Bharti Airtel to buy Vodafone’s equity stake in Indus Tower:
Telecom operator Bharti Airtel Ltd has agreed to buy Vodafone Group’s 4.7% stake in India’s largest cell tower firm Indus Towers Ltd. Vodafone Group is looking to sell its entire stake in Indus Towers Ltd. Currently, Vodafone holds about 28% in Indus Towers while that of Bharti Airtel is close to 42%. Vodafone has said that the cash it raises via these stake sales would be infused in loss-making Vodafone Idea. The development comes after a challenging period for Vodafone in India, where its local arm, Vodafone Idea has faced intense competition and lost millions of wireless subscribers to Reliance’s Jio & Bharti Airtel.
Here is the latest financial news on private equity, venture capital and mergers & acquisitions:
- Private Equity:
Trifecta Capital raises Rs 1,500 cr for maiden equity fund; to raise another Rs 375 cr:
Venture debt pioneer Trifecta Capital has raised Rs 1,500 crore for its maiden equity fund called – Trifecta Leaders Fund – I and is looking to raise another Rs 375 crore. Till now, the fund has invested in eight start-ups such as Dailyhunt, Livspace, Cars24, Pristyn Care, ixigo, Good Glamm Group, API Holdings (Pharmeasy) and Meesho.
(Source: VC Circle 07 February 2022)
MSME-focused U GRO Capital raises $18.5 mn from Swiss impact investor:
Fintech platform U GRO Capital Ltd has raised Rs 138 crore (around $18.5 million) as its first impact-focused debt capital from Swiss firm ‘responsibility’. The company plans to use the fresh funds to back MSME-focused companies in India.
(Source: VC Circle 07 February 2022)
Apollo leads $267 mn in non-bank lender Hero FinCorp:
Hero FinCorp, the non-banking financial company (NBFC) has raised Rs 2,000 crore ($267 million) in capital from US-based private equity firm Apollo Management, its parent Hero MotoCorp and other investors. This is likely to be Apollo’s third investment in India after its breakup with ICICI Venture.
(Source: VC Circle 07 February 2022)
Polygon Technology raises $450 mn from Sequoia, Tiger Global, SoftBank, others:
Polygon, which offers an Ethereum infrastructure platform, has raised $450 million in a funding round led by Sequoia Capital India, Tiger Global Management and SoftBank with participation from more than 40 major venture capital firms including Galaxy Digital, Galaxy Interactive and Republic Capital.
(Source: VC Circle 07 February 2022)
PE-backed CredAvenue buys majority stake in 6-year old Fintech firm:
Chennai-based CredAvenue, a debt marketplace for financial services firms and enterprises, has acquired around 75% stake in Mumbai-based Spocto Solutions Pvt Ltd, a collections solution provider in the debt management space. The deal is likely to have sealed anywhere between ₹300 to ₹400 crore.
(Source: VC Circle 14 February 2022)
Chargebee acquires PE-backed collection management platform numbers:
Chargebee, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) based subscription management platform, has announced the acquisition of private equity-backed collections management platform numbers. The company has not disclosed the financial details of the transaction.
(Source: VC Circle 20 February 2022)
- Venture Capital:
Bombay Shaving Company raises $6.6 million in Series C round:
Male grooming brand Bombay Shaving Company has raised Rs 50 crore ($6.6 million) in funding from Gulf Islamic Investments as part of its extended Series C financing round. The company has announced to have secured Rs 160 crore led by Malabar Investments, a hedge fund in the first leg of its Series C round in January 2022. Capital infused will be used for expanding its portfolio of products.
(Source: VC Circle 04 February 2022)
Jio Platforms invests $15 million in Pranav Mistry’s AI firm Two Platform Inc:
Jio Platforms Ltd has invested $15 million in Two Platforms Inc., a Silicon Valley-based deep-tech start-up founded by Pranav Mistry, for a 25% equity stake on a fully diluted basis. Two Platforms Inc is an artificial intelligence (AI) company with a focus on building interactive and immersive AI experiences.
(Source: VC Circle 4 February 2022)
Softbank, Prosus, and others help ElasticRun join unicorn club with $300 mn funding:
Pune-based logistics startup ElasticRun, founded in March 2016 by Sandeep Deshmukh, Saurabh Nigam and Shitiz Bansal joined the Unicorn club. ElasticRun raised $302.94 million from Japan’s SoftBank Group, Prosus Ventures and Goldman Sachs.
(Source: VC Circle 8 February, 2022)
Razorpay buys majority stake in Malaysia-based fintech Curlec:
Digital payments and financial services unicorn, Razorpay Software Pvt Ltd, has acquired a majority stake in Malaysia-based fintech firm Curlec, marking its first international acquisition. Chief Executive Officer of Razorpay told the media that the acquisition values Curlec at $19-20 million. Razorpay will be buying a 100% stake in Curlec in the next 12-18 months.
(Source: VC Circle 8 February, 2022)
RIL subsidiary to invest Rs 50 cr in Altigreen Propulsion Labs:
A subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd, controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, announced the acquisition of a stake in electric vehicle technology and solutions company Altigreen Propulsion Labs Pvt Ltd for Rs 50.16 crore. Altigreen was founded by Amitabh Saran, Lasse Mocklegaard, Shailendra Gupta and John Bangura in 2012. It had raised $2 million from Jupiter Capital earlier.
(Source: VC Circle 10 February, 2022)
Automation platform Uniphore raises $400 mn led by NEA, turns unicorn:
Uniphore Technologies Inc, a conversational automation platform, has raised $400 million in a Series E funding round led by New Enterprise Associates at a $2.5 billion valuation. Uniphore has raised $610 million so far, turning unicorn with this latest round. The fresh capital will be used to make advancements in voice AI, computer vision and tonal emotion, as well as expand its business operations globally.
(Source: VC Circle 16 February, 2022)
Hasura snags $100 mn in Series C funding at a unicorn valuation:
Hasura Inc., a developer-focused tooling products startup, raised $100 million as part of its Series C funding round at a valuation of $1 billion led by Greenoaks. The funding round has turned the San Francisco- and Bengaluru-based start-up into a unicorn, a private company with a valuation of at least $1 billion.
(Source: VC Circle 22 February, 2022)
- Mergers & Acquisition:
Goldman Sach-backed FirstMedian buys IT staffing firm RLabs:
A human resource investment platform FirstMeridian Business Services Pvt Ltd, backed by private equity firm Samara Capital, Goldman Sachs and Janchor Partners, has bought RLabs Enterprise Services Ltd, an IT (information technology) staffing and consulting firm for an undisclosed amount marking its sixth acquisition since its inception in 2018.
(Source: VC Circle 7 February, 2022)
ShareChat acquires rival MX Taka Tak:
ShareChat, the parent company of short-video platform Moj has announced a strategic merger with Times Internet owned MX Taka Tak. Sharechat will be controlling both Moj and Taka Tak. Now, the combined platform will have 100 million creators and 300 million monthly active users (MAUs). The deal value was not disclosed by the company.
(Source: VC Circle 10 February, 2022)
Mamaearth parent buys BBlunt for Rs 134 crore to venture into hairstyling segment:
Honasa Consumer Pvt Ltd, the parent company of Mamaearth has bought BBlunt, a subsidiary of Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL), for Rs 134 crore to foray into the hair colour and hairstyling category. As a part of the transaction, GCPL will be getting Rs 84.5 crore after it divests its 100% stake in the BBlunt brand and the 30% stake that it owns in BBlunt salons.
(Source: VC Circle 14 February, 2022)
IndiaMart invests Rs 104 cr for 26% stake in industrial platform IB Monotaro:
Business-to-business (B2B) marketplace IndiaMART InterMESH Ltd has picked up 26% stake in IB Monotaro Pvt Ltd (IMPL) for Rs 104.2 crore. IB Monotaro is engaged in the e-commerce business for industrial and business supplies in India. Japan-based Monotaro will own 51.6% of IB Monotaro, Emtex Engineering, which represents the promoter group and early investors, on the other hand, will hold 22.4%.
(Source: VC Circle 24 February, 2022)