M&A activity in India continues to be steady with a number of deals taking place during 2020. We, at Dhruva are delighted to inform you that we acted as tax advisors on several transactions during the last few months. A snapshot of some of these transactions is given below for your reference:

Embassy REIT acquired Embassy Tech Village SEZ from Embassy Sponsor, Blackstone group and other selling shareholders for an enterprise value of ~USD 1,300 million through a mix of share and business acquisition.

Embassy REIT is the country’s first publicly listed REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) sponsored by Blackstone and Embassy Group.

Dhruva Advisors acted as the tax and structuring advisors to Embassy REIT.

Private Equity firm Everstone divested a part of its stake held in Burger King India Limited (‘BKIL’) in pre-IPO deals and sale of stake in IPO under Offer for Sale (‘OFS’) route.

BKIL is a listed company, backed by Everstone Group. BKIL operates in the Quick Service Restaurant category of the Indian Food & Beverage Industry, primarily being engaged in the business of manufacture and sale of ready to eat food products such as burgers, fries and beverages.

Everstone Group is a private equity and real estate investment firm focusing on India and Southeast Asia. It has assets under management of approximately US$5 billion.

Dhruva Advisors acted as tax advisor to Everstone Group in connection with the share sale under pre-IPO deals (with SBI Mutual Fund, Amansa Investments, Valiant Mauritius Partners and Malabar India Fund) as well as for sale of stake in IPO under OFS aggregating to ~USD 71 million.

GMM Pfaudler Ltd. and its promoters acquired 54% and 26% equity stake respectively in the overseas business of the Pfaudler Group from the private equity firm Deutsche Beteiligungs AG Fund VI (“DBAG”). DBAG shall continue to hold the balance 20% stake. The deal was valued at ~USD 40 million.

Pursuant to the acquisition, GMM Pfaudler Ltd expanded its presence in many overseas markets and acted as the ultimate holding company with the overseas business of Pfaudler group under its umbrella.

Dhruva Advisors acted as tax advisor to GMM Pfaudler Ltd. for structuring the acquisition of stake in the global business of the Pfaudler Group.

Stillfront acquired 91% stake in Moonfrog for ~USD 90 million. The balance 9% is proposed to be acquired over the next few years.

Moonfrog is engaged in the business of developing, marketing and operating games and gaming infrastructure and counts on Sequoia and Tiger Global as its investors.

Stillfront is a free-to-play powerhouse of gaming studios.

Dhruva Advisors acted as the tax and structuring advisors to Moonfrog and its existing shareholders.

Genpact has entered into agreement to acquire Enquero.

Genpact is a global professional services firm focused on delivering digital transformation.

Enquero is a tech services company that offers client improved IT capabilities to produce scalable customized IT architectures and platforms.

Dhruva Advisors acted as the tax advisor on the transaction.

ZACL has approved the sale of its fertilizer plant at Goa and associated businesses to PPL.

ZACL is primarily engaged in the business of manufacturing, trading and marketing of chemical fertilizer products.

PPL is a joint venture between ZACL, Morocco based OCP group and Government of India. PPL is engaged in the manufacture and trading of fertilizers.

Dhruva Advisors assisted ZACL along with other advisors in structuring the transaction.

A consortium of growth oriented private equity investors led by CX Partners acquired ~13.5% stake on a fully diluted basis in Ummeed for ~USD 11 million, through a share purchase from the existing shareholders.

CX Partners is a growth oriented private equity investment fund focusing on high growth mid-market companies that are industry leaders in India.

Ummeed is an affordable housing finance company.

Dhruva Advisors acted as the tax advisor to CX Partners.

POPxo has entered into an agreement for sale of its business and trademarks to MyGlamm.

POPxo is primarily engaged in the business of developing online content and community for women and has raised funds from various venture capital investors, including Kalaari Capital and Chiratae Ventures.

MyGlamm is a beauty products marketplace.

Dhruva Advisors acted as the tax and structuring advisors to POPxo.

TenderCuts (GFM Retail Private Limited) raised funding of ~ USD 15 million from Paragon Partners and Nabventures, a agri-food tech VC fund backed by NABARD.

TenderCuts is an omni channel meat and seafood brand that provides freshly cut meat and seafood to customers through its chain of stores in Chennai and Hyderabad. The stores cater to walk-in as well as online customers.

Paragon Partners is an India focused mid-market private equity fund founded by Siddharth Parekh and Summet Nindrajog.

Dhruva Advisors conducted a tax due diligence on TenderCuts for Paragon Partners.