Author
Harsh Batra
Harsh Batra
In our Middle East newsletter, I recently wrote about how the war is affecting regional M&A: delays and more targeted diligence. This week it’s clear that India is feeling the shockwave too.
Reuters had already laid out how the conflict had weighed on the rupee and created a “perfect storm”. Now the impact has gone further: delayed IPOs, cancelled plans, and a market bracing for uncertainty.
Yet some M&A is holding up. Highlights from this edition include:
- Adani Enterprises made a distressed play by winning the auction for Jaiprakash Associates’ (JAL) assets for around ₹14,535 crore. JAL is in insolvency proceedings and had defaulted on more than ₹50,000 crore of debt.
- Bain Capital invested ₹4,385 crore in Manappuram Finance in a deal that pairs a sizable capital injection with a material governance shift. The US firm is now moving to take joint control and could raise its total stake to as much as 41.66% through shares and convertible instruments.
- Macquarie has bought into Maple Infrastructure Trust, with an expected acquisition of 37.5% of the units in the La Caisse-sponsored InvIT, alongside stakes of 42.5% in the investment manager and 40% in the project manager.
You’ll also notice that Teaser India looks a little different this week.
We’re reshaping the format to make it a sharper, more concise read. To do that, we’re removing the Market Trends analysis and tightening our focus on themes more closely tied to M&A. I’d be glad to hear your feedback on these changes.
For more insights and conversations about the market, connect with me on LinkedIn.
Enjoy the read.
Deals Tracker
Rumour mill
- General Atlantic is evaluating another bolt-on hospital acquisition in India as it continues to scale its healthcare platform strategy through add-on deals.
- India’s IDBI Bank privatisation is being reconsidered after bids reportedly fell short of the reserve price, forcing officials to weigh a rebid or a delay.
- L’Oreal was reported to be in talks to acquire a majority stake in Innovist.
- MUFG and SBI have entered a strategic partnership to structure and finance projects including M&A, adding cross-border firepower for Indian and Japanese clients.
- Ola Electric plans to sell a stake in Ola Cell Technologies to raise up to ₹2,000 crore as it looks to monetise battery assets and shore up finances.
- Prudential is considering an exit from its life insurance joint venture with ICICI Bank, opening the door to a potential reshaping of one of India’s long-standing bancassurance partnerships.
- Punjab National Bank has put Rolta’s NPA on the block, seeking to recover ₹450.9 crore through the sale of a Gurugram land-and-building asset.
- Srijan Realty has put a Kolkata office asset on the block in a quick-exit move, highlighting continued churn in India’s commercial real estate market.
- Standard Chartered is reviewing bids from Kotak Mahindra Bank and Federal Bank for its India portfolio of credit-card-only customers, in a targeted portfolio sale rather than a wider exit.
- Thomas Cook India’s board is set to review a corporate restructuring and capital rationalisation proposal, signalling a fresh push on group simplification.
- Geopolitical volatility is slowing India IPO timetables, but several startups are still pressing ahead with plans to shift their headquarters back to India.
- The minimum public float required for very large listings was reduced, a rule change that materially improves the path to mega IPOs such as NSE and Jio.
- India may shelve the privatisation of three state-owned companies after weak investor appetite, underlining how far the government’s divestment drive has slowed.
- NBFCs are pulling back on external commercial borrowing plans as the West Asia conflict pushes up hedging costs and weakens the economics of offshore funding.
- The West Asia crisis is prompting some real estate investors to diversify away from Dubai and reassess India as a destination for incremental capital.
IPOs
- Amir Chand Jagdsh Kumar has fixed an IPO price band of ₹201-212 per share, giving the market another near-term SME issue to track.
- Coal India unit CMPDI is opening its IPO with a targeted valuation of about $1.33 billion, bringing another state-owned issuer to market.
- FabHotels parent Travelstack Tech has secured SEBI approval for its IPO, which includes a ₹250 crore fresh issue alongside an offer for sale.
- MakeMyTrip is weighing an India listing for its local business as it reworks its long-term capital markets options in its main operating market.
- Neuberg Diagnostics plans to go public within six months, betting on sustained growth in India’s diagnostics market.
- NSE has appointed 20 merchant bankers and eight law firms for its long-awaited IPO, underlining the scale and complexity of the transaction.
- Paras Healthcare has revived plans for an IPO that could raise up to $200 million, returning another hospital operator to India’s listing pipeline.
- PhonePe has paused its India IPO plans amid market volatility linked to the West Asia conflict, adding to the recent slowdown in listing activity.
- Rajputana Stainless listed flat at its issue price before slipping in trade, a weak debut for another SME market entrant.
- Rays Power Infra has withdrawn its IPO plans, showing that some issuers are still stepping back even as India’s broader pipeline remains active.
- Reliance Jio has hired 17 banks for its Mumbai listing, and the IPO is expected to be structured as an offer for sale rather than a fresh capital raise.
- XED Executive Development has launched the first IFSC-based IPO out of GIFT City, a symbolic milestone for India’s offshore financial centre.
Job moves
- Amritanshu Khaitan has stepped down from the board of McLeod Russel India as non-executive director.
- Arvind RP has exited McDonald’s India, where he most recently served as chief business officer.
- Gillette India has appointed Rohini Laya Venkateswaran as executive director, adding a long-time P&G executive to its leadership bench.
- HDFC Bank chairman Atanu Chakraborty has resigned citing differences over values and ethics, with Keki Mistry appointed interim part-time chairman for three months.
- IndiGo chief executive Pieter Elbers has resigned after months of scrutiny following the airline’s operational disruption in December.
- MobiKwik has named Anis Pathan as chief risk officer to oversee fraud, compliance and enterprise risk across its payments and lending businesses.
- MRF vice chairman and managing director Arun Mammen has been re-elected chairman of ATMA, extending his role at the industry body for India’s tyre makers.
- Perfios has appointed former SBI executive Nitin Chugh as group CEO, bringing in a senior banker as the techfin platform scales through growth and acquisitions.
- The management team of WSB Real Estate Partners is moving out to join a Mumbai asset manager, pointing to a broader reshuffle in India’s alternative asset management space.
- Vivo India has elevated Mayank Prabhakar to chief media officer, expanding his remit across the brand’s media operations in the country.
- WELIVING has added RK Group managing director Gowri Amarnath Madduluri to its board as the hospitality platform pursues its South India expansion plan.
Fundraising
- Aerchain has raised $13 million in Series A funding led by Pavestone VC to expand its AI-native enterprise procurement platform.
- Assiduus Global has raised $25 million in a pre-Series B round led by Bajaj Finserv, with Uncorrelated Ventures and Aaruha Technology Fund also participating.
- Atlys has secured $36 million in a Series C round led by Susquehanna Asia Venture Capital, with existing backers and MakeMyTrip also participating.
- Avendus Capital is nearing the final close of its third private equity fund, adding to a steady run of India-focused fundraises this month.
- BambooBox has raised $6.6 million in a Peak XV-led round to scale its AI-led account-based marketing platform and push international growth.
- BlackSoil Capital has raised about $22 million in debt from Impact Fund Denmark to scale climate-aligned and inclusive lending in India.
- Blue Tokai is in talks to raise fresh capital from a multi-family office as the coffee chain weighs its next growth phase.
- Burger Singh has raised ₹82 crore in a Series B round led by Artal Asia, with existing and new investors also joining the financing.
- CometChat has raised $6.5 million from existing investor Run Ventures to accelerate its AI strategy in in-app communication tools.
- Ecofy has raised ₹380 crore in fresh equity from British International Investment, Finnfund’s Digital Access Impact Fund and existing backers, strengthening its balance sheet for retail green lending.
- Equirus Alternatives is nearing the first close of its maiden private equity fund, broadening the pool of domestic alternative managers in the market.
- KKR will invest up to $310 million in Allfleet and PMI Electro, backing India’s electric bus rollout as public transport electrification gathers pace.
- L Catterton’s India consumer fund has raised $200 million and is targeting a $400 million corpus, with a further $200 million greenshoe option.
- MANNLICH has secured seed funding led by BeyondSeed to strengthen product development and brand-building in men’s grooming.
- OneKiraana has raised seed funding led by Ankur Capital to expand its technology, manufacturing and last-mile network for kirana private labels.
- ReNew’s commercial and industrial platform has secured $95 million in equity led by LeapFrog, with EMCAF and Carlyle AlpInvest joining the round.
- Shubham Housing has completed a $96 million secondary transaction led by Creador, with LeapFrog and others participating as early investors cash out.
- Svasti Microfinance has secured ₹47.5 crore from a core investor group including Adar Poonawalla and Abler Nordic.
- Tamil Nadu’s investment arm TIDCO will invest ₹25 crore in AgniKul Cosmos, backing the space startup as it works towards its first orbital launch.
- TIDCO will also invest ₹25 crore in Raptee Energy, giving another push to Tamil Nadu’s electric mobility and advanced manufacturing ecosystem.
- True North is preparing its second credit fund with a corpus target around 50% larger than its first vehicle, signalling continued appetite for India private credit.
- Vedanta plans to raise up to ₹2,575 crore through non-convertible debentures as it continues to diversify its funding mix.
- Venture Catalysts has exited Pee Safe with a reported 9.6x return, delivering one of the sharper realised outcomes in India’s early-stage ecosystem this month.
- WayCool has raised about $22.7 million through a rights issue led by existing investor Lightrock India, its first meaningful equity raise in nearly four years.
