WestBridge Capital Partners Invests $7 Million In Times Internet
By Jamie Poitra - Wed 07 Dec 2005 05:13 AM PST
Although this is a publicly known deal (we ourselves have mentioned in the Sequoia story), WestBridge Capital Partners has issued a release on this officially. It says:
WestBridge is expected to get a stake of 2.9 per cent, according to sources. Sumir Chadha, Senior Managing Director, WestBridge, will be joining the board of TIL and Surendra Jain, Managing Director, WestBridge, will be an observer.WestBridge Capital Partners, India’s largest and most active venture capital fund, announced an investment of $7 million in Times Internet Ltd (TIL), the digital venture of India’s largest media house – Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd (BCCL). WestBridge Capital Partners is the sole investor in TIL, and the investment will be used by Times Internet for future acquisitions and towards strengthening its success in the Indian Internet and mobile sector.
Sequoia Capital was also expected to invest in TIL along with WestBridge. But Sequoia’s deal did not work out as TIL developed cold feet and backed out from its earlier plan of diluting a bigger stake (to raise some $36 million) to WestBridge and Sequoia. TIL’s idea is not to dilute a bigger stake at current valuations - for instance, Rediff is valued at $400-450 million range, and it hopes to see a similar valuation, if not more, at a later stage - and it would rather wait for an IPO next year.Speaking on the investment, Chadha said, “Times Internet is the undisputed market leader in the internet and wireless value-added services space in India. We believe that the company is very well positioned to continue its rapid growth as the Indian consumer internet and wireless industries scale.”
Related:
How Sequoia Capital Lost The Times Internet Deal
IndiaTimes Sells 15 Percent Stake To Sequoia & WestBridge For $36 Million
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