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October 07, 2005
Chennai, India
Arun Natarajan
CEO
Tel: +91-98410-10521
Email: arun@ventureintelligence.in
Private
equity firms invest over US$528-M during July-Sept. 2005
Renewal of interest among PE firms to invest in
IT & ITES companies and highly successful exits like HT Media and I-flex were
the highlights of the latest quarter, a Venture Intelligence India study
reveals.
Chennai, India:
Private Equity and Venture Capital firms invested over half-a-billion US dollars
in India during the three months ended
September 2005, according to data from Venture Intelligence India (http://www.ventureintelligence.in),
a division of TSJ Media. PE firms invested
about US$ 528 million across 28 India-based
companies during the latest quarter. “The
amount invested was significantly higher
compared to the same period last year (during
which 8 companies had raised about $90 million) as well as the April-June 2005
quarter (which had witnessed 36 investments totalling about $395 million),”
said Arun Natarajan of Venture Intelligence India.
The $100 million invested by Newbridge Capital in Shriram
Holdings, the truck financing holding company of the Shriram Group, was the
largest deal announced during the period. The second largest investment in the
quarter was ICICI Ventures’ $59.8 million buyout of the refractory business of
Associated Cement Companies (ACC), according to the Venture Intelligencer India
survey. Nimbus Communications and Perlecan Pharma (a spin-off from Dr.Reddy's
Labs), both of which raised $45 million, were tied in third place.
With six deals worth about $55 million, the IT & ITES sector
re-emerged on the radar of PE firms during the quarter. IT companies that raised
PE funding during the period include Nevis Networks, July Systems, VisualSoft
Technologies and Four Soft. Manufacturing, which was the most active sector
during the previous quarter, followed second with five investments worth $98
million. PE firms also continued to favour sectors like healthcare & life
sciences, textiles and media.
Mega Exits
PE firms obtained exit routes for their investments in 11 Indian
companies during the latest quarter, including three via IPOs. HT Media’s $86
million IPO was the largest PE-backed IPO during the period, the Venture
Intelligence India survey revealed. The July-September quarter also witnessed
two mega-sized exits via M&A deals: Essar Group’s $1.56 billion acquisition of
BPL Communications and Oracle Corp’s $593 million buyout of Citigroup Venture
Capital’s stake in i-flex Solutions.
About Venture Intelligence India
Venture Intelligence India, a division of Chennai, India-based
TSJ Media Pvt. Ltd., is the leading source of information on private equity,
venture capital and M&A deals in India and Indian-founded companies worldwide.
For more information, please visit
www.ventureintelligence.in | 
