Deals Buzz: SoftBank Vision Fund may put $250 million in Delhivery

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SoftBank Vision Fund may put $250 million in Delhivery

SoftBank Vision Fund is in talks to invest $200-250 million (Rs 1,470-1,837 crore) in ecommerce-focused logistics player Delhivery, The Economic Times reported. The $100-billion fund started by SoftBank’s Japanese billionaire founder, Masayoshi Son, is evaluating Delhivery at a post-money valuation of around $1.2 billion, which will take the seven-year-old company to the unicorn club. Mint had reported in May that Delhivery is looking to go public via an initial public offering, although it was still in very early stages of discussions.

For Delhivery, an investment led by the Tokyo-headquartered strategic holding company will provide it greater capital runway, given that it comes after it was reported that the logistics firm decided to push back plans for an anticipated $350-million initial public offering, an issue it had been working on for more than 18 months. Read more

Govt mulls one-time fund infusion into IL&FS stalled road projects

The government might go for one-time fund infusion into the languishing national highway projects of IL&FS, Business Standard reported, citing senior officials. They, however, declined to share the proposed fund infusion plan. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, they added, was not considering a takeover of the firm’s projects via the National Highways Authority of India. IL&FS could sell the completed road projects where tolling is underway independent of any government interference. The infrastructure construction and finance company is also grappling with arbitration claims worth around ₹ 70 billion with the NHAI, which are under various stages of resolution. Read more

M&A’s poised to cross $100 billion in 2018

The value of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) involving Indian companies more than doubled in the first nine months of 2018 to a shade below the $100 billion-mark, Mint reported. M&A deals worth $99.7 billion were reported between January and September, surpassing the annual record of $67.4 billion in 2007, according to Thomson Reuters data. The deals table was led by Walmart’s $16 billion acquisition of Flipkart. The uptick in M&A activity in India comes at a time when mergers in the Asia-Pacific region have slowed. Asia-Pacific M&As, excluding Japan, fell to $164.6 billion in the third quarter of 2018, from $171.3 billion in the year-ago period, according to Mergermarket data. Read more

Alteria makes second close of maiden fund at ₹ 625 crore

Alteria Capital Advisors Llp, a venture debt firm launched by former executives of InnoVen Capital, has made the second close of its maiden fund, securing a commitment of roughly ₹ 625 crore ($85 million) from its largest backers, Mint reported. Separately, Alteria also invested ₹ 8 crore in scooter-sharing firm Vogo as part of the start-up’s Series A round led by Ola (ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd), Stellaris Venture Partners and Matrix Partners last month. Read more

Acme Solar may put 650MW capacity up for sale

Acme Solar, which had bid aggressively to push solar tariffs in India to record lows, is considering putting 650 megawatts of capacity on the block, as it weighs various options for the future, The Economic Times reported. cme has won the contract for developing 200 MW at the Bhadla solar project with a historic low tariff of 2.44/unit till now in India, the company said in a recent statement issued on completion of the said project. Recently, the Solar Energy Corporation of India, which is implementing the National Solar Mission, partially cancelled bids received for 2,400 MW capacity in a 3,000 MW tender, citing high tariffs quoted by developers including ReNew Power and Soft-Bank-led SB Energy. Only bids received by Acme Solar were retained as the company quoted a tariff of 2.44 per unit. Read more