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The evergreen and recession-proof characteristics of the education sector are drawing interest among private equity firms. Billed to be a $80-billion market, the number of private equity deals in the education space has grown four-fold in the last four years. According to Venture Intelligence, a Chennai-based research firm focused on private equity and mergers & acquisitions, eight deals worth $121 million were sealed in 2009, compared with just two deals worth $73 million in 2006. The first educational institute to get venture capital funding in India was Career Launcher from Intel Capital as early as in 2000. And last week, India Equity Partners invested Rs 172 crore for a 26% stake in IL&FS Education and Technology Services, which provides training to schools, colleges and to the government and corporate sector.

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PE cos look to tap education market

Private equity transactions in India fell by a significant 68 per cent in 2009 as investors resorted to a wait and watch approach amid the slowdown. According to a report by global consultancy firm Grant Thornton, there were 206 deals in 2009 with a total announced value of USD 3.44 billion (Rs 15,953 crore), a fall of 68 per cent from the year ago period (2008) when as many as 312 deals worth USD 10.59 billion were announced. There was, however, an upsurge in fund raising activity through institutional placement. “In the absence of active private equity participation, several large companies turned to qualified institutional placement (QIPs) to fund their renewed acquisition appetite.

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PE deals in India dip 68%: Grant Thornton

Delhi-based e-learning solutions provider Educomp Solutions plans to acquire StudyPlaces.com, which is owned by Zaptive Internet Services. Under the deal, Educomp will buy the domain name and other existing contracts of Zaptive and will allot equity shares on a preferential basis of up to $1.5 million in exchange. StudyPlaces helps students find, compare, evaluate and then select the right course, institute and country for their further study. In January 2008, StudyPlaces.com raised $3 million from venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins, Caufield and Byers (KPCB), Ram Shriram’s Sherpalo Ventures and the internet company Info Edge India (the Naukri.com group), with each entity investing $1 million in the company.

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Educomp to acquire StudyPlaces.com

BTS Investment Advisors, a Zurich-headquartered private equity firm that specialises in investments in India, is reportedly readying the launch of a new $150m fund. The firm BTS is looking to inaugurate the fund before April 2010, and aims to reach the $150m mark within a year. The fund will target companies in the wind, biomass, water and energy equipment fields in India. Additional funds managed by the firm include a $22m Swiss technology fund and a $75m India-targeted private equity fund. Notable investors in the firm’s funds include Asian and European governments and the Asian Development Bank.

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India-focused PE firm BTS Investment Advisors to launch $150m green fund

mediate Capital Group (ICG) on Friday bought a 47% stake in legal process outsourcing firm CPA Global, a Channel Island-based firm with over half of its 1,500 employees working out of Gurgaon and Noida in the national capital terrirory. A privately held firm, CPA Global is one of the largest legal services outsourcers in the world with over a billion dollars in revenue

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Intermediate Capital buys 47% in LPO firm CPA Global for 440 million pound

With the disinvestment of DPSC, an erstwhile subsidiary of Andrew Yule being complete, the SREI-led consortium, the new owner of the company with a 57.17 per cent stake, on Friday reconstituted the board. Orbis Power Ventures, the Special Purpose Vehicle floated by Srei to acquire DPSC, will now make an open offer for 20 per cent additional stake in DPSC on Saturday itself, Hemant Kanoria, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Srei told Financial Chronicle. Kanoria said that they had paid the entire amount of Rs 171.85 crore to Andrew Yule, LIC and United India Insurance, who had offloaded their stakes in the company.

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Srei-led consortium buys 57% in DPSC

Alok Industries, a Mumbai-based vertically integrated textile player, has roped in Asia Bridge as a private equity player for its retail subsidiary – Alok H&A. The deal size is of Rs 45 crore. Alok H&A is engaged in the cash and carry business of apparels and home textiles across the country with its 150 stores at present. The company has drawn up a massive expansion plan with a view to achieve a pan-India footprint and is eyeing 1,000 stores in the next three years. The company, by the end of the current financial year, will take the number of stores to 250. And in FY11, the textile major is aiming to add another 250.

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Asia Bridge invests in Alok’s retail subsidiary

BTS Investment Advisors, a private equity fund based in Zurich and Mumbai, plans to start a $150 million fund to invest in Indian clean energy companies amid rising interest in green power to fuel Asia’s top economies. BTS expects to start the fund by April with an initial $60 million and increase that to $150 million over the next year, Managing Partner K. Srinivas told Bloomberg News by phone. Clean-energy investment in Asia surpassed the Americas for the first time in 2009 as economic growth and reduced losses from the subprime crisis allowed greater spending, data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance showed. The region is home to the world’s two fastest-growing major economies, China and India, which are also among the four biggest polluters.

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BTS Investment Plans $150 Million Clean Energy Fund in India

Aptech Ltd has announced that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on January 27, 2010, inter alia, has approved the proposal to acquire upto 100% of the share capital of Maya Entertainment Ltd, subject to the execution of necessary definitive agreements. Subject to approval of the shareholders of the Company in general meeting, the Board of Directors of the Company has approved the Preferential Issue of upto 22,50,000 equity shares having a face value of Rs. 10/- each (“New Shares”) subject to the guidelines prescribed under the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2009 by the Company to certain shareholders of Maya Entertainment Ltd as a part consideration of acquisition of the shares of Maya Entertainment Ltd.

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Aptech to acquire 100% stake in Maya Entertainment Ltd

Private sector lender Yes Bank on Thursday said it has raised $225 million (about Rs 1,034 crore) through private placement of shares to institutional investors. “The issue of $225 million, was significantly oversubscribed on strong demand from foreign institutional investors and domestic mutual funds,” Yes Bank said in a statement. The bank will issue 3.84 crore equity shares at Rs 269.50 per share to institutional investors under the Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP), which would raise the overall capital adequacy of the bank to over 20 per cent.

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Yes Bank raises $225 mn via share sale to institutional buyers

IL&FS Education and Technology Services Ltd., the education unit of the IL&FS Group, said Wednesday it has raised INR1.72 billion from private equity company India Equity Partners. The funding will help IL&FS Education and Technology Services achieve its medium-term growth targets, Hari Sankaran, managing director of IL&FS, said in a statement, without elaborating.

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IL&FS Education Unit Raises INR1.2 Billion From India Equity Partners

Edelweiss today has entered into an agreement to acquire Anagram Capital for Rs.164 crores in an all cash transaction. With a nation-wide network of more than 137 branches and over 1300 sub brokers, Anagram has one of the widest geographical reach among retail broking firms. The company has more than 180,000 clients and estimated total revenues of Rs. 100 crores for the nine months ended December 31st 2009. The company’s average daily equity trading volume is approximately Rs.800 crores. Edelweiss plans to operate Anagram as a 100 % subsidiary with clear focus on continuity and building on the current business and people with investments in research, products, training and technology.

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Edelweiss Capital to acquire Lalbhai Group Firm Anagram Capital

© kalleboo Entrepreneur Corner shares an optimistic perspective on venture captial in China.During the past several years, China has gradually become one of the most attractive investment markets in the world, largely due to the diversification of industries, the relative cost base and the tremendously increased domestic market…But the article goes on to point out that China's not immune from the financial crisis. The question for VCs is really the same question that most of the world is asking: Can China maintain its growth? …

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Venture Capital Coming of Age in China

New York-based India Equity Partners is set to acquire a 25% stake in IL&FS Education and Technology Services (IETS) for little over Rs 140 crore. IETS is an education and cluster development initiative of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Service (IL&FS). Two officials, involved in the deal, said on the condition of anonymity, the private equity firm would pick up nearly 20% in secondary sale by the three existing partners and 5% will be acquired through fresh issue of shares by IETS. Orix Corporation of Japan, HDFC and Sera Fund are divesting their entire stake in favour of India Equity Partners, said a senior executive.

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India Equity Partners to buy 25% in IETS for Rs 140 crore

Jet Airways (India) today announced that its board has approved an investment of up to 26% (partly for cash and partly for consideration other than cash) in the share capital of MAS GMR Aerospace Engineering Company, Hyderabad, subject to receipt of all statutory and regulatory approvals, as may be required. MAS GMR Aerospace Engineering is a 50:50 joint venture (JV) between Malaysian Aerospace Engineering, Malaysia, and GMR Hyderabad International Airport, set up to undertake airframe maintenance, repair and overhaul activities.

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Jet to buy upto 26% stake in MAS GMR Aerospace

A $100 million Oman India fund that will invest in various sectors in both countries is expected to be launched shortly. Oman is looking forward to invest in India’s small and medium enterprises. ‘The joint investment fund whose corpus will be contributed equally by both countries will be launched soon,’ Oman’s Minister of Commerce and Industry Maqbool Ali Sultan told IANS while he was here for a trade summit organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry. In November 2008, India’s largest commercial bank State Bank of India (SBI) and Oman’s State General Reserve Fund (SFRF) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to promote a joint investment fund with a $100 million corpus to be contributed equally.

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IANS$100 mn Oman India investment fund to be launched soon

© Emile Bremmer Chna made economic news this past week by announcing that its gross domestic product grew 10.7% in the fourth quarter of 2009, and that as far as China was concerned the recession was now over. The Chinese are more worried about inflation than recession and they plan to take steps to bring their growth under control. Growth had been projected at around 9% for the quarter. So the growth rate of almost 11% was a bit of a surprise. Many analysis …

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China’s Economy is Heating Back Up

Qatar Investment Authority, or QIA, the sovereign investment fund promoted by the emirate’s ruling family, is in the final stages of negotiations to purchase a 10% stake in Hinduja National Power Corp. Ltd, or Hinduja Power, said two persons familiar with the development.

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Qatar fund in talks for 10% stake in Hinduja Power

Private equity players investing in India are having a tough time convincing investors — both domestic and overseas — to put money into their funds. This is despite stable economic growth, buoyant stock markets and a favourable investment climate. Continuing credit crisis in the US and Europe, coupled with fear among domestic investors to invest in an illiquid asset class, has made private equity fund-raising an uphill task. Logging a near 60% fall, net PE mobilisation has declined from Rs 1,944 crore in 2007 to Rs 792 crore in 2009 (till January 15, 2010), according to data collated by PE research firm Venture Intelligence. The number of PE funds hitting the road to raise money has halved from 30 in 2007 to 15 in 2009.

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PEs find it hard to raise money despite rebound

ICICI Venture, an arm of No. 2 Indian lender ICICI Bank, is looking to raise $150-$200 million from overseas investors for its India-focused fund, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. The private equity firm, which manages more than $2 billion of assets, is raising $500 million with an option to raise another $300 million for the fund. Vishakha Mulye, the head of ICICI Venture, confirmed the company would begin road shows for international investors as early as next week, but declined to give details of the amount of funds it seeks to raise.

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ICICI PE fund seeks $200 mln from overseas