Aion acquires India's PlanetCast, Kubera exits
Aion Capital Partners, a special situations joint venture between Apollo Global Management and ICICI Venture, has bought a controlling stake in Indian broadcast technology services provider PlanetCast Media Services from investors including PE firm Kubera Partners.
Along with Kubera, affiliates of the Essel Group and the Shyam Group partially exited their stakes as well, according to the Press Trust of India. Financial details of the transaction have not been announced, though Kubera had earlier announced it would receive about INR1.5 billion ($22.5 million) for its 28% stake.
PlanetCast was founded in 1996 as a JV between Essel and Shyam Telecom. The company provides communication and content management services for the broadcasting and satellite communication industries in India and Southeast Asia, including Star TV, Disney, and Sony. Following the acquisition PlanetCast will continue to be led by the current management team.
Kubera invested in PlanetCast, then called Essel Shyam Communication, in 2008, committing $13.4 million through the Kubera Cross-Border Fund. In its most recent quarterly newsletter the firm reported revenue of INR3 billion ($45.9 million) for PlanetCast in the 2016 financial year, up from INR2.6 billion 12 months earlier. EBITDA grew from INR749 million to INR877 million over the same period. As of December 2016 the company’s net debt stood at INR77 million.
Aion launched in 2013 to invest in distressed Indian companies, and closed its debut fund the following year at $825 million. The firm’s investments include beverage maker and bottler Varun Beverages, to which it committed INR6 billion in 2015 and which raised INR11 billion in its IPO last year, and Avantha Holdings, the holding company of the Avantha Group.
In addition, Aion is also a stakeholder in the distressed asset JV that ICICI and Apollo launched last year. The two firms will establish an asset reconstruction company to acquire non-performing assets from lenders and buy equity stakes in distressed companies with the goal of revitalizing them.
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