Home healthcare service provider Portea Medical, the fifth start-up of serial entrepreneur K Ganesh and his wife Meena, plans to raise $30-40 million (Rs 185- Rs 250 crore) next fiscal for further expansion. Portea, which recently closed the first round of fund-raising (nearly Rs 48 crore) from venture capital firms Accel Partners and Ventureast, will offer affordable hospital-like healthcare services at home on four major areas – chronic diseases, geriatric care, neo-natal and post-operative care. (Business Line)
Raj TV scouting for new investors: Raj Television Network Ltd is on the lookout for a strategic investor with the promoters open to divesting a majority stake in the company. The Chennai-based television broadcasting company operates 13 channels in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi. It offers a range of entertainment and news channels. It also owns a huge library of Tamil feature films. According to Sudip Bandyopadhyay, MD and CEO of Destimoney Securities, which has been given the mandate for the deal, the proposal has attracted keen interest with high net worth individuals and a couple of television broadcasting companies coming forward. (Business Line)
Ashok Leyland plans to sell prime property in Chennai: Commercial vehicle manufacturer Ashok Leyland is selling off it prime property here, according to reliable sources. This is part of a plan involving sale of immovable property to tackle the high debt it is facing following the slowdown in commercial vehicle sales over the last several quarters. It has put on the block a 1-acre property in the posh Boat Club area, one of the most expensive residential localities in Chennai, the sources said. According to market estimates, the deal could fetch well over Rs 200 crore ($32 million). (Business Line)
Social entrepreneur Krishnan Ganesh plans to launch 2 new startups: Internet entrepreneur Krishnan Ganesh is preparing to launch two new startups, one in the housing and construction sector and another that will offer higher education for working professionals. These proposed ventures that will use technology to deliver services, will take the number of companies founded by the 54-year-old to six. The entrepreneur couple acquired the company in July 2013 as part of their foray into the primary healthcare sector. (Economic Times)
Vijay Mahtaney looks for a buyer for the super pricey Boat Club property: Businessman Vijay Mahtaney is looking for a buyer for his over nine grounds (one ground is 2,400 sq ft) of property in Chennai's Boat Club area, its most expensive address, in what could possibly lead to one of the priciest residential realty deals in the city in recent times. Real estate consulting firm Jones Lang LaSalle has the mandate for the sale. (Economic Time)
United Bank of India May Get Capital Injection From Government: United Bank of India Ltd., the lender with the highest percentage of bad loans in the country, may receive a government capital injection to boost its risk buffers, Finance Ministry Banking Secretary Rajiv Takru said. The bank reported a loss of 12.4 billion rupees ($200 million) in the three months to Dec. 31, and its capital-adequacy ratio fell to 9.01 percent, the company said on Feb. 7. In October, India announced plans to inject as much as 140 billion rupees into 20 government-controlled lenders to guard against soured loans in a slowing economy. (Bloomberg)
Everstone scouts for new partners to raise capital for Faces Cosmetics: India-focused investor Everstone Capital, which acquired Canada-based Faces Cosmetics in 2007, is in talks with private equity (PE) firms and strategic investors to raise fresh capital for the colour cosmetics company. The PE firm is not looking to exit and will do a primary-only deal. Everstone is looking to raise about Rs 35-40 crore ($5.6 million - $6.4 million) through a small amount of equity dilution to begin with. In 2007, Indivision India Partners (Everstone Capital Partners I), a $425 million PE fund, invested an undisclosed amount for a majority stake in Faces Cosmetics, which sells makeup, skincare products and personal care accessories. (Live Mint)
Elevar Equity plans to raise third fund, targets $75M: Elevar Equity, an impact investor, is looking to raise its third fund with a target corpus of $75 million (Rs 465 crore) by end-2014. Elevar, one of the early backers of well-known microfinance companies including SKS Microfinance and Ujjivan Financial Services, is understood to have already started the process to raise its third fund and has received commitments from two large global investors. Senior private equity fund managers focussing on impact investing indicated that Omidyar Network, founded by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, has already committed to Elevar's next fund, after being an investor in the second fund. Legatum, another global investor, had committed its resources to the second fund and its not yet sure, if there will be a follow-on from them. In addition to Omidyar, US-based blue-chip company Family Office is expected to be a key investor in Elevar's third fund. (Business Standard)
United Bank to try selling Zoom Developers' assets for a 4th time: Kolkata-based United Bank of India has put the assets of Zoom Developers on the block for a fourth time, to recover dues of Rs 3,002 crore ($483 million) from the developer. The bank reportedly tried thrice to sell the assets in the past. The amount was due to a consortium of 25 banks, including UBI, Punjab & Sind Bank and Central Bank of India among others and UBI has put the assets on the block on behalf of other banks under Sarfaesi Act . The reserve price of the assets is Rs 31.88 crore ($5 million), UBI said in an advertisement. (Business Standard)
Courtesy: VCCEdge
