PE firms look to India to continue the fun

With major private equity deals drying up in the US and Europe in the current much more hostile environment, eyes are turning to Asia. More specifically, they are turning to India. We noted at the beginning of the month that ICICI bank is looking to unload its 63% of the Infomedia business.

The story continues to evolve - relatively slowly it must be said. The Economic Times reports:

Notz Stucki, one of the largest asset managers in Europe, has joined the race for ICICI Venture’s 63% stake in Infomedia (formerly Tata Infomedia). Private equity funds such as General Atlantic, Blackstone and Warburg Pincus have also shown interest to buy out ICICI Venture’s stake in the media firm.

The article suggests that a price of Rs400 crores which, if I've got my lakhs and crores right, is around US$100 million.

Reed Business - which has a joint venture with Infomedia (not with ICICI at the newspaper article reports) - is reportedly interested in this deal too. Given the circling funds, however, they'll probably struggle to match what the financiers are willing to pay if this really heats up.