Page 14 - Investment

Kinara Capital closes Rs 200 crore in fresh equity round, led by BII

Kinara Capital, a fintech company serving small business entrepreneurs, on Friday announced closing a fresh equity round of approximately Rs 200 crore led by British International Investment (BII), the UK's development finance institution. "Existing equity investors Nuveen and the ASN Microkredietfonds advised by Triple Jump also participated in this round," it said in a statement. "This equity investment will aim to propel Kinara Capital to grow 5x by 2025 and reach an AUM (assets under management) of Rs 6,000 crore by democratising access to formal financial inclusion with its myKinara App," the statement said. Bengaluru-headquartered Kinara Capital said it plans to reach over two lakh MSMEs across 100-plus cities in India in the next three years. British High Commissioner to India, Alex Ellis, was quoted as saying: "Women-led Fintech Company Kinara champions female empowerment and provides easier access to capital for small entrepreneurs across India. The British Government is .

KKR to acquire Ness Digital Engineering; deal size estimated at $500 mn

Global investment firm KKR will acquire Ness Digital Engineering from The Rohatyn Group in a deal estimated to be worth USD 500 million. "KKR...today announced the signing of definitive agreements under which KKR will acquire 100 per cent of Ness Digital Engineering, a global full-lifecycle digital services transformation company, from The Rohatyn Group," the statement said. A source privy to the development said that the deal is valued at about USD 500 million. Headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey, Ness is a provider of digital transformation services that specialises in building digital software products and platforms. Ness has a pool of 4,000 staff spread across Eastern Europe, the USA, and India, with 45 per cent of its staff members here. Gaurav Trehan, Partner and CEO of KKR India said that digital transformation and adoption is a critical strategy for businesses of all sizes, worldwide. "Against this backdrop, KKR believes that Ness is well-positioned for growth...KKR is .

Beautiful minds of the investment world

David M Rubenstein's compilation of interviews with star money managers is a joy to read

JSW Group to foray into lending with Rs 400 cr investment in captive NBFC

The Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Group is foraying into the lending space with an investment of up to Rs 400 crore in a captive non-bank lender housed in its e-commerce arm, a senior official has said. The non-bank finance company (NBFC) will be a subsidiary of the JSW One Platforms (JSWOP) and will be doing purchase finance for buyers on the newly started e-commerce arm, Gaurav Sachdeva, the chief executive of JSWOP, told PTI in a recent interaction. Eventually, the NBFC can help out other companies in group like cements, steel or paints by offering financing solutions, Sachdeva, who has worked in the financial services space earlier, said. Sachdeva said at present, the micro, small and medium enterprises which form JSWOP's clientele are not served by the banking sector as well as they should be, and hence, the USD 22 billion JSW Group felt a need to enter the space. He said JSWOP will invest around Rs 350-400 crore in the NBFC over the next two years, and the same is a part of an overa

Three-five-year gilts are attractive in current times, say experts

For tax-efficient exposure, go for target maturity funds maturing in 2026-2028

ADIA, KKR, Brookfield to invest in UPL companies as restructuring move

KKR, the US-based private equity firm, will separately invest Rs 2,460 crore to pick up a 13.33 per cent stake in Advanta Enterprises, a subsidiary of UPL.

IDBI Bank privatisation: LIC to recover its investment by time of sale

State-owned insurance behemoth LIC is expected to recover its Rs 21,624 crore investment it had made in IDBI Bank as share prices are likely to rebound to 2019 levels by the time the lender is privatised, an official said. The official said that since the commencement of the IDBI Bank privatisation process in May last year, the share price has jumped from Rs 35 a share to Rs 45 a piece currently. "We are expecting IDBI Bank scrip to move up further. The price is expected to move up closer to the price at which LIC had picked up stake in 2019," the official told PTI. The government and Life Insurance Corp (LIC) together hold 94.72 per cent in IDBI Bank. Of this, LIC's holding is 49.24 per cent, while the government holds the rest 45.48 per cent stake. Public shareholders hold 5.28 per cent. LIC had bought a 51 per cent stake in IDBI Bank in 2019 for Rs 21,624 crore at an average price of Rs 61 per share. Following a QIP issue in December 2020, the stake of LIC came down to 49 per ..

UK FTA deadline depends on talks: Commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal

Deadline for agreement will depend on talks, he says as Diwali timeline goes by

Asian Paints announces Rs 2,400-cr capex plans for two manufacturing units

Asian Paints on Thursday announced Rs 2,100 crore of phased investment to set up a new plant to produce vinyl acetate ethylene emulsion (VAE) and vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) in the country. The company also announced another Rs 550 crore of investment to set up a white cement plant in the UAE in partnership with two local firms there. The board has approved setting up of a manufacturing facility for VAE and VAM in the country. The company will invest around Rs 2,100 crore in the plant over the next three years, which includes the cost of land, the company informed the stock exchanges without giving other details like the location of the plant among others. The statement also said the plan is subject to entering into definitive agreements, including technology licence agreement from the US-based Kellogg Brown & Root, for manufacturing VAM and VAE and obtaining the necessary regulatory and other approvals. The proposed plant will have an installed capacity of 1 lakh tonne per annum .

Ahmedabad airport plan: Adani to invest Rs 10k cr to triple flier capacity

The Adani group wants premium brands to open more outlets at the Ahmedabad airport to ensure higher average transaction value

Wipro Consumer Care-Ventures invests in Indonesia based start-up, YOUVIT

The brand is focused on creating premium quality, yet affordable, products to support the daily lifestyle needs of the consumers

Uday Kotak, Asia's richest banker, weighs $1-bn real estate fund: Report

Kotak Investment plans to complete the fundraising by the end of this year and to embark on its investment in 2023, focusing on residential property in India's top five cities

About Rs 95,000 cr to be invested in aviation sector in next 4 yrs: Scindia

Stressing on the importance of helipads in providing last-mile connectivity, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday urged the states to set up helipads in every district.

ONGC eyes stake in Russian entity managing Sakhalin 1, says report

India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp plans to take a stake in the new Russian entity that will manage the Sakhalin 1 project in the far east

Avataar Venture Partners launches new fund, with a target size of $350 mn

Avataar Venture Partners said the launch of the new fund highlights the huge market opportunity in business-to-business (B2B) tech and SaaS sectors which have been resilient through the funding winter

PE investments in retail real estate down 63% to $303 mn in Jan-Sep: Report

Private equity investments in retail real estate space fell 63 per cent to USD 303 million during January-September as investors were concerned about possible impact of high inflation on consumption, according to Knight Frank. The private equity investments in retail stood at USD 817 million in the corresponding period of the last year. "Investors avoided the retail sector due to concerns about the potential negative effects a high inflation environment would have on the sector," real estate consultant Knight Frank India said in a report 'Trends in Private Equity Investments in India (9Month 2022). However, the consultant felt that the retail sector would continue to observe capital commitments from investment platforms that remain bullish on its growth prospects. Since 2011, the retail real estate has attracted USD 3,944 million worth of PE investments through 31 deals. Unlike office assets, investor interest in retail goes beyond major metros, the consultant said. Overall, Knig

Fireside Ventures announces $225-mn fund for investment in Indian startups

Venture capital firm Fireside Ventures on Wednesday announced closing of its third fund at USD 225 million or Rs 1,830 crore, which it plans to invest in Indian startups over a period of the next 10 years. The new fund is double the size of its previous fund. "We have closed out Fund III at USD 225 million which is about Rs 1,830 crore. We plan to invest Fund III in 25-30 startups in keeping with the Fireside thesis of digital-first consumer brands, across the spectrum of health and wellness, edutainment, lifestyle and FMCG," Fireside Ventures Partner Kannan Sitaram said here. According to Fireside Ventures, the market for D2C brands in India is set to touch USD 100 billion by 2025. Fireside Ventures has invested in 31 brands that include The Baker's Dozen, boAt, Mamaearth, Bombay Shaving Company etc. Launched in 2017, Fireside Ventures with the close of its Fund III has Rs 3,000 crore (USD 395 million) of assets under management. "The first fund had a corpus of Rs 340 crore and

Avoid sectors having global exposure like IT, oil, gas: ICICI Securities

ICICI Securities Ltd on Wednesday said its one year forward Nifty target is 19,425 with sectorial bias towards banks, capital goods/infrastructure and automobiles

Homegrown ed-tech platform Adda247 raises $35 million; Google new investor

Government test prep platform Adda247 on Wednesday said it has raised $35 million in a round led by WestBridge Capital; the round also saw Google as a new investor

MFs see rise in redemption pressure amid spike in inflows across categories

The comparatively high growth in outflows has weighed on the net inflows in equity and hybrid schemes between June and August