recent years by an Indian IT services company.

 (Source: VC Circle 04 March, 2021)

Axis Bank to buy stake in Max Bupa Health’s promoter:
Bain Capital-backed Axis Bank will acquire a 9.9% stake in the promoter entity of Max Bupa Health Insurance Company, is a joint venture between private equity group True North and Bupa, a global health insurance and healthcare company, for Rs 90.8 crore.

(Source: VC Circle 15 March, 2021)

Transak, Bimaplan raise seed funding; CashRich acquires WealthApp:
Transak, a fiat-to-crypto gateway focused on retail consumers and businesses, has raised $660,000 (around Rs 4.78 crore) in a seed round led by Consensys. It will use the capital raised in this round to recruit more engineers to build Indian operations. Bimaplan, an affordable insurance platform, has raised $500,000 (around Rs 3.62 crore) in seed funding. 

(Source: VC Circle 16 March, 2021)

Allana Group invests in LT Foods; India Quotient leads round in NeoDove:
The Allana Group, an exporter of processed food products and agri-commodities, has picked up a 1% stake in publicly listed LT Foods for Rs 20 crore ($2.76 million). NeoDove, a sales and marketing automation platform focused on SMEs, has raised $1.5 million (around Rs 10.8 crore) in a seed funding round. 

(Source: VC Circle 23 March, 2021)

Piramal Pharma’s contract division to acquire Hemmo:
The contract development and manufacturing organisation of Piramal Pharma Ltd has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of Hemmo Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd for Rs 775 crore ($105.8 million). The acquisition will help Piramal Pharma Solutions enter into the growing peptide active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) market.  

(Source: VC Circle 31 March, 2021)

GlaxoSmithKline to sell Karnataka plant to Hetero Labs:
GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals will sell its manufacturing facility in Karnataka to Hetero Labs for Rs 180 crore ($24.5 million). The sale involves the facility together with the land at Vemgal.

(Source: VC Circle 31 March, 2021)

Uable raises pre-Series A funding, Next Orbit buys 19% of Alan Scott Industries:
Uable, a platform focused on career discovery and skilling for people between the ages of 13 and 18, has raised $3.5 million (around Rs 25.6 crore) in a pre-Series A fundraising round. Uable will use the capital it has raised to build out its team, scale its product, and add more categories for students to explore. 

(Source: VC Circle 31 March, 2021