<article>Singapore’s Temasek Holdings has closed a slew of transactions across the globe this month, even as it celebrates its 40th anniversary, and its appetite for deal making is far from finished</article>

Singapore’s Temasek Holdings has closed a slew of transactions across the globe this month, even as it celebrates its 40th anniversary, and its appetite for deal making is far from finished
India appears to the flavor of the month for the city-state’s sovereign wealth fund, as it is reported to be in the race to pick up stake in the retail arm of Aditya Birla Group, and it may also participate in the upcoming round of fund raising from Snapdeal.
DEALSTREETASIA analyses Tamasek’s deals spree in October so far, while also listing the potential targets it is chasing.
<h2>Offloads stake in Mitsui Life &amp; CCI Contract Manufacturing</h2>
Temasek has sold its minority stake in Japan’s Mitsui Life Insurance Company and SGX-listed CEI Contract Manufacturing to private equity firm TIHT Investment Holdings Pte. Ltd (TIHT) for S$129 million ($103 million). On completion of the deal, a Temasek group company will own 45% in the Singapore-listed private equity from TIHT, the latter said in a statement.
“This acquisition is very much in line with TIHT’s new strategy to expand our business beyond private equity and venture capital investments. We are delighted about the confidence that is placed in us to help create value for all stakeholders. Through TIHT, we will work hard at enhancing capital return and value in order to deliver mutually rewarding returns to both parties,” Kin Chan, chairman of TIHT said.
“We will broaden and deepen our strategic relationships with significant market players in the Greater China and Southeast Asia region in order to improve deal sourcing and asset management capabilities,” Chan added.
Temasek, which finished the financial year ended March 2014 with a portfolio of S$223 billion, did not comment or divulge any deal details, but the move could be related to it wanting to offload some assets in this region, after its total shareholder return (TSR) had fallen to 1.5% in Singapore dollar terms during the last fiscal.
Temasek had attributed this decline in TSR to ‘weakness in in its key markets in Asia’. In comparison, its 10-year TSR was 9% as its portfolio grew by S$133 billion during this period to touch S$223 billion.
“The top three sectors for investments during the year were financial services, life sciences and energy. Towards the end of the year, we stepped up our investment activities in the consumer sector,” Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund had said in a statement in July.
<h2>Magris – Iamgold deal</h2>
Temasek Holdings along with Hong Kong’s CEF Holdings, an investment firm owned by billionaire Li Ka-shing and Imperial Bank of Commerce has funded former Barrick Gold chief executive Aaron Regent’s acquisition of Iamgold’s Niobec mine in Quebec.
The $500 million acquisition is the first by Regent’s Toronto-based and private equity backed Magris Resources Inc.
This deal, that is expected to close in the fourth quarter, will also see Iamgold get an additional $30 million when the nearby Rare Earth Elements project goes into production.
Regent’s Magris has been linked to several other potential acquisitions including that for Glencore Xstrata’s Las Bambas copper mine in Peru and the company is also reported to have failed in its bid to buyout Freeport-McMoRan Inc.’s Candelaria copper mine in Chile.
The company’s current Asian bankers are set to play a major role in its future acquisitions, and Ragent, in recent interactions with the media, said he plans to partner Temasek and CEF for expanding Magris’s businesses.
Iamgold had acquired this facility in 2006, and this is among the three mines globally that produces niobium.
<h2>Invests $82 million in Indian restaurant operator </h2>
Temasek Holdings is investing $82 million for an undisclosed stake in Devyani International, the Indian operator of KFC, Pizza Hut and Costa Coffee chains.
About a fifth of this investment will be used to buyout ICICI Venture’s stake in Devyani. The restaurant operator has more than 300 outlets across India, Nepal and Nigeria.
According to a report in Channel News Asia, Temasek spokesman confirmed the deal, but did not divulge the valuation or the stake the sovereign Wealth fund would holding in Devyani after the transaction is completed. Both Temasek and Devyani have not officially commented on the deal.
<h2>Participates in Visterra’s Series B financing</h2>
Earlier this month, Temasek Holdings as well as its 100%-owned subsidiary Vertex Venture Holdings, participated in the $30 million series B financing of biotechnology company Visterra Inc.
“The Series B financing round was co-led by new Visterra investors, Merck Research Labs Venture Fund, Vertex Venture Holdings Ltd. and Temasek. Existing investors – Polaris Partners, Flagship Ventures, Omega Funds and Alexandria Venture Investments – and a new investor, Cycad Group, also participated in this upsized financing,” Visterra  had said in a statement, while adding that the proceeds would be ‘used to advance the development of multiple product candidates from the company’s pipeline of monoclonal antibodies that target infectious diseases, including VIS410 for seasonal and pandemic influenza and VIS513 for dengue fever&#8217;.
Vertex Venture Holdings Ltd, which also participated in this round of fund raising, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Temasek, investing in emerging companies across Greater Asia and selectively in US and Europe.
<h2>Eyes stake in India’s Aditya Birla Retail </h2>
Temasek Holdings along with L Capital and International Finance Corp (IFC) are in talks to pick up about 30% stake in India’s Aditya Birla Group for $400-500 million, according to a recent Reuters report.
Aditya Birla Retail Ltd&#8217;s businesses in India includes clothing companies such as Madura Fashion and Lifestyle, premium clothing retail chain Pantaloons Fashion &amp; Retail Ltd and supermarket chain More.
While Indian rules allow foreign investors to own up to 51% in physical retail companies or firms that operate supermarkets, it is not known if the new BJP-led government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi will continue to back this policy.
<h2>May participate in Snapdeal’s $650 million fund rising </h2>
 Temasek Holdings may also participate in the $650 million fund raising by India’s second largest online retailer Snapdeal to retain its existing stake in the e-commerce company. The fund raising will be led by SoftBank, and according to media reports, a majority of the $650 million investment will be from the Japanese firm, and the deal will value Snapdeal at about $2 billion.
This is double the valuation from when Snapdeal last raised funding about five months ago. The online retailer had raised $100 million in May this year from a consortium of investors that included Temasek, BlackRock Inc, Myriad, Premji Invest and Tybourne.
The other investors in Snapdeal include eBay Inc and former chairman of Tata conglomerate, Ratan Tata.
According to Gartner estimates, India’s e-commerce market is set to nearly double to $6 billion next year in consumer spending from $3.6 billion in 2014. In July, analysts at Nomura, in a research note had said the country’s e-commerce industry&#8217;s was at $10 billion in 2013, while adding that it could quadruple to $43 billion in the next five years.
Earlier this year, in July, Snapdeal’s primary competitor and India’s largest online retailer Flipkart had raised $1 billion.
SoftBank is also the largest investor in China’s Abibaba.
Snapdeal has so far raised about $320 million so far, and about $233 million of this was through two rounds this year.
<pre>image: <a href="http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/agree-terms.php?id=100193093">freedigitalphotos.net</a></pre>

Temasek’s deal spree in October – 4 and counting

Bring stories like this into your inbox every day.

Sign up for our newsletter - The Daily Brief

Temasek’s deal spree in October – 4 and counting

Start your deal-making journey now!

Bring stories like this into your inbox every day.

Sign up for our newsletter - The Daily Brief