eClerx acquires US-based Agilyst

New Delhi: eClerx Services Ltd has acquired US-based Agilyst Inc, a knowledge process outsourcing company through its overseas subsidiary eClerx Investments Ltd.

Agilyst Inc will operate as a fully-owned subsidiary of eClerx. Amarchand Mangaldas, which acted as the Indian legal advisor to eClerx Services, said in a statement. The transaction will be funded from eClerx's internal resources and there is no intention to raise any incremental capital. The deal value is confidential.

Avendus Capital served as the financial and strategic advisor to eClerx on the transaction while MAPE Advisory Group served in the same capacity for Agilyst.

Agilyst's management team will continue to manage day-to-day operations. The consideration for the acquisition will be all cash and includes a substantial earn out component based on Agilyst's future performance.

Founded in 2007 by Mr Mahesh Dhillon, Agilyst is a back-office operational and analytics company focused on the North American media industry.

Agilyst's services include critical error identification, customer experience analysis and end user support services. Agilyst has a low cost delivery base in a Tier-2 city. It employs approximately 1,000 people, most of them in India.

Founded in 2000, eClerx provides data analytics and customised process solutions to global enterprise clients. eClerx currently employs more than 4,000 people across five delivery centres in India It has sales and marketing offices located in London, New York, Austin, Dublin and Singapore.

On Friday, Shares of eClerx declined by Rs 6.25, or 0.85 per cent, to close at Rs 728.50 at BSE.

Mig33 ties up with phone makers like G'Five, Intex Technologies and Zen Mobiles to increase its reach in India

New Delhi: Social networking application Mig33 will come pre-loaded on low-cost mobile phones from G'Five, Intex Technologies and Zen Mobiles among others as the app maker tied up with nearly a dozen local handset makers to increase its reach in India.

Handset makers including Bharti Entreprises' Beetel Teletech, Spice Mobiles, Olive Telecom, Lemon Mobiles and Swingtel Communications that recently launched its tablet, will offer Mig33 app pre-loaded on their devices. The Android and Java based phones would also feature the app's new miniblog service that has more than 300,000 daily users.

Mig33 is an app focused on mobile phone users and has more than 55 million in its mobile community.

While the handset makers will gain access to millions of registered users and earn revenue from services like sale of virtual goods and in-game purchases, the social entertainment appwill leverage the popularity of these brands to gain further consumer exposure and strengthen its reach to over 5 million handsets in the market in 2012.

"There is a great synergy with most low-cost handset makers as they also focus on distribution of handsets in smaller towns,"said Mahip Vyas, country manager for mig33 in India. The app is witnessing a user uptake in tier II and tier III cities as consumers in these cities have greater acceptance of social entertainment applications that are available on their economical handsets. We have users from far and wide cities like Ludhiana in Punjab, Bhagalpur in Bihar, Bharuch and Vapi in Gujarat to Cochin in Kerala, he added.

India to soon permit FDI flow from Pakistan

New Delhi: Signalling further improvement in its relation with Pakistan, India on Friday said it would allow a flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) from that country soon.

“India has taken an in-principle decision, as a part of the process to deepen our economic engagement, to allow foreign direct investments from Pakistan in India,” commerce & industry minister Anand Sharma said at a joint news conference with his Pakistani counterpart, Makhdoom Amin Fahim. “Procedural requirements (for FDI from Pakistan) are underway. It will be notified soon,” he added.

Mutual cooperation would also be extended to opening branches of banks from both countries in each other’s territory. “RBI (Reserve Bank of India) and State Bank of Pakistan are in favour of opening branches,” he added.

Fahim said, “There has been progress in allowing banking services from both sides. In principle, we have agreed.” Under the current rules, Pakistani citizens cannot directly invest in India. The consolidated FDI policy of the ministry of commerce says, “A non-resident entity (other than a citizen of Pakistan or an entity incorporated in Pakistan) can invest in India, subject to the FDI policy.”

Trade relations between India and Pakistan have seen significant improvement in recent months, with Pakistan introducing the negative list of imports from India and both countries working on simpler business visa rules. On multiple entry business visas, Sharma said, “There will be a formal signing of an agreement soon. Initially, it will be for one year.” Also, trade delegations from both countries had recently met to explore trade and business opportunities.

Pakistan has committed to grant Most Favoured Nation status to India by the end of the current year. Sharma also said an India-Pakistan Business Council would be set up soon and this would be co-chaired by both countries.

Venture capital, pvt equity funds in food services may rise 50%

New Delhi: Venture capital and private equity activity in the food services business is fast hotting up.

The sector is expected to see a 50 per cent rise in investments this year to about $750 million, as food suppliers and retail companies look to scale up business and stay competitive by tapping the large potential of the domestic market.

“Most of the investment is now going towards supply chain management and building cold-chain storage infrastructure. Last year, about $500 million was invested in the sector,” said Mr Mahendra Swarup, President, India Venture Capital Association.

Of the total investments of $750 million in 2012, about $165 million has gone into purely front-end retail, such as FMCG, food and beverage firms. It is estimated, that each such food company, with at least 10-15 outlets, will have to invest $7-10 million on the back-end alone.

Investors say the “huge rise in interest” is because growth in the sector has been “phenomenal” for the past few years.

With quick-format restaurants posting the sharpest rise, growth has been about 30 per cent, year-on-year. So, a three- to seven-year long investment is expected to give at least two-and-a-half times increase in returns.

“With many funds focussing on IT and e-commerce firms, this has been an underserved industry till the last few years, especially the backend infrastructure,” an official from a PE fund said.

Added Mr Swarup: “The idea is to build a hub-and-spoke model for half-prepared food. There is huge demand for this where the kitchen area is small, such as food courts in malls and office complexes.”

With real-estate costs posing a challenge, such a model becomes tough for the smaller food firms — which are the target for such funds, as they help in scaling up. Among recent investments, World Bank arm IFC has reportedly put in $6.5 million into food-supply chain firm Snowman Logistics. Other similar investments include Swastik Roadlines (India Equity Partners) and JICS Logistics (IL&FS Private Equity) and Staragri Warehousing and Collateral Management Ltd (IDFC Private Equity).

Demographic edge
“We're bullish on the consumer sector, for Baring it's a core area. Given the demographics and vast population of this country, this will continue to attract a lot of capital,” Mr Keshav Misra, Partner, Baring PE Partners India said.

Baring is investing about Rs 500 crore in FMCG firm Marico along with GIC, Singapore. Other reports have indicated that New Silk Route Partners may invest in South Indian vegetarian restaurant and fast food chain — Adiga, while Sequoia has already invested $5 million in Pune-based kebab and wraps chain — Faaso's.

Last year in August, India Equity Partners invested $35 million in Delhi-based South Indian restaurant chain, Sagar Ratna. Before that, ICICI Venture had invested $33 million Devyani International, which operates franchisees of Pizza Hut, Costa Coffee and KFC.

FIIs invest US$ 62.33 million in equity market in April so far

New Delhi: Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) made a net investment of Rs 322 crore (US$ 62.33 million) in the equity market upto April 13, 2012, according to data released by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). During January-March 2012, net inflows stood at around Rs 44,000 crore (US$ 8.52 billion).

Since the beginning of 2012, investment by overseas investors into the Indian stock market has reached Rs 44,273 crore (US$ 8.57 billion), out of which Rs 26,329 crore (US$ 5.10 billion) was invested in January, Rs 25,212 crore (US$ 4.88 billion) in February and the remaining Rs 8,381 crore (US$ 1.62 billion) in March 2012.

The strong FII inflow during January-March 2012 was mainly due to reversal in the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy stance and subsequent impact of the improved liquidity position.

IIM Kozhikode planning to set up a satellite campus at Kochi, mainly focusing on executive education

Kolkata: IIM Kozhikode is planning to set up a satellite campus at Kochi, mainly focusing on executive education.

The institute, which has an internationally accredited executive management education program, intends to use the proposed campus to expand its offerings in this space by starting full-time and part-time programs targeted at middle and senior level executives.

The satellite campus will be initially housed within Infopark and will focus primarily on executive education - both long term and short term as well as specialised courses for executives of the IT sector.

Initially, the satellite centre will be offering one-year executive MBA program as well as two-year part-time programs in addition to a large number of short duration Management Development Programs.

By positioning its satellite campus in Kochi, IIM Kozhikode is planning to support the growth and development of business and industry in the region.

In addition to offering executive training and education programs, the satellite campus will also support IIMK's mission of inclusive education as the institute is planning to incubate a finishing school to offer specialised programmes for people belonging to the marginalised sections of the society.

However, this will be taken up once the full fledged campus is functional at Kochi. The initial facility inside Infopark is expected to be functional by October 2012 and hope to start its offerings before the end of 2012.

The Institute also expects to complete the full campus within next three years.

ABB wins Rs 75-cr Jaipur metro rail order

Coimbatore: ABB has secured an order valued at Rs 75 crore from Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd to provide power solutions for the proposed Jaipur metro rail network.

The Jaipur Mass Rapid Transport System, promoted as an eco-friendly project, is expected to carry approximately 11,000 commuters per hour on each rail corridor when becomes fully operational.

The turnkey project includes design, installation and commissioning of essential power infrastructure for stage 1 of the East-West corridor of JMRTS that would serve eight stations.

Trafigura makes first Asia investment in Tamil Nadu

Chennai: Trafigura Pte Ltd, the Singapore-based unit of the world’s third-largest crude oil trader, Netherlands’ Trafigura Beheer BV, picked up a 24 per cent stake in Nagarjuna Oil Corporation Limited (NOCL). NOCL is setting up an oil refinery in Tamil Nadu.

Trafigura will invest around Rs 650 crore for the stake and another Rs 600 crore in Portoil Ltd, a 80:20 joint venture (JV) between NOCL and Trafigura.

With this stake, Trafigura has replaced BP as NOCL’s crude supplier.

“With BP, Nagarjuna Oil had a commercial agreement for crude supplies and export of products but Trafigura has come as a strategic investor ... it is buying a stake in the project,” said a source privy to the deal.

K S Raju, chairman of the Nagarjuna Group, said in addition to acquiring an equity stake, Trafigura would invest the additional Rs 600 crore into the construction of extensive storage facilities and associated infrastructure through Portoil Ltd. This will come up in a 100-acre site near the refinery’s 2,500-acre site.

NOCL is setting up a six-million tonne oil refinery at Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu. Commissioning work at the refinery is expected to start later this year.

Jonathan Pegler, Trafigura’s director of oil Asia Pacific said, “This is an important, long-term venture for Trafigura and is an exciting project for all concerned. It plays directly to the strengths of Nagarjuna as a leading process operator and to Trafigura as a company committed to balancing international supply and demand for oil products”.

NOCL’s refinery will be an anchor unit for the proposed Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR) in the Cuddalore-Nagapattinam belt. The PCPIR envisages an investment of over Rs 13,000 crore in developing infrastructure in the region over the next ten years.

The Nagarjuna Petroleum refinery is being constructed at Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu at an estimated cost of Rs 7,160 crore. Including the cost of utilities and captive facilities like minor port, tankages, power plant, marketing terminal etc, the total estimated cost of the NOCL refinery project is around Rs 10,000 crore.

Trafigura is one of the leading international commodity traders, handling a diverse range of raw materials from oil and refined products to non-ferrous metals, iron ore and coal to clients around the world.

Other partners in the NOCL Refinery project include TIDCO, a

Government of Tamil Nadu enterprise, and Tata Petrodyne, a Tata Group enterprise, Cuddalore Port Company Ltd and Uhde of Germany.

India, one of the top clean-energy economies

New Delhi: India continued its ascent as a top destination for private clean energy investment, according to a research report released by The Pew Charitable Trusts, a non-profit organisation.

The country’s ‘National Solar Mission,’ with a goal to have 20 GW of solar power installed by 2020, helped drive the seven-fold jump in solar energy investments to $4.2 billion, the report said. India received $4.6 billion and an additional 2.8 GW of capacity was installed over the course of the year. India now has 22.4 gigawatts of installed clean energy generating capacity.

According to the report, India’s clean energy sector continued to flourish in 2011, with private investment increasing 54 per cent to $10.2 billion, placing the country at sixth position among the G-20 nations. This was the second highest growth rate among the G-20 nations.

“Clean energy investment, excluding research and development, has grown by 600 per cent since 2004 on the basis of effective national policies that create market certainty,” said Ms Phyllis Cuttino, Director of Pew’s Clean Energy Program.

“On a number of measures, India has been one of the top performing clean energy economies in the 21{+s}{+t} century, registering the fifth highest five-year rate of investment growth and eighth highest in installed renewable energy capacity,” the report said.

Globally, investment grew to a record $263 billion in 2011, a 6.5 per cent increase over the previous year. The US reclaimed the top spot among all G-20 nations and attracted $48 billion.

However, with $45.5 billion in private investments, China continued to be a hub of clean energy activity — leading the world in wind energy investment and deployment as well as wind and solar manufacturing.

Germany received $30.6 billion, ranking third among G-20 nations. The combination of falling prices and growing investments accelerated installation of clean energy generating capacity by a record 83.5 GW in 2011 bringing the total to 565 GW globally. This represents almost 50 per cent more than installed nuclear power capacity.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance is Pew’s research partner.

India to expand trade ties with Asean

Kochi: India is looking to expand its trade and investment ties with Asean countries with the signing of four comprehensive economic cooperation agreements.

Mr A.K.Tripathy, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said that India has a $1 trillion service industry and 50 per cent of the GDP was related to trade and industry. India played a very active role in signing FTA and CECA with neighbouring countries, he said.

Mr Tripathy was delivering the keynote address at the Outreach session on FTA organised by CII-Kerala here on Wednesday. The objective of the session was to highlight the opportunities that will emerge for the Indian industry from the four CECA that India has signed with Japan and Asean countries.

Mr Avinash P. Joshi, Director, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said that CECA would be a major factor in the robust growth in bilateral investments that have touched $24 billion. Singapore is now the second largest contributor of FDI into India, he said.

Ms Suchismata Palai, Director, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said that the India-Korea comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) would benefit not only trade in goods but also investments, services and bilateral cooperation in the areas such as customs, audio visual coproduction, competition, new and renewable energy.

Concluding the session, Mr Pranav Kumar, Director and Head – International Policy and Trade, CII, said that the future of India's service sector lies in promoting FTAs in the coming years and that international trade should be developed with Asean and other countries.