Corporate Finance Alert – October 2022
Bira91 to Buy Beverage Chain Beer Cafe:
The Beer Café is set to be acquired by beer maker Bira 91 as it eyes a stronger play and offerings in pubs & taprooms market. It presents a huge opportunity for Bira 91 to leverage its infrastructure, experience, and expansion capabilities to further refine The Beer Café’s strong operating model and better serve its loyal & passionate base of beer enthusiasts. Target’s management, led by Rahul Singh who is CEO and founder, will continue to lead the brand’s operations and take the complete responsibility of the newly formed restaurant vertical. The Beer Café operates 33 outlets in 15 cities across tier one, two, and three cities including high traction locations such as malls, high-streets and transit hubs. Backed by Sequoia Capital India, Sofina, and Japan’s Kirin Holding—Bira 91 is available in 500 towns and cities across 15 countries. It brews its beer beers across four breweries in India.
Here is some latest financial news on private equity, venture capital, and mergers & acquisitions:
- Private Equity:
Miko Acquires Majority Stake In AI Gaming Startup:
AI robot maker for kids, Miko, has acquired a 70% stake in Square Off, a gaming platform. The acquisition will provide complete exit for Square Off’s existing investors and the leadership will continue serving their respective roles.
(Source: VC Circle, 5 October 2022)
Tiger Global To Raise New $6 Bn For Enterprise Startups In India:
Tiger Global Management, a New York-based investment firm, is expected to raise USD 6 b for its new fund to invest in early-stage startups in India and other adjoining geographies. The amount being raised is just half of its previous fund signalling slowdown in its investment approach or slowdown in deals across the globe. The revision in fund amount could also be a result of lower-valuation environment.
(Source: VC Circle, 7 October 2022)
Vanity Wagon Raises Fresh Funding In Round Led By Agility Venture:
Vanity Wagon, a clean beauty marketplace, has raised USD 2 million in its pre-Series A funding round led by Agility Ventures Partners and Lotus Herbals Pvt Ltd. Vanity Wagon also raised funds from Inflection Point Ventures, Venture Catalysts, and few HNIs. The fresh proceeds will be strengthen its market position, strengthen brand building, expand its private label portfolio, and offline retail operations apart from investing in its technology and marketing and sales driven strategies.
(Source: VC Circle, 7 October 2022)
Motilal Oswal PE Bets $28 Mn On Footwear Brand Asian Footwears:
Asian Footwears Pvt Ltd., a New Delhi-based brand has raised USD 28 million from Motilal Oswal group-backed funds India Business Excellence Fund-IV, managed and advised by MO Alternate Investment Advisors Pvt Ltd.
(Source: VC Circle, 10 October 2022)
KKR To Acquire Ness Digital For $500 Mn:
A definitive agreement has been executed between global investment firm, KKR and digital solutions provider Ness Digital Engineering from The Rohatyn Group. The total deal amount is estimated at over USD 500 million and is part of KKR’s Asia Fund IV.
(Source: VC Circle, 27 October 2022)
- Venture Capital:
Listed U Gro Capital Raises Funding Via ECB Route:
U Gro Capital Ltd, a listed-fintech platform, has raised USD 5 million via external commercial borrowings (ECB) from Liechtenstein-based EMF Microfinance Fund, AgmvK. U Gro Capital will deploy these funds to extend credit to underserved business sections.
(Source: VC Circle, 03 October 2022)
Hummingbird Ventures Leads Seed Funding Round In Vance:
Vance Techlabs Pvt Ltd operated Vance, a cross-border neobanking platform has raised USD 5.8 million in its seed funding round led by Hummingbird Ventures with participation from Global Founders Capital, YCombinator, Soma Capital and seasoned angels such as Alan Rutledge and Gokul Rajaram. The fresh proceeds will be used to fund development of international banking vertical and go live in UAE & the UK by December 2022.
(Source: VC Circle, 03 October 2022)
Waaree Energies Raises Rs 1,000 Cr:
Waaree Energies Ltd, a solar panel manufacturer, has raised c. INR 1000 crore from HNIs and family offices to grow its production capacity for solar modules & foray into solar cell manufacturing. The funds will be used to ramp up solar module production from 5 gigawatt (GW) to 9 GW by March 2023. It is also planning to start manufacturing of solar cells by September 2023. Waaree has acquired 100 acres to set up a new facility at Chikhli in Navsari district, Gujarat. The plant will have production capacity of 7 GW of solar modules, and 5.4 GW of solar cell.
(Source: VC Circle, 06 October 2022)
Saama Capital, Twin Ventures Bet On Legal Tech Firm Oddr:
Oddr, a legal tech startup has raised USD 2 million in its seed funding round co-led by Saama Capital and Twin Ventures. The seed fundraise also saw participation from angel investors from the US, Singapore and Germany. The Silicon Valley and India-based firm will use the fresh proceeds to build its artificial intelligence-backed invoice-to-cash hub for legal companies, onboard more clients and hirings.
(Source: VC Circle, 10 October 2022)
Inflexor Ventures, Omnivore Back Agribiotech Startup BioPrime:
BioPrime AgriSolutions Pvt Ltd, an agricultural biotechnology startup has secured INR 9 crore in its pre-Series A funding round led by Inflexor Ventures with contribution from existing investor Omnivore. The agri-tech firm plans to deploy fresh funds for expansion, ramping up its production capabilities and for its product sale registrations.
(Source: VC Circle, 10 October 2022)
PhysicsWallah Makes Two Acquisitions:
Edtech unicorn and the latest entry into edtech space, PhysicsWallah, has acquired test preparation platform PrepOnline and exam preparation books publisher Altis Vortex for an undisclosed amount in a cash-and-stock deal. The Noida-based company backed by GSV Ventures and Westbridge marks its second acquisition after turning unicorn in June 2022. In August, it acquired Jaipur-based doubt-solving and resource management startup, FreeCo for an undisclosed amount.
(Source: VC Circle, 13 October 2022)
Elevation Capital, Jungle Ventures, Others Write $15 Mn Cheque To Drivetrain:
Drivetrain AI Inc., a financial planning, monitoring and decision-making platform, has secured USD 15 million in a Series A funding round led by Elevation Capital, Jungle Ventures and Venture Highway with participation from several executives from tech and finance domain. The fresh proceeds will be deployed to boost Drivetrain’s product development and expand its go-to-market team.
(Source: VC Circle, 19 October 2022)
- Mergers & Acquisition:
Naspers Terminates Deal To Acquire BillDesk For $4.7 Bn:
Naspers-owned Prosus has terminated its USD 4.7 billion agreement to acquire payments solutions provider BillDesk, a month after deal between Prosus arm PayU and shareholders of BillDesk was cleared by the Competition Commission of India.
(Source: VC Circle, 03 October 2022)
Info Edge Acquires Majority Stake In Coding Ninjas:
Info Edge, a listed pure-play internet player has bought majority stake in Delhi-based online learning platform Coding Ninjas in a cash deal amounting INR 135.4 crores. This stake buy makes Infor Edge a majority stakeholder at 51% compared to 26% earlier.
(Source: VC Circle, 05 October 2022)
Spotify Acquires Firm That Detects Harmful Content:
Audio-streaming service Spotify has announced its acquisition of Kinzen, a firm that identifies harmful content on the platform. This acquisition is part of Spotify’s extended efforts to deal with harmful content on its service platform after backlash in the beginning of 2022.
(Source: VC Circle, 05 October 2022)
Moglix Acquires ADI’s India Distribution Business:
Moglix, Tiger Global-backed industrial goods marketplace, has announced its acquisition of ADI Global Distribution’s India business to strengthen portfolio across video surveillance, access control and fire control products. The financial details were not disclosed and this deal marks Moglix’s third-acquisition this year.
(Source: VC Circle, 11 October 2022)