Latest news with #KKR-backed
Economic Times
a day ago
- Business
- Economic Times
Mizuho to acquire Avendus from KKR at $700 million valuation
iStock The deal will mark the biggest investment by Mizuho in India. Mumbai: Mizuho Financial Group is set to acquire KKR-backed Avendus Capital, valuing the homegrown investment bank at Rs 6,000 crore ($700 million), ending months of protracted negotiations with several twists and turns, said people aware of the matter. Mizuho Group CEO Masahiro Kihara is scheduled to visit the country later this week for official engagements and a formal announcement is due at that time, they said. Kihara is also director of Mizuho Financial Group Inc. Mizuho and KKR, along with the senior leadership of Avendus, agreed on final deal terms in the last few days, even as private equity group Caryle, the only other serious contender in the fray, was circling the deal will mark the biggest investment by Mizuho in India, underscoring the increased strategic interest of Japanese financial groups in the month, SMBC picked up a strategic stake in private sector lender Yes Bank. The transaction will include KKR exiting its entire 60% stake along with some of its earlier, high-net-worth individual investors and Ranu Vohra, as well as small shareholders, including local PE firm Gaja Capital. Vohra is one of the three founders of Avendus. Once completed, the transaction is likely to see the Japanese mega bank owning up to 70% of the investment 2015, KKR paid Rs 950-1,000 crore to pick up a controlling stake in Avendus Capital Pvt Ltd (ACPL) from Eastgate Capital Group Ltd and Americorp Ventures, early investors in Avendus via Singapore-based Red Point Investments Pte Ltd. The firm was founded in 1999 by three friends — Vohra, Kaushal Aggarwal and Gaurav Deepak. Other than Vohra, the other two are likely to remain invested and continue to run the company, retaining full operational control, though Mizuho will have veto of the hottest domestic deal shops in the country, Avendus operates in the financial services space through subsidiaries in financial advisory, capital markets, wholesale financing through Avendus Finance, wealth management and alternative asset management. The acquisition of Spark in 2022 led to the addition of institutional equities to the offerings. Avendus is present in 10 cities in India, the US and Singapore. A little over half of its profits before tax in the first nine months of 2025 came from the investment banking division, followed by credit solutions and institutional equities. ACPL posted a total consolidated income of Rs 1,035 crore and net profit of Rs 170 crore for the nine months to December 2024, against Rs 1,012 crore and Rs 118 crore, respectively, in exit, KKR is expected to make a blended 3.5x return in rupee terms over a nine-year and Avendus declined to comment. Mizuho India country co-head Piyush Aggarwal did not respond to ET's the past year, several PE funds and family offices had evinced interest in acquiring the business, including TPG Capital, TA Associates and Azim Premji family office PremjiInvest. Even Nomura, originally chosen to manage the stake sale process, threw its hat in the ring but eventually only Mizuho and Carlyle were left to compete. The mandate subsequently moved to Rothschild. 'There is a small difference in the valuation between the two but Mizuho brings a far larger strategic play and adds heft in cross-border transactions,' said an executive in the several investors, the inherent cyclicality associated with the investment banking business was a challenge. The acquisition of Spark has supported profitability through its equity capital market (ECM) products.'While the group reported strong performance in investment banking in fiscals 2022 and 2023, it was impacted in fiscal 2024 with extended deal completion timelines,' said a March Crisil credit report. 'There was some revival in fiscal 2025 with the nine-month revenue from IB (investment banking) surpassing the full fiscal 2024 revenue… The ongoing diversification in business should support profitability over the medium term.'One of Japan's largest financial institutions, Mizuho bought boutique investment bank Greenhill & Co in a $550 million deal in 2023, betting that the struggling group could help kickstart its ambitions in the US. The third-largest Japanese lender said it aims to sell 'strategic' shareholdings — stocks held to cement ties with corporate clients — worth at least ¥350 billion over the next three years through March 2028 amid the slump in long-dated Japanese Bank, the banking subsidiary of Mizuho Financial Group Inc, has had a presence in India for over 25 years, with five branches catering primarily to corporate clients. It has been looking to ramp up its local presence and hired private equity veteran and former India head of KKR Sanjay Nayar as external senior advisor to Mizuho Bank India. The parent has infused about $500 million (Rs 4,100 crore) into its India bank branches. Last year, Mizuho invested $145 million for a 15% stake in credit card issuer Credit Saison's Indian subsidiary Kisetsu Saison Finance (India).
Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
Mizuho to acquire Avendus from KKR at $700 million valuation
Mumbai: Mizuho Financial Group is set to acquire KKR-backed Avendus Capital , valuing the homegrown investment bank at Rs 6,000 crore ($700 million), ending months of protracted negotiations with several twists and turns, said people aware of the matter. Mizuho Group CEO Masahiro Kihara is scheduled to visit the country later this week for official engagements and a formal announcement is due at that time, they said. Kihara is also director of Mizuho Financial Group Inc. Mizuho and KKR , along with the senior leadership of Avendus, agreed on final deal terms in the last few days, even as private equity group Caryle, the only other serious contender in the fray, was circling the prospect. The deal will mark the biggest investment by Mizuho in India, underscoring the increased strategic interest of Japanese financial groups in the country. Last month, SMBC picked up a strategic stake in private sector lender Yes Bank. The transaction will include KKR exiting its entire 60% stake along with some of its earlier, high-net-worth individual investors and Ranu Vohra, as well as small shareholders, including local PE firm Gaja Capital. Vohra is one of the three founders of Avendus. Once completed, the transaction is likely to see the Japanese mega bank owning up to 70% of the investment bank. In 2015, KKR paid Rs 950-1,000 crore to pick up a controlling stake in Avendus Capital Pvt Ltd (ACPL) from Eastgate Capital Group Ltd and Americorp Ventures, early investors in Avendus via Singapore-based Red Point Investments Pte Ltd. The firm was founded in 1999 by three friends — Vohra, Kaushal Aggarwal and Gaurav Deepak. Other than Vohra, the other two are likely to remain invested and continue to run the company, retaining full operational control, though Mizuho will have veto rights. One of the hottest domestic deal shops in the country, Avendus operates in the financial services space through subsidiaries in financial advisory, capital markets, wholesale financing through Avendus Finance, wealth management and alternative asset management. The acquisition of Spark in 2022 led to the addition of institutional equities to the offerings. Avendus is present in 10 cities in India, the US and Singapore. A little over half of its profits before tax in the first nine months of 2025 came from the investment banking division, followed by credit solutions and institutional equities. ACPL posted a total consolidated income of Rs 1,035 crore and net profit of Rs 170 crore for the nine months to December 2024, against Rs 1,012 crore and Rs 118 crore, respectively, in FY24. Upon exit, KKR is expected to make a blended 3.5x return in rupee terms over a nine-year period. KKR and Avendus declined to comment. Mizuho India country co-head Piyush Aggarwal did not respond to ET's queries. In the past year, several PE funds and family offices had evinced interest in acquiring the business, including TPG Capital, TA Associates and Azim Premji family office PremjiInvest. Even Nomura, originally chosen to manage the stake sale process, threw its hat in the ring but eventually only Mizuho and Carlyle were left to compete. The mandate subsequently moved to Rothschild . 'There is a small difference in the valuation between the two but Mizuho brings a far larger strategic play and adds heft in cross-border transactions,' said an executive in the know. For several investors, the inherent cyclicality associated with the investment banking business was a challenge. The acquisition of Spark has supported profitability through its equity capital market (ECM) products. 'While the group reported strong performance in investment banking in fiscals 2022 and 2023, it was impacted in fiscal 2024 with extended deal completion timelines,' said a March Crisil credit report. 'There was some revival in fiscal 2025 with the nine-month revenue from IB (investment banking) surpassing the full fiscal 2024 revenue… The ongoing diversification in business should support profitability over the medium term.' One of Japan's largest financial institutions, Mizuho bought boutique investment bank Greenhill & Co in a $550 million deal in 2023, betting that the struggling group could help kickstart its ambitions in the US. The third-largest Japanese lender said it aims to sell 'strategic' shareholdings — stocks held to cement ties with corporate clients — worth at least ¥350 billion over the next three years through March 2028 amid the slump in long-dated Japanese bonds. Mizuho Bank, the banking subsidiary of Mizuho Financial Group Inc, has had a presence in India for over 25 years, with five branches catering primarily to corporate clients. It has been looking to ramp up its local presence and hired private equity veteran and former India head of KKR Sanjay Nayar as external senior advisor to Mizuho Bank India. The parent has infused about $500 million (Rs 4,100 crore) into its India bank branches. Last year, Mizuho invested $145 million for a 15% stake in credit card issuer Credit Saison's Indian subsidiary Kisetsu Saison Finance (India).
Economic Times
a day ago
- Business
- Economic Times
KKR-backed IVI to buy ART Fertility Clinics for $450 million
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel KKR-backed IVI RMA Global, a US-based leader in infertility treatment, is set to acquire ART Fertility Clinics for $400-450 million, according to people familiar with the matter. The acquisition marks a significant step in IVI RMA's global expansion, adding India to its presence in over 15 countries and more than 190 clinical offices across the US, Europe and Latin parties are in the final stages of documentation for a shareholders' agreement and are hoping to wrap up the transaction by June with private hospitals, the IVF industry in India too is witnessing consolidation as several private equity funds have been aggressive with acquisitions. In 2023, Swedish fund EQT Partners acquired a significant majority stake in Indira IVF, the largest provider of fertility services in India and top five globally in terms of annual IVF cycles, at a $1.1 billion ('9,000 crore) Fertility Clinics began in 2015 as IVI Middle East, an international arm of IVI RMA Global. In 2020, IVI RMA divested the business to Gulf Capital, which rebranded it as ART Fertility Clinics. Since then, the brand has rapidly grown, expanding across West Asia and clinics in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Al Ain in the UAE as well as 11 centres across India, ART Fertility has established itself as a high-performance network in reproductive medicine. The Indian expansion began in 2021, backed by a $30 million investment from Gulf Fertility operates in big Indian cities including Mumbai, Noida, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Hyderabad, Gurgaon and by Suresh Soni, former co-founder and CEO of Nova IVF Fertility, ART Fertility reports a pregnancy success rate of 70% and has recorded over 5,000 successful pregnancies in under nine to sources, ART Fertility posted revenue of $100-120 million in FY25, with an estimated Ebitda of $35 million."For an Indian healthcare player, a $25-35 million ebitda which is borderline ebitda positive coming from the Middle East would add no value," said a fund manager at a Mumbai-based private equity firm that operates a pan-India IVF chain. "However, IVI being a US player where multiples are low, adding a Middle East business works well."IVI RMA trumped a rival bid by Temasek-backed Cloudnine Hospitals.A KKR spokesperson declined to comment. IVI RMA and ART Fertility did not respond to is the advisor in the is rapidly emerging as one of the world's fastest-growing markets for Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART). However, the sector has scope for expansion at 210 IVF cycles per million people, compared with 1,200 in the US and over 2,000 in affects approximately 15% of Indian couples, a figure expected to rise due to lifestyle factors such as poor diet, stress, late marriages, and to EY, India's IVF market is expected to grow from $793 million in 2020 to $1.45 billion by 2027, at a projected CAGR of 15-20%.India sees around 300,000 IVF cycles annually, with projections suggesting this could grow to 500,000-600,000 cycles by 2030. About 30% of the market is controlled by 10-15 organised players, while the remaining is fragmented among smaller, unorganised clinics. Key players in India's fertility sector include Indira IVF, Nova IVF, Oasis IVF, Bloom Fertility Centre, Bengaluru-based Milann, Morpheus IVF, Ridge IVF, Akanksha IVF and Bourn Hall IVF, the second largest player in India, is owned by Asia Healthcare Holdings (AHH), the single specialty hospitals platform backed by GIC and homegrown PE fund Kedaara Capital owns a minority stake in Oasis Fertility, while Brussels-based fund Verlinvest owns a controlling stake in Ferty9 F, a premier chain of fertility clinics in the AP/Telangana region.
Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
KKR-backed IVI to buy ART Fertility Clinics for $450 million
KKR-backed IVI RMA Global, a US-based leader in infertility treatment, is set to acquire ART Fertility Clinics for $400-450 million, according to people familiar with the matter. The acquisition marks a significant step in IVI RMA's global expansion, adding India to its presence in over 15 countries and more than 190 clinical offices across the US, Europe and Latin America. Both parties are in the final stages of documentation for a shareholders' agreement and are hoping to wrap up the transaction by June end. As with private hospitals, the IVF industry in India too is witnessing consolidation as several private equity funds have been aggressive with acquisitions. In 2023, Swedish fund EQT Partners acquired a significant majority stake in Indira IVF, the largest provider of fertility services in India and top five globally in terms of annual IVF cycles, at a $1.1 billion ('9,000 crore) valuation. ART Fertility Clinics began in 2015 as IVI Middle East, an international arm of IVI RMA Global. In 2020, IVI RMA divested the business to Gulf Capital, which rebranded it as ART Fertility Clinics. Since then, the brand has rapidly grown, expanding across West Asia and India. Live Events With clinics in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Al Ain in the UAE as well as 11 centres across India, ART Fertility has established itself as a high-performance network in reproductive medicine. The Indian expansion began in 2021, backed by a $30 million investment from Gulf Capital. ART Fertility operates in big Indian cities including Mumbai, Noida, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Hyderabad, Gurgaon and Faridabad. Led by Suresh Soni, former co-founder and CEO of Nova IVF Fertility, ART Fertility reports a pregnancy success rate of 70% and has recorded over 5,000 successful pregnancies in under nine years. According to sources, ART Fertility posted revenue of $100-120 million in FY25, with an estimated Ebitda of $35 million. "For an Indian healthcare player, a $25-35 million ebitda which is borderline ebitda positive coming from the Middle East would add no value," said a fund manager at a Mumbai-based private equity firm that operates a pan-India IVF chain. "However, IVI being a US player where multiples are low, adding a Middle East business works well." IVI RMA trumped a rival bid by Temasek-backed Cloudnine Hospitals. A KKR spokesperson declined to comment. IVI RMA and ART Fertility did not respond to queries. Moelis is the advisor in the transaction. India is rapidly emerging as one of the world's fastest-growing markets for Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART). However, the sector has scope for expansion at 210 IVF cycles per million people, compared with 1,200 in the US and over 2,000 in Europe. Infertility affects approximately 15% of Indian couples, a figure expected to rise due to lifestyle factors such as poor diet, stress, late marriages, and pollution. According to EY, India's IVF market is expected to grow from $793 million in 2020 to $1.45 billion by 2027, at a projected CAGR of 15-20%. India sees around 300,000 IVF cycles annually, with projections suggesting this could grow to 500,000-600,000 cycles by 2030. About 30% of the market is controlled by 10-15 organised players, while the remaining is fragmented among smaller, unorganised clinics. Key players in India's fertility sector include Indira IVF, Nova IVF, Oasis IVF, Bloom Fertility Centre, Bengaluru-based Milann, Morpheus IVF, Ridge IVF, Akanksha IVF and Bourn Hall Clinic. Nova IVF, the second largest player in India, is owned by Asia Healthcare Holdings (AHH), the single specialty hospitals platform backed by GIC and TPG. Similarly, homegrown PE fund Kedaara Capital owns a minority stake in Oasis Fertility, while Brussels-based fund Verlinvest owns a controlling stake in Ferty9 F, a premier chain of fertility clinics in the AP/Telangana region.
Time of India
7 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Italy struggles to revive lagging fibre rollout plan
By Elvira Pollina MILAN: A push by Italy's government for state-backed telecoms firms Open Fiber and FiberCop to accelerate work on a European Union-funded network plan has hit a snag as the companies are struggling to agree terms of a potential deal, three sources said. FiberCop and its smaller rival Open Fiber were entrusted with cabling more than 3 million buildings across Italy by the end of June 2026 under a 3.4 billion euro ($3.9 billion)programme aimed at rolling out ultra-fast broadband networks. Only around half of the targeted 3.4 million buildings have been upgraded, latest government data showed, with Open Fiber, which was awarded 2.2 million buildings, lagging behind FiberCop in its work. Italy has said it was considering handing KKR-backed FiberCop some of the work assigned to rival Open Fiber to speed up the rollout as it tries to meet the deadline agreed as part of a COVID-19 recovery plan. FiberCop had said it was ready to take over in full the work assigned to its rival. But government-sponsored talks between the two companies proved difficult, with FiberCop offering to take over the work at cost price by the end of this month, the sources say. Open Fiber is pushing back on such terms, arguing it would be hard to complete a potential spin-off of its areas swiftly and agreeing a fair valuation for them would take some months, the people said. Open Fiber's board of directors will discuss the situation at a board meeting on Tuesday but the chances of an agreement to hand FiberCop some of the areas are seen as low at this stage, the people said. Open Fiber and FiberCop declined to comment. Italy lags European peers in high-speed fixed-line internet coverage, with some 60% of households having access to ultrafast broadband against an EU average of 79%, according to EU data. A senior official from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's office said it is up to the companies to take the steps needed for an agreement and that time is running short. Open Fiber is 60% owned by state lender CDP with the remainder in the hands of Australian fund Macquarie. FiberCop was spun off last year from former state telco Telecom Italia (TIM) and sold to a KKR-led consortium, including Italy's economy ministry, under a deal worth up to 22 billion euros. Italy's conservative government is also keen to combine Open Fiber assets with those of FiberCop to create a wholesale-only telecommunications network provider under state control.
