Latest update: UB Group CFO Ravi Nedungadi has come on record on the deal. UB Group has indeed acquired 26 per cent stake in India’s largest low cost airline Deccan Aviation. They are paying Rs 550 crore ($138 million), of which Rs 150 crore ($38 million) will be paid now. The rest Rs 400 crore [...]

Unconfirmed reports suggest that Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines and Deccan Aviation have reached an agreement according to which the former will pick up a 26 per cent stake in India’s largest low cost airline. TV channels reported that a board meeting of Deccan Aviation has been convened at today 5 pm to consider the proposal. [...]

Leading equipment financing Srei Infrastructure Finance has formed a 50:50 joint venture with BNP Paribas Lease Group (BPLG), the leasing arm of BNP Paribas. The current infrastructure equipment (asset finance) business of SREI along with its insurance broking activity will be transferred to this JV, which will have an initial net worth of Rs 800 [...]

This just in. CNBC TV18 reports that Tata Tea is buying a majority stake in Mount Everest Mineral Water. Mount Everest promoters are selling 11 per cent stake to Tata Tea, which will make an open offer to the public shareholders at Rs 140-145 a share. Post open offer, Tata Tea’s stake will be about [...]

This could be the beginning of the last round of consolidation in the Indian telecom industry. If media reports are to be believed, Indian mobile operator Spice Telecom is in advanced talks with Idea Cellular for a sell-out. Spice is a small cellular operator with 2.8 million subscribers in two circles - Punjab and Karnataka. [...]

Casual wear retail chain Weekender is on the block. Bangalore-based Primus Retail, a part of the garment export house K Mohan & Co, is in advanced talks to acquire the Gokaldas Images-owned chain, according to The Economic Times.
Gokaldas Images is apparently more focused on the export business, and will rather stay focused there in the [...]

International Finance Corporation (IFC), the multilateral investment arm of the World Bank, has decided to invest in two India focussed private equity funds - Aloe Environment Fund 2 (Aloe 2) and Samara Capital Partners Fund I Ltd (Samara Capital).
IFC has proposed to invest €15 million ($20 million) in Aloe (see IFC’s project summary), an independent [...]

Private equity fund India Equity Partners (IEP) has picked up an undisclosed stake in Ocean Sparkle lTD, a Hyderabad-based port management company, for $18 million, reports The Economic Times. IEP has bought the stake held by APIDC Venture Capital in the company, which, according to ET, is probably at a valuation of $100 million. [...]

Yes Bank has launched a $100 million food and agribusiness India fund, reports Business Standard. The fund will invest anywhere between $5 million and $7.5 million in a company, and will exhaust the fund deployment in the next one or two years. The fund will invest in companies operating in fruits and vegetables such as [...]

Reliance Communications has appointed JP Morgan as its investment banker to advise on its strategic equity sale in the tower business, Reliance Telecom Infrastructure Ltd (RTIL). RTIL was recently demerged from the core mobile service business of Reliance Communications. The company is looking at selling about 5-10 per cent stake in RTIL. It’s believed to [...]

Avaya Inc., a maker of corporate-phone systems, is reportedly in talks with private equity firms or other bidders to sell out fully or partially. The Wall Street Journal reported that the company is in discussions with Silver Lake Partners about a leveraged buyout. The company is also in talks with Nortel Networks Corp. and could [...]

Godrej Properties, the real estate arm of the Mumbai based diversified industrial group Godrej, is in talks with real estate funds to raise about Rs 200 crore, reports The Economic Times. The company is looking to sell about 49 per cent stake in two real estate projects in Hyderabad and Kolkata. Godrej Properties chairman Adi [...]

Hyderabad-based private equity fund iLabs Group is believed to have flipped one of its portfolio companies Cibernet to another private equity biggie Warburg Pincus. The Economic Times reports that a Warburg Pincus arm has bought Cibernet, a company that provides clearing and roaming business services for telecom companies globally, for over $200 million. It was [...]

UK retail group Associated British Foods Plc has acquired the UK’s leading Indian cuisine brand Patak’s, with assets worth £40 million ($79 million), from the founding Patak family. ABF, with annual revenues of £6 billion, runs Primark retail chain, refines Silver Spoon sugar and makes Ovaltine beverages and Twinings tea, besides an international cuisine brand [...]

Publicly listed Temptation Foods has acquired 100 per cent stake in Karen’s Gourmet Kitchen (KGK). The financial terms are undisclosed. What is known is that Temptation has issued 50,000 equity shares to the shareholders of Karen’s Gourmet Kitchen Pvt Ltd as a part consideration on preferential basis at Rs 150 a share. (See the stock [...]