Description: Citigroup, the world's largest financial services company, has bought U.K.’s insurance company Standard Life’s 9.27% stake in Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), the premier housing finance company for $671 million (Rs. 3050 crore). With this deal, Citi has increased its stake in HDFC to 12.3% making a total investment of $900 million to become the biggest shareholder in the company. Although Citi has hinted that it would like taking over a non-U.S. bank, it has made it clear that it considers HDFC as a financial investment. It is, however, significant to note that the Citi investment was through foreign direct investment (FDI) route instead of foreign institutional investor (FII) route. Foreign direct investment in a non-banking finance company is allowed up to 100%, while an FII entity can’t hold more than 10% in such a company.

  Description: Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), the government owned investment vehicle of Abu Dhabi, has purchased 10% stake in Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS), India's leading infrastructure development and finance company, from IL&FS Employees’ Welfare Trust. The trust is now left with 1.28% stake in the company. The other prominent investors of IL&FS are LIC/UTI (Life Insurance Corporation / Unit Trust of India) with 26.98% stake, ORIX Corporation, an integrated financial services group of Japan with 21.32% stake and HDFC with 13.1% stake. This is ADIA’s first deal in India and the authority that handles about $500 billion investments is expected to make more investments in the country.

  Description: GMR Infrastructure, part of the GMR Group, the Bangalore-based power and infrastructure company has gone through a battery of pre-IPO private equity deals. It has sold 2.89% stake to ICICI Ventures, a subsidiary of ICICI Bank and the largest private equity and venture capital management company in India,  to raise $55.5 million (Rs. 250 crore), while Citicorp Venture Capital (CVC), the private investment unit of Citigroup has picked up 1.26% stake for $22.2 million (Rs. 100 crore). George Soros promoted U.S.-based Quantum Fund has invested $14.9 million (Rs. 67 crore) in the company for 0.75% stake. Punjab National Bank (PNB), India’s leading public sector banking services provider, has also bought 0.30% stake in the company for $6 million (Rs. 27 crore). With all these pre-IPO deals combined together, GMR has garnered about $98.66 million (Rs. 444 crore) by offering 5.32% stake. GMR has also placed 4.11% stake with Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation (IDFC), a specialized financial intermediary for infrastructure development projects, through a share swap deal recently. GMR Infrastructure has been valued by investment houses at $1.7 billion (Rs. 7500 crore). It has taken up modernization of Delhi airport and construction of the greenfield international airport in Hyderabad, capital city of the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is also engaged in road construction and power generation. It has planned an initial public offering (IPO) of $222 million (Rs. 1000 crore) with a price band of $7.22-$7.77 (Rs.325 – Rs.350). JM Morgan Stanley, DSP Merrill Lynch, Enam Financial and SSKI Corporate Finance are the lead managers for the IPO.

  Description: Deccan Aviation Ltd, which operates India’s first low-cost airline called Air Deccan, recently floated its initial public offering (IPO) of $80.73 million (Rs.363.28 crore). The IPO lead managed by Mumbai-based Enam Financial Consultants and ICICI Securities, India's leading investment banking firm, closed on May 26, 2006. Bennett, Coleman and Company Ltd (BCCL), the publishers of English daily The Times of India, picked up Deccan Aviation’s 1.42% stake as a pre-IPO placement. The stake taken up by BCCL was valued at $3.44 million (Rs. 15.49 crore) based on the IPO price of $3.2 (Rs.148) per share. Earlier, Capital International, part of the Capital Group, the world's most experienced and successful investment management organizations, and ICICI Venture (Indian Advantage Fund – I) had invested in Deccan Aviation in March 2005. ICICI Venture had picked up 19% stake in Deccan Aviation, while Capital International had taken 18.5% stake in the company. The total deal worth approximately $40 million (Rs. 174 crore) was structured as a combination of equity and convertible debt at the effective rate of $1.5 (Rs. 63.05) per share.

  Description: Anant Raj Industries Ltd, one of India’s leading real estate and construction company, has allotted 3.50 million equity shares and 1.50 million warrants on preferential basis to ABN Amro Bank of London, HSBC Indian Equity Mother Fund of Mumbai and GRA Finance Corporation of Mauritius. The allotment has been made at the rate of $13.3 or Rs. 600 (including premium of $13 or Rs. 590) per share.. The warrants include an option for conversion in to equivalent number equity shares at the rate of $13.3 or Rs. 600 per share. In this deal, ABN Amro has purchased 2.05 million shares and 0.88 million warrants, HSBC has picked up 0.70 million shares and 0.30 million warrants, and GRA Finance has taken 0.75 million shares and 0.32 million warrants. Anant Raj Industries is a ceramic tiles and clay products manufacturer.

  Description: Wipro Technologies, the Global IT Services Division of Wipro Limited, has signed an agreement to acquire Portugal-based retail solutions provider, Enabler Informatica SA in a $52.7 million deal. The consideration includes upfront cash payment of approximately €41 million on closure of the transaction as well as earn-outs on achieving agreed financial targets over a two-year period. Enabler is among the leading retail systems and solutions specialists, which was initially the IS/IT department of Portugal’s leading retailer Modelo Continent, and was carved out as a separate company in 1997. Enabler is a preferred integrator of Oracle Retail (Retek) solutions and provider of Retail consulting services for global retailers.  Enabler, with delivery centers in Portugal and Brazil, has over 300 employees serving customers in Portugal, U.K., Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Middle East and Brazil.  During CY2005 Enabler’s revenues were approximately €30 million.

  Description: New Jersey-based IT services provider Global Consultants Inc (GCI), which has a significant base in India, has secured $30 million funding from U.S. venture capital fund Oak Investment Partners for a minority stake in the company. Privately held Global Consultants has offices in the U.S., Europe and India. GCI, a $200 million company, plans to increase its headcount in India from 3000 to 7500 in three years. It has recently opened offices in China and Brazil also.

  Description: Television Eighteen India Ltd (TV18) has secured an initial funding from Asian private equity fund SAIF Partners for launching India’s first fully integrated home shopping network (HSN). Both have committed themselves to support the new venture at its different stages of lifecycle, as they are eyeing at the booming organized shopping market estimated to grow at $30-$35 billion opportunity by 2010. The HSN being launched by TV18 will leverage its network of five channels – CNBC-TV18, CNN-IBN, Awaaz, Channel-7 and SAW, and six websites – moneycontrol.com, ibnlive.com, poweryourtrade.com, commoditiescontrol.com, yatra.in and Jobstreet India. SAIF Partner has not only made investment in the venture, but has also pledged its support of its extensive experience from its investment in the largest home shopping network in China.

  Description: New Delhi-based IT Solutions provider NIIT Technologies Limited has acquired a controlling interest in U.K.-based Insurance Solutions provider ROOM Solutions Limited headquartered in London with about 120 professionals in an all cash deal. NIIT has bought the 51% controlling stake in the company for about $13 million. NIIT plans to pick the remaining stake in the company over the next 18 months, by the end of 2007, taking the total deal size at $25 million. Room Solutions has revenues of about $25 million with a growth rate of about 20%. Its operating profit margin is about 9% and net margin at about 4-5%. ROOM Solutions is focused on the commercial insurance market, which compliments NIIT Technologies' insurance capability mainly focused at life and pension sector. ROOM Solutions brings it the required domain expertise in the Commercial Insurance space.

  Description: Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL), the long distance telephony and Internet services arm of India’s largest private sector industry conglomerate Tata Group, has announced its plans to acquire Direct Internet Ltd. and its wholly owned subsidiary Primus Telecommunications India Ltd. (PTIL) for an enterprise value of $16.7 million (Rs. 75 crore). Direct Internet provides Internet-based voice and data services while PTIL provides Internet service to small and medium enterprises in Indian cities. VSNL expects the deal to be completed in a few weeks. NASDAQ-listed PRIMUS Telecommunications Group Inc. holds about 85% beneficial stake in Direct Internet. VSNL was interested in the deal mainly because of Direct Internet and its subsidiary PTIL’s strong presence in the small and medium enterprise (SME) segment, which has the potential for high growth.  PTIL provides fixed broadband wireless Internet services to SMEs as well as a few large clients and is considered to be the largest private wireless broadband Internet access provider in India. Earlier, VSNL had acquired Tyco Global Network in November 2004 for $130 million, and Bermuda-registered international voice, data and IP services provider Teleglobe International Holdings for $239 million in July 2005.

  Description: Wipro Technologies, the Global IT Services Division of Wipro Limited, has announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire  U.S. based Quantech Global Services LLC and the India based Quantech Global Services Ltd. in an all cash deal. The cash component of around $10.16 million is estimated at around 0.7-0.8 times the revenues of the company. The revenue of Quantech for the year ended December 2005 was $12.7 million and it was profitable. The total consideration includes upfront cash payment on closure of the transaction as well as earn-outs on achieving agreed financial targets over a three-year period. Quantech, a 16 year old company, is a leading provider of Computer Aided Design and Engineering services to the Fortune 500 companies, particularly in the Automotive, Aerospace and Consumer Goods Industries. Quantech has over 500 employees located in India and the US.

  Description: Post production and visual effects services company Prime Focus Ltd. (PFL) has acquired 55% stake in VTR Group, one of Europe’s top media services groups for £4.7 million or $8.8 million (Rs. 40 crore). The deal was part financed by a bridge loan of $7.7 million (Rs. 35 crore) from Reliance Capital, one of India's leading private sector non-banking financial services companies which holds 14.53% stake in Prime Focus. Namit Malhotra, Managing Director of Prime Focus, will take over as chairman of VTR after the completion of the acquisition.

  Description: Intel Capital, the venture capital investment arm of Intel Corporation, has announced an investment in Real Image Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which specializes in digital media technology for the film, video, audio and animation industry worldwide. The investment has been made from $250 million Intel Capital India Technology Fund, established in December 2005. Real Image offers Qube Cinema, a digital cinema solution. It is targeting installation of its digital systems in theatres overseas as well as digital theatres in India. The funds received from Intel Capital will be mainly used for the plans of international marketing expansion, as well as research and development requirements. Street Edge and Novastar had invested in the company as the first round of venture capital funding in 2004. Intel Capital and Real Image have not disclosed the deal amount. The industry sources, however, estimate the deal size to be about $6.7 million (Rs. 30 crore). After the investment from Intel Capital, the company's total dilution to VCs is said to be a little above 30% according to industry estimates.

  Description: Silicon Valley-based VC fund Sequoia Capital has merged its India operations with Bangalore-based VC Fund WestBridge Capital Partners. WestBridge has been one of the most active VC funds in India. Although the new entity would be called Sequoia Capital India, the four Managing Directors of WestBridge Capital Partners—Sumir Chadha, KP Balaraj, Sandeep Singhal and SK Jain—will be in the leading roles responsible for managing investments. The terms of the merger have not beed disclosed.

  Description: Billionaire investor George Soros promoted fund Soros Fund Management has purchased abou 0.98 million shares representing 0.81% stake in Amtek Auto Ltd. The fund has bought these shares from Mirae Asset Investment Trust through a bulk deal at the rate of $6.22 (Rs. 280) per share.

  Description: Eros International Plc, a global distributor of Bollywood movies, is planning its initial public offering (IPO) on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) to raise $100 million (Rs. 450 crore). The company plans to dilute 15%-20% in the IPO. It has plans to utilize the money for setting up digital cinema exhibition in India, exploring the opportunities in the new media such as online, cable, wireless and mobile etc., and expanding the existing businesses. The company distributes Bollywood movies in the U.K., U.S., Australia, and the UAE apart from India. Eros, founded in 1977, has a rich content-base with a film library of more than 1000 titles. It had a turnover of $32.2 million and profit (before interest, tax, goodwill and amortisation) of $12.6 million.