1. Top Headlines
 PE-backed Azure Power may get $70M from US Exim Bank
 Former Reliance Trends chief's lifestyle e-store gets funding from
Lightspeed, Helion
 Essar Ports raises $31M from Antwerp Port Authority
 Dubai firm to buy BCCL's TimesofMoney
 Rating company CRISIL to buy UK-based analytics firm Coalition
for $44.8M
 PE-backed Shriram EPC to raise up to $26.4M; Gets Bessemer’s
Vishal Gupta on board.
 Google to make product search a paid service
Weekly Executive Summary
The big news of the week was the fall in India’s economic growth. New
fourth quarter GDP numbers out on Thursday were worse than most
expectations. GDP growth for the three months to March was a meager
5.3%. That brings the overall GDP growth for the full fiscal to a mere
6.5%.
The poor GDP numbers were caused primarily by a dismal performance
from manufacturing. That sector saw a 0.3% contraction for the quarter.
Other sectors also fared badly, with electricity growing just 4.9% and
construction going up by 4.8%. Agriculture did worse, with a growth of
just 1.7%.
And the plunge in economic growth has prompted several downgrades
of India. Morgan Stanly has cut its GDP forecast to 5.7% from 6.3%. And
Standard Chartered has slashed its forecast to 6.2% from 7.1%. The
slowdown has also heightened expectations of a rate cut when the
Reserve Bank meets on18 June.
And in other news, India’s telecom industry could be up for an overhaul.
On Thursday the cabinet approved the National Telecom Policy. The
new policy will separate licenses from spectrum. And the government
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2. Plans to review the Trai Act and retain the policymaking function. Also,
the policy authorizes the Department of Telecommunications to finalise
the Unified Licensing Regime.
Moving to earnings, Tata Motors has ended a lucrative year with a bang.
On Tuesday the company posted bumper earnings for the fourth
quarter. Net profit for the three months to March raced ahead 136% to
6,234 crores. And revenue climbed 44% to 50,907. Tata Motors
benefited from a deferment of tax assets. But the company also got a
boost thanks to its UK arm, Jaguar Land Rover, which saw robust sales
in emerging markets.
But despite the impressive volume growth, investors were disappointed
with JLR’s profitability. The unit’s fourth quarter margins fell to less
than 15% from about 20 in the previous quarter.
Inside The Story
PE-backed Azure Power may get $70M from US Exim Bank
Export-Import Bank of the US may provide long-term finance of Rs
395.9 crore ($70.35 million) to solar power producer Azure Power India
Pvt Ltd for its solar power plant at Nagaur in Rajasthan.The plant is an
expansion of the firm’s existing 5 MW Nagaur photo-voltaic facility, and
will ensure a total output of 40 MW, making it the largest solar power
plant to be developed at a single location under the National Solar
Mission. The current project started in January this year.“With this
project, we are committed to working towards meeting the grid parity
objective of the National Solar Mission in India,” said Inderpreet
Wadhwa, CEO of Azure Power.
Former Reliance Trends chief's lifestyle e-store gets
funding from Lightspeed, Helion
Arun Sirdeshmukh, former chief executive of Reliance Trends, has
teamed up with Darpan Munjal (former CTO of Times Internet Ltd who
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3. had also worked at the e-commerce unit of US retail giant Sears) to
launch an online fashion and lifestyle store called Fashionara. For a
starter, Fashionara is offering apparel, footwear and accessories for
men, women and kids but it will also foray into other related product
categories.The Bangalore-based startup has also received an
undisclosed amount of funding from Helion Venture Partners and
Lightspeed Venture Partners. Refusing to quote the exact amount,
Sirdeshmukh said, “We have got a substantial amount of funding, which
is required to grow and consolidate a strong e-commerce business. We
May look for a fresh round of funding after 18-24 months.”The money
raised will be used to scale up the supply chain, logistics, technology-
building, branding and marketing. Right now a team of 36, the firm will
also hire to take up the number to 50 by August this year.
Essar Ports raises $31M from Antwerp Port Authority
Belgium’s Port of Antwerp International (PAI), an investing and
consulting arm of Antwerp Port Authority, has invested Rs 175 crore
($31 million) in public-listed Essar Ports, one of India’s largest port
operators involved in port and terminal services for liquid, dry bulk,
break bulk and general cargo. The investment is done through the issue
of GDRs at Rs 100 per share, translating into around 4 per cent stake of
the diluted equity base.Essar Ports’ scrip declined marginally to close at
Rs 89.3 a share on the BSE in a weak Mumbai market. The partnership is
aimed at technical assistance for port planning and process
improvement besides quality and productivity enhancement. Jan Adam,
the CFO of Port of Antwerp, has joined the board of Essar Ports Ltd as a
non-executive director.
Dubai firm to buy BCCL's TimesofMoney
Dubai based Network International LCC, one of the largest of payment
solutions providers, was set to buy TimesofMoney, the digital payment
services provider and remittance company of Bennett, Coleman and Co
Ltd (BCCL), India’s largest media house and popularly known as the
Times group. The talks have been on for a while and the formal
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4. Announcement is due within the next fortnight. The business is
currently valued at around Rs 700 crore and BCCL is exiting at a
premium of close to Rs 800-1,000 crore.
Rating company CRISIL to buy UK-based analytics firm Coalition
for $44.8M
Credit Rating Information Services of India Ltd (CRISIL) will acquire
100 per cent equity shares of the UK-based analytics firm Coalition
Development Ltd, along with its subsidiaries, for Rs 250 crore ($44.8
million approx.) in an all-cash deal.“The all-cash transaction has a
maximum payout of £29 million or Rs 250 crore with earn outs over
two years. It will add to CRISIL’s earnings per share from the first year,”
a company statement said.
PE-backed Shriram EPC to raise up to $26.4M; Gets Bessemer’s
Vishal Gupta on board.
Engineering procurement & construction firm Shriram EPC, backed by
Bessemer Venture Partners and others, is planning to raise funding up
to $26.4 million (Rs 150 crore).The funding could be done through
rights issue of equity shares or QIPs, ADRs, GDRs, FCCBs or any other
securities convertible into equity shares.According to a BSE filing, the
company has also appointed Vishal Vijay Gupta of Bessemer Venture
Partners as its nominee director after RS Chandra (also from Bessemer)
resigned from Shriram EPC’s board.The venture capital firm holds 23.6
per cent in Shriram EPC, as of December 2011. Other investors in the
firm include New Vernon Private Equity, Argonaut Ventures and Ascent
India Fund.
Google to make product search a paid service
Google's free 'product search' would soon be a paid service in the US
under which merchants and retailers will have to pay for listings of
products. "We are starting to transition Google Product Search in the US
to a purely commercial model built on Product Listing Ads. This new
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5. Product discovery experience will be called Google Shopping and the
transition will be complete this fall," Google Shopping Vice President
(Product Management) Sameer Samat said in his blog on Thursday. The
new initiative seen as a step to boost company's revenue will in addition
provide the customers a higher quality shopping experience.
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