The Xander Group has signed a ₹2,300-crore ($350 million) deal to acquire Shriram Properties’ Gateway Special Economic Zone near Chennai. While Xander will pay $190 million for the SEZ, it will invest $160 million more to expand the commercial component of the SEZ. The deal involves 1.7 million sq ft of occupied and operational SEZ, and a partnership with Shriram Properties to deliver 1.9 million sq ft under construction. Gateway is a 58-acre township including office space, shopping mall and residential apartments. Shriram will continue to develop and own the residential and retail components comprising 2.6 million sq ft, while Xander can develop an additional 1 million sq ft of office space.

Virtuous Retail buys mall

Virtuous Retail South Asia Pte Ltd has bought the 2 million sq ft North Country Mall in Chandigarh from Sun Apollo/Gumberg for ₹700 crore ($108 million), including paying down debt. With this, Virtuous Retail South Asia establishes its presence in north India, adding to its VR Surat and VR Bangalore properties, and the 2 million sq ft VR Chennai slated to open in the fourth quarter of 2017. VRSA’s India retail portfolio now stands at 5.5 million sq ft. Built on 22 acres on the NH21, the North Country Mall has 1 million sq ft of leasable area that is anchored by top national and international brands, across retail and lifestyle segments. It has additional leasing and development potential of 600,000 sq ft.

EarlySalary raises ₹25 cr in Series A

Fintech start-up EarlySalary, which offers salary advances and instant cash loans, has raised ₹25 crore ($4 million) in a Series A round from IDG Ventures India and Dewan Housing Finance Corp Ltd. It will use it to build leverage on capital deployed for building products and lending book, expand team specifically in skill sets of machine learning, and grow customer base and provide two lakh loans this fiscal.

Tata Capital invests in Brinton

Brinton Pharmaceuticals Ltd has raised about ₹25 crore ($4 million) from Tata Capital Healthcare fund. Brinton has been providing healthcare products and services for various therapeutic segments. The money will be used to enter new areas such as paediatric and gynaecology and also expand international operations from eight countries now to 32.

Matrix exits Ace2Three

Online rummy platform Ace2Three, owned by Head Infotech India Pvt Ltd, has raised an undisclosed sum of money from Clairvest Group, a global private equity firm, for a majority stake. The investment marked a full exit for Matrix Partners India that had invested an undisclosed amount in 2010 in Head Infotech for a significant minority stake. Ace2Three, headquartered in Hyderabad, serves over eight million visitors each month, who play over 11 million games.

Quikr acquires Zimmber

Quikr, a leading cross category classifieds business, has acquired Zimmber, an on-demand household services provider, to scale its hyper-local household services business. This will help Quikr accelerate its growth in household services. Zimmber provides on-demand home services such as plumbing, carpentry, pest control, deep cleaning, sofa and carpet cleaning. It is operational in Bengaluru, Mumbai, National Capital Region and Pune and has around 1,500 service provides on its platform. It has served over one lakh customers.

M Power Microfinance gets ₹25.7 cr from IndiaNivesh Capital

M Power Micro Finance, a Maharashtra-based non-banking finance company, has raised ₹25.7 crore from IndiaNivesh Capital. The money will be used to augment the capital and for expansion. IndiaNivesh will also acquire shares from some of the company’s individual shareholders for ₹ 7.7 crore.

GVFL, Unicorn India Ventures invest in Sequretek

Sequretek, a Mumbai-based security start-up, has raised an undisclosed amount in a Series A round from GVFL and Unicorn India Ventures. It will use the money to build on intelligence within its current product offerings and foray into new markets within India and outside. – Our Bureau

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