Axis Bank to acquire Citi’s consumer business in India for $1.6 bn:
One of the leading private sector banks in India, Axis Bank has agreed to acquire Citibank’s consumer business in India. The deal will be undertaken for INR 12,325 crore ($1.62 billion), in an all-cash deal, which includes Citi’s credit cards, retail banking, wealth management, and consumer loan business. Presently, Citibank caters to 3,000 corporate clients in India. It operates 35 branches serving 2.9 million retail customers with 1.2 million bank accounts. Axis, which has a retail book of nearly INR 4 trillion, will acquire about 3 million unique customers of Citibank India, seven offices, 21 branches and 499 ATMs across 18 cities. Citi entered India in 1902 and started the consumer banking business in 1985. India is among the six countries where Citi has shut down its consumer banking operations.
Here is some latest financial news on private equity, venture capital, and mergers & acquisitions:
- Private Equity:
Warburg Pincus acquires majority stake in Imperial Auto:
Stone Plant Investments B.V., (SPI), an affiliate of Warburg Pincus, a leading global private equity firm, has acquired a majority stake in Imperial Auto Industries Limited and its affiliated companies (Imperial group). Imperial, founded in 1969, is India’s largest manufacturer of fluid transmission products (FTP) for automobile and off-highway sectors. As per the deal, Warburg will acquire a 70% stake in Haryana-based Imperial Auto Industries.
(Source: VC Circle, 09 March, 2022)
Byju Raveendran infuses 50% of $800 mn in the latest funding round; valuation up at $22 bn:
Byju Raveendran, the co-founder and chief executive of eponymous Indian edtech giant Byju’s, has invested USD 400 million (around Rs 3,060 crore) into the startup of the total $800 million (about Rs 6,100 crore) in the latest round of funding in the edtech firm which pumped Byju’s valuation at around USD 22 billion. The fundraising round was participated by investors Sumeru Ventures, Vitruvian Partners, and BlackRock.
(Source: VC Circle, 11 March, 2022)
Premji Invest to pick 10% stake in Sagar Cements for Rs 350 cr:
Azim Premji’s investment arm Premji Invest Opportunities Fund agreed to pick just over 10% stake in publicly-listed cement firm Sagar Cements Ltd for around INR 350 crore (around $46 million). Although, its core market is the Southern region, Sagar Cements has also expanded its market presence in East and Central India through its recent acquisitions The Board of Directors of Sagar Cements in a meeting approved the issuance of 1,32,07,548 (1.32 crore) equity shares of face value of Rs. 2 each at an issue price of Rs 265/- per share on a preferential basis, to PI Opportunities Fund, an affiliate of Premji Invest, an investment arm of Azim Premji.
(Source: VC Circle, 25 March, 2022)
Vivriti Capital raises $55 mn from existing investors:
Vivriti Capital Pvt. Ltd, a non-bank lender has announced USD 55 million (around Rs 400 crore) capital raising from its existing investors for its Series C round. The company is now said to be nearing the USD 1 billion unicorn valuation mark, but it did not disclose the exact valuation. The fundraise was led by Lightrock India and Chicago-based Creation Investments.
(Source: VC Circle, 28 March, 2022)
Brookfield acquires IL&FS headquarters for over $140 mn:
Canadian investment firm Brookfield Asset Management Inc has acquired IL&FS (Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services) for INR 1,080 crore (around $143 million). IL&FS has managed to resolve INR 55,000 crore debt overall. Its total debt was INR 99,355 crore across 347 entities when the new board took over in 2018. Brookfield, which has been operating in India for over 11 years currently, manages $20.6 billion in assets across infrastructure, real estate, and renewable energy.
(Source: VC Circle, 29 March, 2022)
Bain Capital to acquire 25% stake in IIFL Wealth; General Atlantic, Fairfax part exit:
Bain Capital, a private equity firm has agreed to acquire 24.98% equity stake in IIFL Wealth Management Limited for INR 3,680 crore ($485.6 million). The transaction marks a partial exit for existing investors General Atlantic and Fairfax, as they will sell the bulk of their holdings to Bain Capital. Bain Capital is proposing to acquire 2.2 crore equity share constituting 24.98% stake in the Company at a price per share of Rs 1,661 per share.
(Source: VC Circle, 31 March, 2022)
- Venture Capital:
Salesforce Ventures, others invest $50 mn in Atlan:
Data intelligence startup, Atlan Pvt Ltd, has raised $50 million in its Series B round. Salesforce Ventures, Insight Partners, and Sequoia Capital India participated in the funding round. The company now has a post-money valuation of USD 450 million with a jump of 4.5x from its last Series A fundraise in May 2021. The company plans to use this funding to expand its team across all functions & accelerate its go-to market strategy and facilitate an ESOP buyback of up to USD 1.5 million.
(Source: VC Circle, 09 March, 2022)
Tiger Global-backed Money View scoops up $75 mn in Series D round:
Bengaluru headquartered fintech platform, Money View, operated by Whizdm Innovations Pvt Ltd, has raised USD 75 million (Rs 576 crore) as part of its series D funding from Dubai-based Winter Capital and Evolvence India. The company’s existing investors- Tiger Global and Accel also participated in the fundraise. The company is now valued at USD 625 million post the transaction.
(Source: VC Circle, 09 March, 2022)
Ador Group arm buys Root Ventures-backed grooming brand Coccoon:
1908 E-ventures Pvt. Ltd, an arm of Ador Group founded in 2019, acquired the personal care brand Coccoon. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. The 114-year-old Ador Group has diversified businesses with over 40 years of experience in the manufacturing and distribution of skincare & personal care products. The Company said it plans to build on its clean beauty platform-led ‘house of brands’ strategy with the acquisition of Coccoon.
(Source: VC Circle, 09 March, 2022)
PV cell maker Jupiter snags Rs 170 cr from Edelweiss Group:
Photovoltaic (PV) cell manufacturer, Jupiter International, has raised INR 170 crore ($22 .2 million) from funds managed by Edelweiss Alternative Asset Advisors Ltd (EAAA). The fundraise includes debt and convertible instruments. The company will use the fresh funds to grow its 500 MW cell line based on the latest Monocrystalline PERC (Mono PERC) technology in Himachal Pradesh.
(Source: VC Circle, 14 March, 2022)
Licious secures $150 mn in extended Series F round:
Meat delivery and D2C start-up Licious, operated by Delightful Gourmet Pvt Ltd, raised USD 150 million (Rs 1,146 crore) in an extended Series F round of funding led by Singapore-based Amansa Capital for business growth. Kotak PE and Axis Growth Avenues AIF-I also participated in the latest funding round. Licious became the first unicorn in the direct-to-consumer (D2C) space. The company’s existing investors also participated in the round along with prominent angel investors including Nithin & Nikhil Kamath, Aman Gupta and Haresh Chawla.
(Source: VC Circle, 15 March, 2022)
CommerceIQ turns unicorn with $115 mn funding led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2:
Retail e-commerce management platform CommerceIQ, has raised USD 115 million (around Rs 874 crore) in Series D funding led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. The round also saw participation from all the existing institutional investors: Insight Partners, Trinity Ventures, Shasta Ventures, and Madrona Venture Group. CommerceIQ, which is operated by Boomerang Commerce Inc, plans to use the fresh capital for expanding its business in India & widen its global footprint, and to ramp up its unified retail ecommerce management platform.
(Source: VC Circle, 21 March, 2022)
OfBusiness lending arm Oxyzo turns unicorn with largest-ever Series A funding:
Oxyzo Financial Solutions Pvt Ltd, the lending arm of SoftBank-backed B2B ecommerce startup OfBusiness, has turned unicorn after raising its first external funding of USD 200 million. The funding round was led by Alpha Wave, Tiger Global Management, Norwest Venture Partners, Matrix Partners and Creation Investments. The funds will be used to expand Oxyzo’s broader digital financial services play by scaling the supply chain marketplace, launching fixed income products for the SME space.
(Source: VC Circle, 23 March, 2022)
Virat Kohli invests in Sixth Sense Ventures-backed Rage coffee:
Ace cricketer Virat Kohli, has joined fast-moving consumer products brand Rage Coffee which started in 2018 as a direct-to-consumer brand as an investor and brand ambassador. Rage coffee is giving tough competition to established instant coffee brands through its digital marketing campaign. Rage Coffee manufactures, markets, and distributes packaged coffee products. Rage coffee sells a wide range of plain and flavoured instant coffee mixes apart from coffee in cold brew bags, liquid coffee and sachets.
(Source: VC Circle, 23 March, 2022)
- Mergers & Acquisition:
KKR to buy Japanese real estate asset manager for $2 bn:
KKR & Co is set to buy Japanese real estate asset manager Mitsubishi Corp-UBS Realty Inc (MC-UBSR), one of the largest real estate asset managers in Japan for USD 1.94 billion. The deal will deepen U.S. private equity firm’s presence in Japan. MC-UBSR which was founded in 2000 as a joint venture between the two companies has JPY 1.7 trillion (Japanese Yen) in assets under management.
(Source: VC Circle, 17 March, 2022)
Walmart-owned PhonePe buys freelance micro-entrepreneurs network GigIndia:
Walmart owned fintech firm PhonePe Pvt Ltd has acquired Explorium Innovative Technologies Pvt Ltd, which owns and operates GigIndia, the country’s leading network for freelance micro-entrepreneurs for an undisclosed amount. GigIndia which has 1.5 million entrepreneurs and over 100 enterprises as customers will integrate with PhonePe. PhonePe will leverage GigIndia’s network of freelance micro-entrepreneurs to help corporates and enterprises acquire more customers & scale up their distribution channels.
(Source: VC Circle, 21 March, 2022)
CollegeDekho buys coding platform PrepBytes:
A student enrollment platform, CollegeDekho, which helps students understand computer programming, business, finance, and digital marketing, has acquired a coding platform- PrepBytes in a cash and equity deal. The financial details of the deal were not disclosed. CollegeDekho now runs multiple businesses across student enrolment, study abroad, online learning, and education lending.
(Source: VC Circle, 28 March, 2022)
PVR, Inox to merge, creating cinema giant
India’s two largest multiplex firms would merge to create a giant cinema operator with more than 1,500 screens across 109 cities as the entertainment industry recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. New cinemas post the merger will be branded as PVR Inox, and the entity will be named PVR Inox Ltd. Inox promoters will own a 16.66% stake while PVR founders will own 10.62% and Ajay Bijli would serve as managing director of the merged entity.
(Source: VC Circle, 28 March, 2022)