Deals Buzz: Warburg Pincus, Temasek front runners for SBI General stake
5 min read . Updated: 01 Jul 2019, 09:36 AM IST
PremiumIn other news, Domestic private equity firm True North’s Fund III has sold its entire stake of 9.15% in India- and Gulf-based hospital chain Aster DM Healthcare Ltd for ₹550 crore
Mumbai: Mint brings you your dose of the top deals news, reported from newsrooms across the country
Warburg Pincus, Temasek front runners for SBI General stake
Private equity firm Warburg Pincus and Singapore’s Temasek are leading the race to buy a stake in SBI General, The Economic Times reported citing people involved directly in the matter. The general insurer has offered a 26% stake worth ₹3,250 crore, valuing the insurer at ₹12,500 crore. This is at a premium to its last fund raise round in September, when Axis New Opportunities Fund and PremjiInvest picked up a 4% stake in company at a valuation of ₹12,000 crore. Temasek, Warburg Pincus are likely to acquire a maximum 9.9% each in the country’s 13th largest general insurer, as any ownership over ten per cent classifies a shareholder as a promoter in an insurance company, that has to stay invested for a minimum of five years. PremjiInvest may also to add to its existing stake. The insurer plans to launch its initial public offering by FY20. In December 2010, SBI General was set up as a 74:26 joint venture between the State Bank of India and Insurance Australia Group (IAG), which at the time had paid ₹542 crore for its 26% stake in the joint venture.
True North’s third fund sells entire 9.15% stake in hospital chain Aster DM
Domestic private equity firm True North’s Fund III has sold its entire stake of 9.15% in India- and Gulf-based hospital chain Aster DM Healthcare Ltd for ₹550 crore, Mint reported. True North, which first invested in Aster DM in 2008, had sold a 7.4% stake held by the firm’s third fund through block trades. The fund followed this with selling another 1.75% for around ₹100 crore, thus exiting the company completely. However, True North continues to stay invested in the company through its fourth and fifth private equity funds. The shares, sold at ₹120 each, were bought by various investors, including Fidelity, HDFC Mutual Fund, Ontario Pension Fund, Tata AIA Life Insurance Co. Ltd, Steinberg India Opportunities Fund, and an existing investor of the company Rimco, exchange data shows. Aster DM Healthcare, which also counts PE firm Olympus Capital as its investor, went public last year in an initial public offering that saw it raise ₹980 crore, selling its shares at a price of ₹190 each.
Anil Ambani looks to sell or lease out his Mumbai headquarters
Financially distressed tycoon, Anil Ambani is has engaged a group of global private equity firms including Blackstone and another US-based fund for his Mumbai-based headquarters, to either sell or lease it out for three years, The Economic Times reported citing three people familiar with the development. If the sale goes through, Ambani may move back to his Ballard Estate office in south Mumbai. The sale of 700,000 sq ft Reliance Centre in Santacruz could fetch Ambani as much as ₹1,500-2,000 crore. The site, however, is caught up in a legal tangle with the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC), which ruled that Reliance Infrastructure Ltd could not seek concessions to build office space as similar leeway had already been granted to it when Adani Transmission Ltd bought Reliance Infra’s retail electricity distribution in 2017 and its Santacruz headquarters was kept out of the deal. Besides, a group of consumers have also approached the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (Aptel) demanding that the land be transferred to Adani Transmission or users should get a concession on their bills equivalent to the proceeds of the sale of about ₹2,000 crore. The case is pending before Aptel.
CapitaLand completes $8 bn acquisition of Ascendas-Singbridge
Singapore-based investor CapitaLand Ltd completed the purchase of Temasek Holdings-owned Ascendas-Singbridge Pte. Ltd, creating one of Asia’s largest diversified real estate groups with over $123 billion of assets under management (AUM), Mint reported. In January, CapitaLand had said it will acquire Temasek-owned Ascendas-Singbridge’s stakes in two of Ascendas-Singbridge’s subsidiaries, in a cash-and-stock deal worth S$11 billion ($8 billion). With the transaction complete, Temasek, which held a 40.8% stake in CapitaLand before the deal, now holds about 51% in the company. The combined group, which has an early-mover advantage in India with an AUM of $2.6 billion across sectors, will further develops these new economy sectors in the country. Other than Ascendas-Singbridge, which will now be part of the newly merged CapitaLand Group, some of the prominent Singapore investors who have gained a foothold in India include GIC Pte. Ltd, Xander, and more recently, Mapletree Investment Pte. Ltd, are known for their interest in commercial office assets and sunshine sectors like logistics and warehousing, and for their patient capital and long-term investment outlook.
True North-backed Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) may launch IPO in 2020
Leading private equity fund True North-backed, Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) is looking to tap the primary markets by launching an initial public offering (IPO) by next year, The Economic Times reported citing two people aware of the development. “We have plans to list the company and (have) started discussions with bankers regarding the same," Dr MI Sahadulla, chairman, KIMS told ET without disclosing further details. While Sahadulla and friends own a majority stake in the ₹1,300-crore KIMS, True North owns a significant minority stake of about 40%. The PE firm, which invested about $200 million for a significant minority stake, is expected to sell 15-20% in the IPO, while promoters will dilute a part of their stakes. KIMS, founded in 2002 by Sahadulla and founding promoters, has over 1,500 beds across six hospitals. KIMS’s first and largest hospital in Thiruvananthapuram is a 650-bed multi-specialty quaternary care hospital. The group has a presence in the Middle East across five countries, with two hospitals and six medical centres, as well as one managed hospital. The group’s combined turnover is in excess of ₹1,100 crore. In March 2017, True North had acquired its stake from existing investors Ascent Capital Advisors and OrbiMed Advisors Llc and infused primary capital to fund KIMS’ expansion plans.
