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| EmergingMarketsNOW |
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| Tuesday, May 13, 2008 |
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Lightspeed Venture Partners Raises $800-Mn Fund
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Lightspeed Venture Partners has closed Lightspeed Venture Partners VIII LP (its eight fund) at USD 800 million, exceeding the initial target of USD 675 million. This values Lightspeed’s total funds under management at above USD 2 billion.
The fund will invest in industry-leading companies in India, China, Israel, and the US. In the US and Israel, Lightspeed would continue focusing on seed and early-stage companies operating in the IT (including Internet, software, enterprise infrastructure, communications, mobile technologies and semiconductors) and cleantech domains. In India and China, the firm will invest in startups as well as growth and late stage companies.
Lightspeed Venture Partners is a leading global VC firm with above USD 2 billion committed capital under management. Its investment professionals and advisors are based in the US, China, India, and Israel.
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Bain Capital Partners Appoints Amit Chandra as Country Head and MD for India
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Bain Capital Partners has appointed Amit Chandra as the Country Head and MD for Indian operations. With his supervision, the company plans to make large-scale deals in the country. Prior to this, Amit was working as an MD of New Silk Route, an India-focused PE fund. Before this, he led the investment banking and global markets divisions of DSP Merrill Lynch for 13 years.
In 2007, Bain Capital closed a debut USD 1-billion Asia fund. The company is currently nearing the completion of fundraising for two funds—a global fund with a target of USD 10 billion and a limited partner co-investment fund with a target of USD 5 billion.
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Baring PE Asia Launches $1.52-Bn PE Fund
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Baring Private Equity Asia has raised about USD 1.52 billion fund to invest in companies in the alternative energy, media, financial services, consumer, and industrial sectors in the region. The fund will target companies having enterprise value between USD 100 million and USD 500 million with operations in China, India, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia.
Baring Private Equity Asia is a leading investment firm in Asia with USD 2.5 billion under management, specializing in making growth equity investments and mid-market buyouts.
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Lightspeed Venture Partners Raises $800-Mn Fund
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Lightspeed Venture Partners has closed Lightspeed Venture Partners VIII LP (its eight fund) at USD 800 million, exceeding the initial target of USD 675 million. This values Lightspeed’s total funds under management at above USD 2 billion.
The fund will invest in industry-leading companies in India, China, Israel, and the US. In the US and Israel, Lightspeed would continue focusing on seed and early-stage companies operating in the IT (including Internet, software, enterprise infrastructure, communications, mobile technologies and semiconductors) and cleantech domains. In India and China, the firm will invest in startups as well as growth and late stage companies.
Lightspeed Venture Partners is a leading global VC firm with above USD 2 billion committed capital under management. Its investment professionals and advisors are based in the US, China, India, and Israel.
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Abraaj Capital Plans Investment in Agriculture Sector in Pakistan
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Abraaj Capital, a leading PE firm in the Middle East and North Africa, is considering investing in the agriculture space in Pakistan. The company is discussing working agribusiness investments in Pakistan with the UAE government to increase food security and reduce domestic inflation.
The UAE government in Abu Dhabi is in discussions with Islamabad regarding an investment to be made in its agricultural sector as it seeks to secure cheap, long-term supplies of staples, such as wheat and rice. A government official in Abu Dhabi says the UAE government, which is yet to sign deals with Pakistan, is talking to other states about purchasing land as well.
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SIG to Acquire Stake in Dazhong Insurance
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Shanghai International Group (SIG), the investment arm of the city government, will acquire a controlling stake in Dazhong Insurance for about USD 35.8 million. The move is line with SIG's plans to expand into financial business.
Dazhong is a Shanghai-based property insurer.
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| Private Equity and M&A Activity |
GIC Special Investments Invests $400Mn in AEI
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GIC Special Investments(GIC SI) has acquired an 11 percent stake in AEI, a US-based energy infrastructure firm, for USD 400 million. A nominee of GIC SI has been appointed to AEI’s Board of Directors. GIC SI was established in 1982 as the PE investment arm of Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC).
AEI owns and operates energy infrastructure businesses in emerging markets including China, Mexico, and Argentina. It manages stakes in a group of 36 energy companies with operations in 19 countries and approximately 13,700 employees.
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AIG Invests $65Mn in Calyx Agro
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American International Group Inc.'s (AIG) asset management unit has invested USD 65 million in Calyx Agro Ltd. Calyx Agro is a venture fund established by Louis Dreyfus Commodities (a leading agribusiness group) to acquire, develop, operate, and sell agricultural land in Latin America, primarily in Brazil. Calyx plans to focus on the region's growing agribusiness sector and opportunities related to farmland appreciation by acquiring land that is presently being managed with low technology or used for livestock breeding.
The investment is routed through AIG Brazil Special Situations Fund II L.P (BSSF II). BSSF II is a PE fund focused on making direct investments primarily in Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia. It recently announced the fund's closing with USD 691.9 million committed capital. This will be AIG’s fourth investment in the LatAm agriculture sector, following investments in Falcon Farms based in Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico; Frigorifico Mercosul, a leading Brazilian beef processor; and Fertilizantes Heringer, one of the largest fertilizer distributors in Brazil.
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Linekong Receives $25Mn Investment
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Linekong (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd (Linekong) has received USD 25 million from Northern Light Venture Capital (NLVC) and New Enterprise Associates (NEA) in its Series B financing round. The investment will be used for carrying out R&D activities and marketing new online games.
Established in 2007 and headquartered in Beijing, Linekong specializes in offering online games.
Headquartered in Beijing, China, NLVC is a VC firm that invests in early and growth stage technology companies.
Founded in 1978 and based in Baltimore, Maryland, NEA is one of the world's leading VC firms investing in companies operating in the information technology and health care sectors.
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| Offshoring and Outsourcing News |
India’s LEs Invested $2.3Bn on IT & Telecom Solutions in ’07 – AMI
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The latest study published by AMI Partners stated that large enterprises (LEs) in India have invested approximately USD 2.3 billion on procuring IT and telecom solutions during 2007. Of this, a majority was spent on IT products and services. The manufacturing sector, followed by the services sector, dominated investments made on IT and telecom solutions. About 46 percent LEs invested on computing solutions, especially connectivity, networking, and Internet applications. During 2007, LEs focused on installing advanced IT solutions including enterprise applications (ERP/CRM), remote-access solutions (RAS, VPN), wide-area networking (WANs), VoIP, networked storage (SAN/NAS), intranet, and managed security solutions.
Over the next 12 months, LEs are expected to invest on extending network connectivity to branch offices and other remote locations. Other areas of focus cited by two-third of Indian LEs include procuring security and storage solutions. Over 30–40 percent LEs are planning to deploy advanced security solutions, such as security management, Web filtering, intrusion detection/ prevention, disaster recovery, encryption, and identity and access management.
The study cited that about two-thirds of LEs in India own and use ERP while a significant number of enterprises plan to implement this over this year.
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Convergys to Close 3 Call Centers in Canadian Province
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Convergys, a US-based customer relationship management services provider, has announced plans to close three call centers in Alberta within two–three months. With this, approximately 1,100 professionals (400 in Edmonton, 400 in Lethbridge, and 280 in Red Deer) will be laid off. The company cited changing economic conditions including the appreciation of the Canadian Dollar against the US Dollar exchange rates as the key reason behind the move.
While the centers at Edmonton and Red Deer will be closed on June 30, 3008, the Lethbridge center will be closed by end-August 2008. The company will continue to operate in Canada through other locations.
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Original Solutions Acquired by Perot Systems
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Perot Systems has announced the acquisition of Original Solutions, an Irish IT services provider. The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. The acquisition aims to strengthen Perot’s IT expertise across the globe. Post-acquisition, John Collins (the Founder of Original Solutions) will continue to lead the merged entity for further expansion.
Established in 2003, Original Solutions offers services including Web applications, client server development, enterprise integration, and legacy systems re-engineering. The company also provides expertise in IT service management and IT infrastructure library process management. In 2007, Original reported revenues worth USD 13.9 million and a headcount of 90 professionals. The company’s clients include Allied Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland, Eircom, and O2.
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iSoftStone Expands Operations in China
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iSoftStone Information Service has expanded operations in China by establishing the second major IT campus in Wuxi Taihu New Town Science and Education Industrial Park, Wuxi, Jiangsu Province; the first campus is located in Tianjin. Investment made in establishing the campus was not disclosed. The Wuxi campus will assist the company in improving its delivery abilities globally.
The campus will host the world’s first commercial China Cloud Computing Center. The company will market as well as use Cloud Computing technologies for enhancing computer infrastructure.
Headquartered in China, iSoftStone is a provider of IT outsourcing services. The company has a presence in the US, Japan, and Korea. The clientele of the company includes American, European, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese clients. Key investors in the company include AsiaVest Partners, Fidelity Asia Ventures, InfoTech Pacific Ventures, and Mitsui Ventures Global Fund.
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Bravura Solutions, Super SA Extend IT Contract for 3 Yrs
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Super SA, the key provider of state government superannuation schemes in South Australia, has extended its IT contract with Bravura Solutions, an Australian wealth management applications and professional services provider, for three years. The financial terms of the extension were not disclosed.
As per the extension, Super SA will continue to use the member and employer modules of ePASS software. In addition, this software will be utilized in the back-office operations of the company for delivering call center services with a consolidated view of member details, a user-friendly graphical interface, and integration with existing systems.
ePASS software assists the employers of Super SA in increasing efficiency and data quality, and decreasing the need for manual intervention. Moreover, the company uses the receipting module of ePASS, which will assist in modernizing the process of contribution acknowledgement.
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