Outsourcing News

We had raised some capital in the past, and it helped us get to a point where we are now. Interviewee: I So originally as I mentioned, we started as a company called “sponsor house” and it was very much a sponsorship service, this was long before Myspace and Facebook even existed so you can arguably say that we were, you know, couldn’t be much longer than we are now, but at the end of the day we’ve always had a really defined service and a value that we provide to our members, and in the beginning we were self funded for the first 3 or 4 years and we didn’t raise any capital , so my business Brought to you by: Southern California Tech Central

Read the rest here:
How Hookit Built A Community Of 500,000+ Athletes And Enthusiasts – with Scott Tilton

I’ve known Clearstone Venture Partners for about 5 years and watched them help entrepreneurs think through and launch their businesses. invited Sumant Mandal to talk about how he went from being an entrepreneur who never heard of venture capital , to becoming the firm’s Managing Director. Sumant Mandal is a Managing Director at Clearstone Venture Partners . Skip to: full video | audio download | about interviewee | full transcript | sponsors | answers Like Rahul Sonnad, who I met when he worked out of Clearstone’s offices while he created Geodelic, the Brought to you by: Southern California Tech Central

More:
The Making Of A Clearstone Venture Capitalist – with Sumant Mandal

Kings XI Punjab, currently ranked last in this season’s IPL table, is up for sale. The promoters of the club have put up an asking price of $300 million (Rs 1,380 crore). Sources said the final price is likely to be settled at around $280 million (Rs 1,288 crore). The buyer’s identity is not being disclosed. But it is known consumer goods major Videocon’s chairman Venugopal Dhoot is keen on buying a minority stake in an existing team.

Read the rest here:
Kings XI team finds buyer, to be sold soon

© peruisayAs per an industry report, private equity investments and venture capital have shot up in China in the last few months owing to positive investments in information technology companies. The firms ended up investing $418 million in 46 businesses in the month of March as compared to an investment of $292 million in 18 businesses in the month of February. Information technology industry accounted for majority of the investment with $192 million. Of all, twenty information technology companies received 46.2% of the total …

Original post:
Will online printing companies get a share of the venture capital pie in China?

China Banks on Venture Capital Research Center China Venture News One of my new contributors to this blog is Professor Mannie Liu. Located in Beijing, at the School of Finance, Renmin University of China, she also serves as the director of …

The rest is here:
Seen that? – China Banks on Venture Capital Research Center

© xiquinhosilva Jeff Nolan (Venture Chronicles) blogged this week about his recent trip to Southern China. Nolan takes a close look at China's Guangdong Province. He visited a number of manufacturing facilities and spoke with business executives in Chang'an, Foshan, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. Conclusion number one: there is a labor shortage. Nolan looks at worker compensation as one of the issues involved in the labor shortage. He sees wage inflation in Guangdong Province cutting into the relatively small profit margin that businesses in …

See the original post:
China’s Business Climate

Private equity funds (PE funds) seem to be staging a comeback after their near withdrawal from Indian economic landscape in the wake of global economic meltdown in 2008. Deal activities have picked up significantly since last year and are expected to edge higher towards the end of the year. According to recent studies, merger and acquisition (M&A) activities in the country more than doubled in the first month of 2010 as deals worth about Rs 13,950 crore were announced, signifying emergence of the country’s economic environment after tough 18 months. January saw as many as 29 domestic deals worth $2,3030 million compared to 14 transactions worth $589 million in January 2009. Telecom, logistics and banking and finance and insurance were the most targeted sector for investment with deals worth $ 2180 million, $ 164 million and $117 million, respectively, according to the study conducted by financial research services provider VCEdge.

Read more from the original source:
Activities of PE funds to gain momentum

Hindustan Construction Co Friday said it will acquire 66-per cent stake in Karl Steiner AG, the second largest integrated services contractor in the Swiss realty market, for nearly $33 million. The acquisition will not only give Hindustan Construction access to the European market but also help its entry into the $16.5 billion integrated building construction industry in India, the company said. ‘This acquisition has been carried out on the grounds of strategic fit both to capture local market opportunity and to provide us with a presence of European expansion,’ the company’s chairman and managing director Ajit Gulabchand said at a press conference here.

Read more from the original source:
Hindustan Construction to buy majority stake in Swiss firm

India-focused private equity firm Nine Rivers Capital has taken a $7m stake in Global AgriSystem Private (GAPL), a New Delhi agribusiness supply chain specialist. The promoters of GAPL also participated in the funding round to strengthen the company’s capital base. GAPL provides procurement, storage, processing and distribution services for the fresh fruits and vegetables sector, currently operates six bases in various parts of the country and has expressed plans to expand its footprint to 20 or more over the next three years. According to the company, the demand for all-season availability of produce is increasing in India in light of the country’s growing wealth and emerging middle class.

Original post:
Nine Rivers Capital takes $7m stake in Indian agribusiness

Private equity group India Agri Business Fund will invest $10 million (about Rs 48 crore) in Gautam Thapar-promoted Avantha Group’s food division Global Green Company Ltd. A shareholders agreement was signed between the Avantha Group and Rabo Equity Advisors, India Agri Business Fund and Global Green said in a joint statement. Rabo Equity Advisors is the investment adviser of IABF. “We have successfully developed into a multinational food company through acquisitions. As we have aspirations of building our brands and develop a more robust India business, Rabo Equity’s knowledge pool will work to our advantage in the next phase of growth,” Global Green Managing Director and CEO Vineet Chhabra said.

View post:
India’s PE, QIP deal volume soar to $1.8 bn in 2 months

As part of its strategy to exit from bad businesses, TV18 is selling its entire 50 per cent stake in Jobstreet.com India. The joint venture made no progress and TV18 has taken a hit of Rs 25 million in the entire exercise, a source in the company says. The shares have been sold back to the partner, Jobstreet.com Singapore. Floated in late 2006, the joint venture company was to tap into the rapidly growing job portal space in India and provide consolidated value to Web18, the internet and mobile arm of TV18. The market cap of Info Edge, the holding company of naukri.com, is Rs 25.09 billion. Though Info Edge has other smaller properties like www.jeevansathi.com, www.99acres.com, www.quadranglesearch.com and www.shiksha.com, it definitely provides an indicative valuation of a successful job portal in India.

More here:
TV18 exits India JV with Jobstreet.com

Bangalore-based diversified business conglomerate Siesta Group is slated to raise $20 million through the private equity (PE) route to acquire three logistics trading firms in three Asian countries. Post acquisition, Ravi Naware, ex-divisional chief executive of ITC’s food business, will head the company’s logistics division.

The rest is here:
Siesta plans global buys, eyes $20-m PE funding

After real estate, private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) players are holding on to their investments in information technology (IT) companies coming up with initial public offers (IPOs). Traditionally, PE and VC firms look at IPOs as their main exit option. For instance, Pune-based Persistent Systems has filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). It will soon hit the market to raise Rs 150-200 crore. Investors such as Intel Capital, Norwest Venture Partners (NVP), Gabriel Venture Partners and Hewlett-Packard (HP) together hold over 20 per cent in the company. While Intel and HP invested in 2000, Promod Haque of NVP and Gabriel Venture Partners invested in 2005. HP’s and a part of Intel’s investment have a one-year lock-in, but NVP and Gabriel Ventures have continued to stay with the company.

Link:
PEs stay invested in IT firms despite public offers

Malvinder to be Parkway chairman; acquisition will form Asia’s largest hospital chain. Fortis Healthcare today announced the largest overseas acquisition by an Indian company in the healthcare space, buying the entire 23.9 per cent stake held by TPG Capital in Singapore’s Parkway Holding Ltd for $686 million (Rs 3,119 crore). Fortis is India’s second-largest healthcare provider after Apollo Hospitals and Parkway is Asia’s biggest hospital operator by sales. The acquisition would form Asia’s largest hospital chain with over 10,000 beds across 64 hospitals in six countries

Read more:
Fortis buys 24% in singapore healthcare giant

eYantra Industries Limited, a Hyderabad-based corporate gifts and brand merchandising company, has raised $7.8 million (approximately Rs 35.4 crore) in a second round of PE funding led by Argonaut Private Equity. This Series B funding also saw Chennai-based Ventureeast Proactive maintaining its pro-rata investment, which was $2.1 million (Rs 9.5 crore) in March 2008 and $1 million (Rs 4.54 crore) in September 2008, into eYantra. “We plan to utilise 40 per cent of the Series B funding to seal three acquisition deals, which will broadbase our presence in the corporate merchandising sector, besides enabling us to diversify into online product customisation and basic office supplies space. The remaining fund would be used to equip our 1.1-million T-shirts capacity per year facility with technologies laser-embossing and 3D sublimation by May this year,” eYantra Industries managing director Phani N Raj, told Business Standard.

See original here:
eYantra Ind raises $7.8 mn PE fund

© xiquinhosilva Gambling in Macau has been around probably since the invention of the chop sticks, but it became legal under the Portuguese in the 1850. Portugal promoted it as the “Monte Carlo of the Orient.” Most people don't know that only Chinese games were played until the 20th Century.

See the article here:
Top Chinese Casinos: Macau and Hong Kong Gambling Scene

Janalakshmi Financial Services, a Bangalore-based NBFC Microfinance Institution (MFI) promoted by Ramesh Ramanathan, has announced the closure of its Series B funding of $10 million. This round was led by Treeline Asia Master Fund (Singapore), a hedge fund based out of Hong Kong and Singapore. Bellwether Microfinance Fund, an existing investor in the company, also participated in this round. Narayan Ramachandran, who recently relinquished his position as country head of Morgan Stanley India, also invested in Janalakshmi in this round in his personal capacity and has recently joined Janalakshmi’s board.

Read the original:
Singapore fund invests in Janalakshmi Fin Services

IL&FS Investment Managers, a private equity arm of IL&FS Ltd, has acquired a 10% stake in The Mobile Store, an Essar group firm, for Rs100 crore, a senior executive from the retail chain said. The stake sale values Mobile Store, a mobile handsets and accessories retail chain, at Rs1,000 crore, added this person who did not want to be identified. A spokesperson for the Essar group confirmed the transaction but declined to elaborate any further.

Read more from the original source:
IL&FS arm buys 10% stake in Mobile Store

Mayfield India Fund and SIDBIVenture today announced a new investment in Fourcee Infrastructure Equipment Pvt. Ltd. (Fourcee). Under the terms of the investment, Mayfield India Fund and SIDBIVenture will invest Rs.50 crore in Fourcee to expand their tank terminals, add more uniquely designed containers and grow their infrastructure. This new investment reflects Mayfield India Fund’s investment theme of adding value to growth stage companies in the consumer and infrastructure segment. The alliance comes at a time when the industry has shown consistent growth, even in these challenging economic times. Currently, Fourcee is the only company focused on providing end to end logistics solution for liquid cargo through road and railways using its own specialized designed containers. Mayfield India’s and SIDBIVenture’s investment provides an exciting opportunity for Fourcee to expand its footprint and offer unique logistic solutions in India

More:
Mayfield India Fund and SIDBIVenture invest Rs 50 crore in Fourcee Infrastructure Equipment Pvt. Ltd

Private equity (PE) players in India have offloaded stakes worth USD 757 million in the first two months of this year driven by a significant recovery in the stock markets and hopes of continuation of this trend, believe experts. According to VCCEdge, the financial research platform of VCCircle, January 2010 saw 13 exits worth USD 282 million, while February witnessed as many as 10 worth USD 475 million. “PE funds are under pressure to make some exits before they set out to raise new funds. They will continue to use every opportunity available to exit as long as they see a good return,”

See the original post:
India sees PE exits worth USD 757 mn in 2 months