US-based real estate development and management firm Hines plans to tap the Indian residential segment.
The company is scouting for joint venture partners for its first residential development.
Five years ago, Hines had entered India through a joint venture development commercial project with real estate major DLF in Gurgaon.
Through its Indian arm, Hines India Real Estate, the company also plans to attract an international brand for a four-star hotel on its 21-acre mixed-use development project in Gurgaon.
Alongside DLF, Hines is also developing a 3.5-acre site on Golf Course Road in Gurgaon. In the residential segment, the firm plans to target mid-market and upper mid-market projects.
Hines operates across 17 countries, including Germany, the UK, Spain, China, the UAE, Canada and Brazil, with total assets of about $23.4 billion.
UK-based private equity (PE) firm Actis is set to pull out of its joint venture with the Tata Group, formed with an aim to develop highway projects in India.
The JV company, TRIL Roads Private Limited, was formed three years ago with Tata Realty & Infrastructure (TRIL) owning 65 per cent stake and the remaining being held by Actis. The initial investment was pegged at $200 million.
The Tata Group is set to buy the 35 per cent stake owned by Actis but the exact financial details of the deal are yet to be released.
The disengagement process is likely to conclude by next month.
Actis is realigning its infrastructure interests and focusing on the power generation and distribution sector through the infrastructure funds.
Roads and highway development in India have faced some delays on account of economic slowdown, which has had an impact on infrastructure project financing.
Indian firm Eureka Forbes is acquiring Switzerland-based home appliances firm Lux International.
Both companies have been working together for a while and the acquisition is designed to bring significant synergistic benefits.
It will help the Shapoorji Pallonji Group company, Eureka Forbes, expand into new markets in Europe, Africa and South America and also help the company gain access to premium products and over 15,000 sales partners across the globe.
Both companies had entered into a 50-50 joint venture partnership in 2007. In 2010, Lux sold its 25 per cent stake in the company to Eureka Forbes.
Following the latest acquisition, Eureka Forbes will become the world’s largest home product direct sales company with operations in 40 countries and over 25,000 employees.
While the Indian firm will have a controlling stake in the company, the financial details of the deal yet to be disclosed.
KPMG is advising the Indian firm and law firm Blum & Partner of Switzerland is working with Lux.
India’s Sobha Group which is into property development has formed a joint venture (JV) with Dubai based Meydan Group to build a township in Dubai spread across 1000 acres of land.
The JV will be called Meydan Sobha FZ LLC and both the firms will hold equal stake.
The project would include 1500 luxury villas, a 350000 square meter water park, seven km of lagoons and man-made beaches, retail zones and sports attractions.
They have divided the project into four phases and expect to complete the same in seven years. The work for the first phase has already started will take three years to complete.
Named ‘Mohammed bin Rashid City — District One’ is located alongside Al-Khail Road, adjacent to the Meydan Racecourse and less than 3 km from Dubai’s key financial, leisure and shopping districts.
It will have the world biggest shopping malls, 100 hotels and a park larger than London’s Hyde Park.
Currently Sobha has 38 ongoing residential projects and 47 ongoing contractual projects.
Baby product retailer Little feet Inc has entered into a joint venture with Taiwanese firm Tung Ling Industries to manufacture and distribute the American kids brand ‘Piyo Piyo’ in India.
The JV will be investing a total of $111 million over the coming years as part of the deal which includes setting up a manufacturing plant in India.
Piyo Piyo offers a complete range of baby care products, which include other allied services in the areas of mothercare, nursing, feeding, daily commodities, cleaning, apparel and toys. It has a presence across 20 countries.
Set up in 2005, Little Feet is in the business of imports and distributions of many world-famous brands besides its own brand ‘Deliababy’.
In India, the firm has an office in Chennai and overseas its has offices in Hong Kong and Guangzhou for sourcing and quality control.
Little Feet plans to open 150 stores in the next two years, looking to tap other major brands as well.
Days after Jet Airways announced a stake sale to Etihad Airways, the Indian private carrier is set to cash in on the collaboration by raising nearly $150 million in overseas funds.
The loan is to be facilitated through the Gulf carrier’s bankers at a lower rate than the average annual rate of 12 per cent Jet pays on its current loans.
Abu Dhabi based Etihad has already agreed to pay an estimated $380 million for a 24 per cent stake in the Indian airline as part of the first major deal since India eased foreign direct investment (FDI) norms for the aviation sector.
Under rules that came into force last year, foreign carriers are allowed to own up to 49 per cent in domestic carriers with an eye on easing the cost pressures in Indian airlines.
Like most Indian carriers, Mumbai-based Jet has outstanding loans of about $800 million and the Etihad deal is seen as a much-needed boost to its cash reserves.
For the Gulf airline, the deal signifies a foothold in a fast-growing market. It will also have the right to appoint three directors on the board of Jet Airways.
“The company and the investor intend to realise various efficiencies and synergies, including lower administrative costs, sharing of joint resources, better customer service and efficient administration of their respective businesses,” Jet said in reference to the deal.
One of India’s largest manufacturers of edible oil, Ruchi Soya Industries Limited, has formed a joint venture with two Japanese firms – Kagome Co. Limited and Mitsui & Co. Limited – to set up a manufacturing unit for tomato-based food products.
According to the deal, Ruchi Soya and Kagome Co. will hold 40 per cent in the JV company while Mitsui & Co will hold the remaining stake.
The manufacturing plant will be set up in Maharashtra with an investment of $8.1 million and is expected to be operational by June 2014. The JV has plans to launch premium tomato puree, sauces, ketchup and other products in India.
India is the second-largest producer of tomatoes and also one of the major importers of processed tomato products with the domestic industry estimated to be producing 17 million tons per year.
Indore-headquartered Ruchi Soya is a leading manufacturer of edible oils, vanaspati, bakery fats and soya foods.
India’s plastic processing machinery maker, Windsor Machines, is set to acquire Italian auto component firm Italtech through a joint venture entity Wintech Srl.
According to the agreement, 80 per cent will be held by Wintech BV – a wholly-owned subsidiary of Windsor in Netherlands – and the remaining 20 per cent will be held by its Italian joint venture partner Geoplast Spa.
The companies have not released the financial details of the deal. The acquisition will help Windsor upgrade and develop advanced technology machines to meet European standards and also provide access to global auto majors based in India.
Italtech manufactures injection moulding machines for moulding of plastics and is the owner of “Two-Platen” technology used in the process. Its client portfolio includes Fiat, Renault and Nissan.
Windsor was launched in 1964 under collaboration with R.H. Windsor of the UK.
India and Bangladesh have signed their biggest-ever joint venture agreement to invest $1.6 billion towards a 1,320MW coal-fired power plant in Rampal in Bangladesh.
The JV will be called Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company Private Limited (BIFPCL).
The two countries have clinched three deals – one to run the plant and two others for Power Purchase Agreement and Implementation Agreement.
Under the agreement, 70 per cent of the investment would come as loan from the market and the remaining will be provided equally by Bangladesh Power Development Board and India's state-run National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC).
Both the countries have set a project completion deadline of 2018.
Bangladesh plans to cover its power generation needs by 2021 and would require 24,000 MW by then. The cost of generating power is higher in the country as most of it is currently generated by fuel-based power plants, making coal-based power generation an urgent requirement.
The entry of foreign airlines into India's domestic sector became a reality with approval for a new airline – AirAsia India.
