Corporate Finance Alert April 2024 – Godrej Family to Split Conglomerate into Two Part

India’s Godrej family has decided to restructure its shareholding in the conglomerate to operate as two entities, Godrej Enterprises and Godrej Industries. The realignment will be implemented after the relevant regulatory approvals have been obtained, after which the two companies will continue to use the Godrej brand.

Godrej Enterprises Group (GEG) will be headed by 75-year-old Jamshyd Godrej as chairperson and managing director and his niece Nyrika Holkar as executive director. The group has been split between two branches of the founding family, with Adi Godrej (82) and his brother Nadir (73) on one side and their cousins Jamshyd Godrej (75) and Smita Godrej Crishna (74) on the other.

(Source: VC Circle, 01st May 2024)

Private Equity

• ADIA, Kotak AIF Ink $240 Mn Real Estate Deal with Prestige Estates

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, a sovereign wealth fund of the Gulf emirate, and India’s Kotak Alternate Investment Fund have signed a $240 million (around INR 2,001 crore) deal with Prestige Estates Projects Ltd for housing projects with a combined gross development value of over $2.16 billion (around INR 18,000 crore). The deal involves the development of residential projects across Bengaluru, Mumbai, Goa, and the National Capital Region, marking the Gulf-based sovereign fund’s foray into India’s residential real estate market.

(Source: VC Circle, 1st April 2024)

• B2B Marketplace Procmart Raises $30 Mn in series B round.

ProcMart, a business-to-business marketplace, which counts investors like Sixth Sense Ventures and IndiaMART’s chief executive Dinesh Agarwal amongst its backers, has raised $30 million (around INR 250 crore) in its Series B round. The round was led by Nandan Nilekani and Sanjeev Aggarwal’s VC fund Fundamentum Partnership and the Edelweiss Discovery Fund, with participation from South Korea-based Paramark Ventures.

(Source: VC Circle, 16th April 2024)

• Macquarie Floats India-Focused Fund to Back Commercial Electric Mobility

Australia’s Macquarie Group launched an EV financing platform for India that will focus 95% of its $1.5 billion (around INR12,507 crore) investment on electrifying fleets of commercial vehicles. The platform, called Vertelo, will offer financing, fleet management, and charging infrastructure solutions. The remaining 5% of the investment will go towards charging infrastructure and other requirements.

(Source: VC Circle, 22nd April 2024)

• Advent International to invest $296 Mn in Apollo Hospital Unit

US-based private equity firm Advent International has agreed to invest $296 million (around INR 2,475 crore) to pick up a minority stake in Apollo HealthCo Ltd, a subsidiary of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd. The PE firm will invest INR 1,732 crore in the first stage and INR 743 crore in the second phase. The transaction would enable the merger of two units under Apollo Healthco-wholesale pharma distribution vertical Keimed Pvt Ltd and digital healthcare business Apollo 24/7.

 (Source: VC Circle, 26th April 2024)

• Bahrain’s Investcorp to Acquire NSE’s Digital Arm for $120 Mn

Bahrain-based private equity and real estate investor Investcorp has entered into an agreement to acquire NSEIT, the digital technology business subsidiary of National Stock Exchange (NSE) for an $120 million (around INR 1,000 crore). The transaction, however, will exclude the digital examinations vertical housed under NSEIT.

(Source: VC Circle, 29th April 2024)

Venture Capital

• Payments Platform Innoviti secures Pre-IPO funding from existing investors

Payment-focused retail software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform Innoviti has raised $4.8 million (around INR 40 crore) from its existing investors as part of its ongoing Series E funding round. The round, which is a pre-IPO funding exercise, was co-led by Bessemer Venture Partners and Patni Family Office, with the rights issue subscribed by early angels and founders.

(Source: VC Circle, 1st April 2024)

• LeapFrog Leads $48 Mn Series B funding in Electronica finance

Electronica Finance Ltd, which provides loans to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), has raised $48 million (around INR 400 crore) in a Series B funding round. The equity round was led by global impact investor LeapFrog Investments, with participation from Aavishkaar Capital.

(Source: VC Circle, 4th April 2024)

• Lets Transport Raises $22 Mn in Series E from Bertelsmann, Others

Trucking aggregator LetsTransport has raised $22 million (around INR 184 crore) in its Series E funding round, led by existing investors Bertelsmann India Investments.

Rebright Partners, NB Ventures, ALES Global, Stride Ventures, and CAC Capital, among others, also participated in the funding round. This fundraise will help LetsTransport accelerate its mission to modernise India’s trucking industry by aggregating more than 10 million fragmented truckers. 

(Source: VC Circle, 4th April 2024)

• Grey Collar Training, Recruitment Platform Beyond Odds Raises $11 Mn in Seed Round

Grey-collar training and recruitment platform Beyond Odds has raised $11 million (around INR 91 crore) in a seed funding round. The round which is a mix of equity and debt was led by Lightspeed and Matrix Partners India. InnoVen Capital and Alteria Capital also participated in the round along several other angel investors including Ritesh Agarwal (Oyo), Gaurav Munjal (Unacademy), Mayank Kumar (Upgrad) amongst others.

(Source: VC Circle, 18th April 2024)

• IPO Bound NBFC Northern Arc Raises $80 Mn from IFC

Non-banking lender Northern Arc, which recently refiled its preliminary papers for a public listing, has raised $40 million (around INR 333 crore) in equity and another $40 million (around INR 333 crore) in debt from International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-sector investment arm of the World Bank Group.

 (Source: VC Circle, 24th April 2024)

Mergers & Acquisitions

• EaseMyTrip buys 4.94% stake in B2B Travel Platform

Mumbai-listed online travel aggregator EaseMyTrip has invested $4 million (around INR 33 crore) in Mumbai-based business-to-business travel tech platform E-Trav Tech Ltd in an all-cash deal. As part of the transaction, EaseMyTrip picked up INR 55 crore fully paid-up equity shares of E-Trav, constituting about 4.94% of the aggregate post-allotment paid-up share capital on a fully diluted basis

(Source: VC Circle, 1st April 2024)

• Indusland Bank Promoters to acquire 60% of Invesco’s India Arm

Promoters of private lender IndusInd Bank entered into an agreement to acquire a 60% stake in the Indian arm of global asset manager Invesco. After the deal, Invesco will keep a 40% stake in Invesco Asset Management India (IAMI), the fifth largest foreign asset manager with assets under management worth $10.3 billion (around INR 85,882 crore) as of March 31 2024.

(Source: VC Circle, 9th April 2024)

• Gautam Adani, Family raises Stake in Ambuja Cements to 70%

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s family raised its stake in Ambuja Cements to 70.3% from 66.7% with a $996.7 million (around INR 8,310 crore) investment, in a move to help the cement maker boost its production capacity. Intense competition in the Indian cement sector has led to companies rushing to ramp up production capacities as demand for construction materials remains buoyant.

(Source: VC Circle, 17th April 2024)

• Dialog Axiata to buy Bharti Airtel’s Telecom Operations in Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan telecom operator Dialog Axiata has signed a definitive agreement to buy Bharti Airtel’s operations in the island nation, nearly a year after the merger was announced. Under the agreement, Dialog Axiata will acquire a 100% stake in Airtel Lanka by issuing Bharti Airtel a 10.4% stake in Dialog Axiata. 

(Source: VC Circle, 18th April 2024)

• Convergent Backed Agilitas Sports Acquires Exclusive Rights for Lotto in India, Australia

Indian sports and athleisure company Agilitas Sports has acquired exclusive rights to design, manufacture, and distribute products of popular Italian sports brand Lotto across India and Australia, with plans to expand to South Africa. Agilitas, headed by former Puma India Managing Director Abhishek Ganguly, will buy the brand license from New York investment firm WHP Global and aim to launch the Lotto products in India by early 2025. 

(Source: VC Circle, 19th April 2024)

 

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