Havells to acquire durable business of Lloyd Electric

The electrical goods company Havells will acquire consumer durable business of Lloyd Electric & Engineering for about Rs 1,600 cr. The acquisition is proposed to be executed at an enterprise value of Rs 1,600 cr. on a debt free, cash free basis subject to closing adjustments.

This acquisition when completed will mark Havells foray into consumer durables industry. The transaction is subject to confirmatory due diligence and is expected to close in next 8 weeks. The company plans to finance the transaction through a mix of debt and internal accruals. The proposed acquisition is in line with Havells objective of deeper into homes, driving domestic expansion and owning a brand and distribution oriented asset.

The consumer business of Lloyd is engaged in sourcing, assembling, marketing and distribution of consumer durables including air-conditioners, TVs, washing machines and other household appliances. Havells will acquire the consumer business infrastructure, people, distribution network including and not limited to absolute, exclusive ownership and right to all intellectual property of Lloyd, Logo, Trademark, goodwill and attendant rights.

Lloyd which is among the top 3 brands in air-conditioner category has expanded into TVs and washing machines as well. Through this acquisition, Havells would make a foray into Consumer durables industry currently estimated at $15 Billion and growing in double digits with low penetration levels, increasing urbanization, aspirational and expanding middle class.

Nuance Communications acquires mCarbon Tech

Nasdaq listed voice and speech recognition company Nuance Communications has acquired Noida based mobile value add services venture mCarbon Tech Innovations in a cash and stock transaction, estimated at about $36 Million.

The deal is the latest example of consolidation taking place in the Indian startup ecosystem, which is expected to see an increasing number of buyouts over the next 12 months, even as risk capital investors continue to realign their portfolios, and search for exits. Founded in 2008, mCarbon Tech Innovations, which started off focusing on core network value add services, provides innovative revenue uplift and customer value management products for telecom operators.

The company also operates in Bangladesh, Middle East and African regions, and counts Private Equity Group, an investment arm of JP Morgan among its investors. One of the early backers of the eight year old company was venture capital firm Canaan Partners. The company, which had earlier acquired advanced search recognition technology venture Dragon System, competes with the likes of Google, IBM and Microsoft, which have also sunk billions of dollars in R&D, as they look to establish their dominance in the space.

Ingenico group buys TechProcess

Ingenico group of France will buy 100% stake in TechProcess Payment services which owns electronic payments platform Billjunction. Ingenico has shelled out approximately Rs600 cr. for the acquisition of TechProcess. Avendus Capital was the advisor to this transaction.

Ingenico is present in the online payments business through its ePayments entity EBS, and has a 50% market share of credit card swipe machines installed in the country. Based on its already leading position in terminal market, Ingenico Group is making, with the acquisition of TechProcess, a major step in India, the fastest growing country in Asia.

Founded in 2000, Mumbai-based TechProcess is an online and mobile payment services provider with approximately 600 employees across 40 locations. It was originally incubated by ICICI Venture and now has investors such as Greylock Partners, Battery Ventures, Nokia Growth Partners and W Capital Partners. TechProcess offers products and solutions in online payments gateway, National Automated Clearing House, bill payments and mobile payments.

In November, TechProcess partnered with NumberMall, an app-based payments platform for small merchants, in a deal that will enable 30,000 kirana shops to accept cashless payments. TechProcess also has a payment wallet Paynimo. In India, around 90% of the purchases are done in cash at present. However, electronic payments are expected to increase significantly in the coming years, given the recent government initiatives.