Deals Buzz: Falcon Edge Capital in talks for $250 million fund focused on India
In other news, French insurer Covea is in advanced talks with the Agnelli family’s Exor NV to buy the Italian company’s reinsurance business PartnerRe for about $9 billion in cash
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Falcon Edge Capital in talks for $250 million fund focused on India
American hedge fund Falcon Edge Capital, best known in India for investing in Ola and Dailyhunt among others, is in talks to raise a debut India-focused fund of $250 million, Mint reported citing two people aware of the matter. New York-based Falcon Edge currently has more than $2 billion in assets under management and has made technology as well as non-tech consumer investments. Its global portfolio includes Alibaba’s financial services firm Ant Financial, Chinese ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing and German food delivery firm Delivery Hero. Falcon Edge has already raised $45.7 million for the India-focused fund, according to filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the US markets regulator. Founded by Navroz Udwadia and Rick Gerson in 2012, Falcon Edge began its investment journey in India in 2014 with real estate startup Housing.com along with Japan’s SoftBank in a $90 million round.
Covea in talks to buy Agnellis’ PartnerRe for $9 billion
French insurer Covea is in advanced talks with the Agnelli family’s Exor NV to buy the Italian company’s reinsurance business PartnerRe for about $9 billion in cash, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the discussions. Covea approached Exor with an offer for the Bermuda-based reinsurer and is in exclusive talks with the holding company that also controls Fiat Chrysler NV and Ferrari NV. Exor and Covea confirmed the exclusive discussions, which were first reported by Bloomberg. Talks “are ongoing and there is no certainty that they will result in a transaction," Amsterdam-based Exor said in a statement. The acquisition of PartnerRe would help Covea diversify its business beyond home, auto, life and health insurance coverage. Insurers and reinsurers are under pressure from the low to negative interest rates at which they have to invest a large chunk of their premiums. Insurers thus have turned to dealmaking and ways of diversifying their revenue streams, including moves into reinsurance and asset management.
CitiusTech earmarks $100 million for acquisitions across geographies
Mumbai-based healthcare technology company CitiusTech has earmarked $100 million for potential acquisitions, co-founder and CEO Rizwan Koita told Mint in an interview. CitiusTech, which was acquired by Baring Private Equity Asia last year in a deal valuing it at above $1 billion, provides healthcare technology services and solutions to hospitals, insurance, pharma, life sciences, and medical technology companies, primarily in the US. CitiusTech has “a fairly aggressive plan to drive our mergers and acquisitions (M&As)", having earmarked $100 million for it, and is scouting for niche technology companies with expertise in digital experience, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robotic process automation, Koita said. “These companies are going to be largely across the US. We will also look at acquiring healthcare technology companies in the UK, Germany, and Japan," he said. It is also building internal expertise in these domains.
Pidilite leads $40 milliion funding round in Pepperfry
Pidilite Industries, the maker of popular homegrown adhesive brand Fevicol, has led a $40 million funding round in online furniture retailer Pepperfry, as it looks to make strategic bets in new age companies to complement its core product offering, The Economic Times reported. In December, Pidilite co-invested $30 million in online interior design company Home Lane. Globally and in India, companies such as Pidilite are betting on startups to access newer customers, products, markets, technologies and trends. Coca Cola, Unilever, Danone, Godrej Consumer and Marico have made such long-term and typically strategic investments.
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