Corporate / M&A

“Hero MotoCorp, India’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer, is investing up to Rs 205 crore in electric automotive startup Ather Energy for a 26-30% stake in one of the biggest deals in the nascent sector. Ather has received Rs 180 crore of the total investment with the rest due to be released in tranches. The deal values the three-year-old company at Rs 680 - Rs 790 crore.” reported The Economic Times.

"Direct-to-home television operator Dish TV will merge with Videocon d2h, creating India’s largest media company by sales. Dish TV is the market leader in the DTH space while Videocon is the third largest by subscribers. Their combined sales in FY16 were Rs 5,920 crore, more than Zee Entertainment, which had sales of Rs 5,850 crore. Both Zee and Dish are part of Subhash Chandra’s Essel Group.

"[Quess Corp] entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a 49 per cent stake in Terrier Security Services (India) (Terrier), marking its entry into the manned guarding and security solutions business. With a track record of over 27 years, Terrier is among the leading providers of manned guarding services in India. In addition, Terrier also provides training services for security personnel and electronic security solutions to clients,” reported the Financial Express.

"Detergent major Nirma, which in July had agreed to buy the cement business of the French major Lafarge India, today raised Rs 4,000 crore debt to fund the deal, making it the largest rupee bond sale for a leveraged buyout,” reported Money Control.

"In one of the largest deals in the retail real estate market in India, Dutch pension fund asset manager APG Asset Management and Virtuous Retail, the retail development arm of The Xander Group, have partnered to form a joint venture worth $450m, the companies said in a statement,” reported VC Circle.

“Wind turbine maker Suzlon Energy on Wednesday said it will sell a 49 per cent stake in its 50 megawatt (MW) solar project in Telangana to wind energy company Ostro Energy, months after selling a project to CLP India,” reported Mint.

HLE Engineers made an offer to buy a majority stake in Swiss Glascoat Equipments for $9.4m. Vivro Financial Services is the manager to the open offer, according to the Bombay Stock Exchange announcement.

"Online travel firm MakeMyTrip Ltd has agreed to buy Ibibo Group’s travel business in India in an all-stock deal, creating the country’s largest online travel firm which, according to a note by Morgan Stanley, is worth $1.8 billion. The deal value wasn’t announced, but the $1.8 billion valuation and the fact that Ibibo’s owners, Naspers and Tencent, end up with a 40% stake in the merged entity, translate into a transaction worth $720 million. Naspers owns a third of Tencent, its most valuable investment.” reported Mint.

"Fortis Healthcare has completed the acquisition of 51 per cent stake in Fortis Hospotel Ltd and also acquired compulsorily convertible preference shares issued by Escort Heart Institute and Research Centre,” reported the Economic Times.

"The acquisition is the biggest foreign acquisition ever in India and Russia’s largest outbound deal. Billionaire brothers Shashi and Ravi Ruia have agreed to sell 98 per cent of Essar Group flagship firm Essar Oil to Russian oil major Rosneft and a consortium of oil trading firm Trafigura with private investment group United Capital Partners for $13 billion, making it the largest foreign direct investment in India.” reported The Hindu and others.

"In an attempt to boost capacity and expand its footprint into new markets, Orient Cement Ltd has struck a two-pronged deal with Jaypee Group to purchase a pair of cement businesses at an enterprise value of Rs1,950 crore,” reported Mint.

PDS Legal advised Tata Capital Healthcare Fund on selling its shares in Sandor Nephro Services, which was advised by Fox Mandal, to Fresenius Medical Care which was advised by Samvad Partners.

Universal Legal advised Carlyle-backed Newgen KnowledgeWorks on acquiring a majority stake in Pune-based digital learning and software company Exult Infosolutions which was advised by LegaLogic Consulting.

"PayU Global, the digital payments provider owned by South Africa’s Naspers Group, will buy rival Citrus Pay for $130 million in an all-cash deal. PayU India will have more than 30 million customers post the acquisition of Citrus Pay. The company forecast it will process an estimated 150 million transactions, worth $4.2 billion, in 2016. The deal, once concluded, is expected to provide an attractive exit to Citrus Pay’s investors—Ascent Capital, Beenos and Sequoia Capital. PayU confirmed that the early investors will exit but declined to disclose details,” reported Mint.

"German drugs and crop chemicals company Bayer AG has won over US seeds firm Monsanto Co. with an improved takeover offer of around $66 billion, ending months of wrangling after increasing its bid for a third time. The $128 a share deal, up from Bayer’s previous offer of $127.50 a share, is the biggest of the year so far and the largest cash bid on record. The deal will create a company commanding more than a quarter of the combined world market for seeds and pesticides in the fast-consolidating farm supplies industry,” reported Mint.

"Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance Communications Ltd (R-Com) has signed a definitive agreement to merge its wireless business with smaller rival Aircel Ltd to create India’s third largest telecom operator by users,” reported Mint.