INDIA BUSINESS WORLD - FEBRUARY 16^th - FEBRUARY 29^th - 2008

PE FUNDS BUY 3% IN ACME FOR RS 400 CR

Mauritius-based private equity (PE) funds Monsoon India Inflection and Jackson Heights Investments have picked up a 3.35% stake in the Gurgaon-based Acme Tele Power for Rs 400 crore. The deal pegs the valuation of Acme, which manufactures and supplies energy conservation solutions for telcos, at around Rs 11,940 crore (just under $3 billion).

This marks the second round of private placements in Acme. Last year, Acme had offloaded a 1.66% stake in the company to three PE firms - DB International, Earthstone Holdings and Kotak Mahindra Capital - for Rs 197 crore. Acme has filed a draft red herring prospectus with Sebi for an IPO that will see its promoters offer about 17.3 million shares for sale. This will reduce the promoters’ stake to 84.6% from the current 94.7%.