RNM ALERT ISSUE NO.81 OCT, 2015 Thinking of the Bottom Line – Think of Us

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Dear Readers,

We want to begin by wishing everyone a very Happy Diwali and best of wealth and health for the year ahead. I am sure, you would have all had a pollution free Diwali.

Team RNM was represented at the recent GGI World Conference in Boston, USA in October thru CA Raghu Marwah, Partner. He made a presentation at the M&A Practice Group meeting on some of the key deal flows in , which was much appreciated. While in London, UK he attended a Seminar on Probate and Inheritance Tax (IHT) to get a fresh update on HMRC changes in this field.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has revised downwards its global growth forecast to 2.9% in 2015 and 3.3% in 2016 from the earlier estimate of 3% and 3.6%, respectively. The agency expects India’s economy to grow at 7.2% in FY16, 7.3% in FY17 and 7.4% in FY18.

During the month of October, equity markets worldwide recovered after falling for two consecutive months. FII’s bought $1.03bn in equities in India during October. The Rupee appreciated 0.5% versus the Dollar. Domestic Mutual funds continue to see healthy inflows. The policy direction is right and economy is making good progress on most fronts. Improving margin outlook of corporates, likely lower interest rates, soft commodity prices and reasonable valuations lead to a positive outlook for equity markets over the medium to long term, as per Experts.

The recent unexpected results of the Bihar elections, have put a partial dampener on the potential of pushing thru key legislations like the GST Bill thru Parliament. However, the recent FDI proposals for changes in 15 key sectors once the changes get notified is likely to result in a major thrust with simplification being the key buzzword. Team RNM is putting together a separate Special RNM Alert on the FDI proposals which should be on your desk soon.

Regards, CA U.N. Marwah For and behalf of the RNM Alert Editorial Board

All Rights of Circulation restricted

Issue No. 81: OCT, 2015 Page 2 of 22

CO NTENTS

Direct Tax -Case Laws

- Salary 4 - Expenses related to Exempt Income 4 - Profits or Gains of Business or Profession 5 - Capital Gains and Its Deduction 5 - Carry forward and set off of Loses 5 - Assessment 5 - Appeals 5 - Penalties 6 - Article - Why Indian Citizens and Businesses are being asked to sign FATCA Declarations 7-8

Indirect Tax -Service Tax

-Case Laws - Dealers of SIM cards can't take credit of service tax paid by telecom companies 9 - Dept. must specify default committed by assessee in SCN without which demand is invalid 9 - Even in case of large scale fraud, recovery can't be made beyond 5 years of relevant date 9 - Exemption available on payment of duty in cash isn't available if duty paid by use of credit 9 -Food cooked in restaurant classifiable as branded food if trade mark of restaurant is registered 9-10 -HC condoned delay of 76 days in filing appeal before Tribunal on payment of cost of Rs. 2,000 10 - High Court quashed adjudication order due to unexplained delay of 22 months in passing order 10 - No service-tax on entrance fee collected by club which doesn't confer any access to services 10

Issue No. 81: OCT, 2015 Page 3 of 22

- Refund of duty paid on material which is used in export goods should be claimed within 1 year 10 - SEZ units can claim ST-refund within one year from date of payment of ST; date of advance payment is irrelevant 10 - Time limit to file refund claim doesn’t apply to rebate claim arising out of export 10-11 - Tribunal can't examine validity of review order passed by Committee of Chief Commissioners 11

RBI Updates

-Circular - Annual Return on Foreign Liabilities and Assets (FLA Return) – Reporting by Limited Liability Partnerships 12 - Non-Banking Financial Company-Micro Finance Institutions (NBFC-MFIs) – Directions – Modifications 12

Corporate Finance

- Latest News

- Private Equity 13-15 - Mergers & Acquisition 15-16 - Venture Capital 17-21

DIRECT TAX DIRECT TA

Issue No. 81: OCT, 2015 Page 4 of 22

DIRECT TAX  Case Laws Salary

Sec 17(3)(iii)(A) -Amount received by prospective employee for loss of employment offer is a capital receipt and is neither taxable as "salary" or as "other sources" [PRITAM DAS NARANG V. CIT, ITA 203/2014(Delhi)]

Expenses related to Exempt Income

Sec 14A - Rule 8D does not apply to shares held as stock-in-trade. AO cannot apply Rule 8D to make a disallowance without showing how the assessee's disallowance is wrong. [M/s. G. K. K. Capital Markets (P) Ltd. V. DCIT, I.T.A No.805/Kol/2012]

Sec 14A - Interest liable to be disallowed u/s 14A on proportionate basis even if assessee-bank's current deposits exceed its investments yielding tax-free returns. Assessee-bank cannot escape disallowance of interest u/s 14A by taking the plea that its interest-free funds (own funds or current account deposits) exceeded the amount of its tax-free income yielding investments in shares and mutual funds. [DCIT V.HDFC Bank Ltd., [2015] 61 taxmann.com 361 (Mumbai - Trib.)]

Profits or Gains of Business or Profession

Sec 32 - Even prior to the insertion of "intangible assets" in s. 32, intellectual property rights such as trademarks, copyrights and know-how constitute "plant" for purposes of depreciation. The department is not entitled to rewrite the terms of a commercial agreement. [M/s. Mangalore Ganesh Beedi Works V.CIT, APPEAL NOS. 10547-10548 OF 2011(SC)]

Sec 37(1)-If a claim of damages and interest thereon is disputed by the assessee in the court of law, deduction cannot be allowed for the interest claimed on such damages. [M/s National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd., V. JCIT, ITA Nos.1999 & 2000/Del/2008]

Sec 41–Where once amount realized by assessee by sale of building, plant and machinery was treated as income arising out of profits and gains from business by virtue of sub-section (2) of section 41 notwithstanding fact that assessee was not carrying on any business during relevant assessment year, provision contained in sub-section (2) of section 32 would become applicable and, consequently, set-off had to be given for unabsorbed depreciation allowances of previous year brought forward in terms of said provision. [Karnataka Instrade Corporation Ltd. V. ACIT, [2015] 62 taxmann.com 239 (Karnataka)]

Sec 48–In computing "capital gains" the AO is not entitled to substitute the "market value" for the actual "consideration" received by the assessee. He also cannot disregard the valuation report without cogent material. [Venus Financial Services Ltd. V.ACIT, ITA No. 5335/Del/2012(Karnataka)]

Issue No. 81: OCT, 2015 Page 5 of 22

Capital Gain& Its Deductions Sec 54F -Sec. 54F is a beneficial provision & must be interpreted liberally. It does not require that the construction of the new residential house has to be completed, and the house be habitable, within 3 years of the transfer of the old asset. It is sufficient if the funds are invested in the new house property within the time limit. [SMT. B S SHANTHAKUMARI V.CIT, ITA No.165/2014(Karnataka)] Carry forward and set off of Losses Sec 79 -Transfer of shares of the loss-making company by the shareholder-company to its subsidiary is not hit by sec. 79 [CIT V. M/s. AMCO Power Systems Ltd., ITA No.766 OF 2009 c/w ITA Nos.769/2009, 1046/2008, 765/2009 & 767/2009 (Karnataka)] Assessment Sec 143(2) -Failure to issue a s. 143(2) notice renders the reassessment order void. [PCIT V.Shri Jai Shiv Shankar Traders Pvt. Ltd., ITA 519/2015(Delhi)]

Sec 147– Reopening only on the basis of information received that the assessee has introduced unaccounted money in the form of accommodation entries without showing in what manner the AO applied independent mind to the information renders the reopening void [G & G PHARMA INDIA LTD V. CIT, ITA 545/2015(Delhi)]

Sec 147 - Where during assessment under section 143(3), receipts by assessee-US company was treated as royalty and taxed on gross basis at rate of 15 per cent, but Assessing Officer initiated reassessment contending that, since assessee had a PE in India, said receipt was to be attributed to Indian PE and said amount was to be taxed at 20 per cent, since Assessing Officer had earlier examined entire issue of royalty and its taxability in its entirety and all relevant facts were fully and truly disclosed by assessee, reassessment proceedings was to be quashed. [Oracle Systems Corporation V. ADIT, [2015] 62 taxmann.com 291 (Delhi)[08-10-2015]]

Sec 148- IfDept behaves in an irresponsible manner and does not furnish the recorded reasons on the basis that the assessee was already aware of them, the assessment has to be quashed. [M/s Trend Electronics V. CIT, INCOME TAX APPEAL NO. 1867 OF 2013(Bombay)]

Sec 153C - Delhi HC lays down principles to avoid vexatious proceedings u/s 153C against person other than person searched [CIT-7 V. RRJ Securities Ltd., [2015] 62 taxmann.com 391 (Delhi)]

Appeals Sec 263-Claim that notional interest on funds placed by the s. 10A eligible unit with the H.O. is allowable as a deduction to the H.O. and is exempt in the hands of the s. 10A unit is an “unsustainable view” justifying revision action [THOMSON PRESS (INDIA) LTD. V. CIT, ITA 83/2003(Delhi)]

Issue No. 81: OCT, 2015 Page 6 of 22

Penalties

Sec 271(1)(c)- If the notice does not clearly specify whether the penalty is initiated for "concealment" or for "filing inaccurate particulars", it is invalid. Penalty should not be imposed merely because the income has been offered to tax in a later year and not in the present year. [Parinee Developers Pvt Ltd V. ACIT, I.T.A. No. 6772/Mumbai/2013]

Sec 271(1)(c)- The deeming provision of Explanation 1 to s. 271(1)(c) applies only to a case of "concealment of income" and not to a case of "furnishing inaccurate particulars of income". [TristarIntech (P) Ltd. V.ACIT, I.T.A .No. 1457/Del/2010]

Sec 271D - Only those loans and deposits are covered by section 269SS where funds/money are transferred. Where the loans are recorded by merely passing adjustment entries or journal entries are outside the scope of section 269SS of the Act. Therefore, penalty u/s 271D cannot be levied in this case. [Nav-Yug Sewing Machine Co. Ltd. Versus Addl. C.I.T., Range-13, New Delhi]

Issue No. 81: OCT, 2015 Page 7 of 22

ARTICLE

Why Indian citizens and businesses are being asked to sign FATCA Declarations ? The Government of India on 9 th July 2015 entered into an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA-1) with the Government of the United States of America under which it has been agreed to share data on reciprocal basis with respect to financial holdings and interest of US residents in India and Indian residents in USA. Similarly, on 3 rd June 2015 the Government of India signed the OECD’s Multilateral Tax treaty for an automatic Common Reporting Standard under the Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development (OECD) for all partner jurisdictions. But what is FATCA and why does it sound so scary? Well, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is a federal tax legislation of the United States initially aimed to curb money laundering and the stated purpose of catching the “fat cat” tax cheats who hide their money abroad. It was passed in 2010 and became implemented from 2014 onwards. But, does the most powerful country of the world think that its ‘fat cat’ are going to park their wealth in India- a jurisdiction which has legendary problems of Doing Business in India and high taxes. In a global world, money flows are faster than traversing thru the traffic jams of New Delhi. Also, with the ever-increasing number of wealthy NRIs based in the USA, the cross border financial interests keep on increasing and continue to gain traction. The perception of ‘fat cat’ has also gone thru a significant change in the last decade, where it would not be too absurd to expect an Asian to fall in the list of elites of USA.

But the question still begs to be asked why India is getting on board the FATCA band wagon and amending our local laws to suit the Americans, as if India is not burdened with its own compliances and reams of paper work already? Well, international co-operation has its costs. Since India wanted to catch its own ‘fat cat’ from hiding money and buying fancy Hotels and Villas across the globe, it needs the buy- in of the Americans and that is why the FATCA bug has bitten Indians.

Indian Financial Institutions shall report in a staggered manner data of financial accounts such as bank accounts, custodial accounts, depository accounts, insurance accounts, including interest, dividend, sales, redemptions, Surrender Value, other income generated in such accounts by Specified U.S. Person or by a Non-U.S. Entity having one or more Controlling Persons that is a Specified U.S. Person. This automatically means that Indian Financial Institutions now need to identify, whom among their millions of customers is a ‘Specified U.S. Person’ and then start reporting data on them to the Indian Competent Authority. In addition, such Indian Financial Institutions need to ensure proper tax withholding on any U.S. Source Withholdable Payment to any Non Participating Financial Institution.

The accountants in USA are laughing all the way to the bank, now that the US Government has obliged by opening up international tax compliance opportunities from across the globe. But is it really helping the Americans, other than reinforcing the image of being the ‘Big Bully’ of the world. Well there have been few Republican Senators and Democrat party papers which have advocated the scrapping of the FATCA due to the negative impact of its roll out. But in the post-9/11 environment the heady cocktail of national security interests and money laundering restrictions take precedence.

Issue No. 81: OCT, 2015 Page 8 of 22

This enhanced Inter-Governmental co-operation is a sign of the direction in which the wind is blowing where not only one’s “Digital Footprint” but also one’s “Financial Footprint” will be transparently accessible to our Governments. The Age of the ‘Big Brother’ looking over your shoulder has truly arrived. Issues surrounding privacy, hacking and misuse of data will become an increasingly important theme going forward where so much more data will be available on Indian interests not only in India but across the globe.

Team RNM recommends that if you are a Specified U.S. Person with financial accounts in India, professional advise is sought in respect of implications on tax compliances in USA. [Source: Article written by CA Raghu Marwah]

Issue No. 81: OCT, 2015 Page 9 of 22

INDIRECT TAX Service Tax

 Case Law

Dealers of SIM cards can't take credit of service tax paid by telecom companies Dealers of SIM Cards/Recharge vouchers cannot be regarded as 'recipients of telecom services' provided by telecom companies; hence, said dealers cannot take input service credit of service tax paid by telecom companies [Omar Agencies (Hutch) v. Commissioner of Central Excise, Allahabad [2015] 62 taxmann.com 162 (New Delhi - CESTAT)]

Dept. must specify default committed by assessee in SCN without which demand is invalid Mere passing reference to a section in show-cause notice, without any supporting omissions or commissions by assessee supporting invocation of said section, cannot validate demand under said section [Commissioner of Central Excise, Central Excise Commissionerate v. Super Spinning Mills Ltd, [2015] 62 taxmann.com 47 (Madras)]

Even in case of large scale fraud, recovery can't be made beyond 5 years of relevant date Merely because fraudulent availment of exemption/bond is of great magnitude and is admitted does not mean that recovery can be made at any time; recovery can be made within 5 years from relevant date and there is no provision to consider 'date of knowledge of department' as relevant date [Dharampal Lalchand Chug v Commissioner of Central Excise [2015] 62 taxmann.com 121 (Bombay)]

Exemption available on payment of duty in cash isn't available if duty paid by use of credit Where partial exemption is conditional upon payment of duty in cash without use of credit, said exemption has to be construed strictly and cannot, therefore, be extended to assessee paying concessional duty using credit balance [Commissioner of Central Excise, Pondicherry v. Honda Siel Power Products Ltd, [2015] 62 taxmann.com 202 (SC)]

Food cooked in restaurant classifiable as branded food if trade mark of restaurant is registered Where assessee, a restaurant, got registration under Trade Marks Act of name Zaitoon, in view of provisions of Trade Marks Act as well as Rules thereof, trade mark registration was meant for restaurant

Issue No. 81: OCT, 2015 Page 10 of 22

as well as goods manufactured by assessee and, therefore, food items prepared and served by assessee were branded foods taxable at 14.5 per cent [Tvl. Zaitoon Multi Cuisine Family Restaurant v. Assistant Commissioner (CT) [2015] 62 taxmann.com 225 (Madras)]

HC condoned delay of 76 days in filing appeal before Tribunal on payment of cost of Rs. 2,000 Despite Tribunal's findings that no evidence was furnished by assessee in support of ground seeking condonation of delay, High Court condoned delay of 76 days in filing appeal before Tribunal on payment of costs of Rs. 2000 so that appeal may be heard on merits [Furnace And Foundry Equipment Company v. Commissioner of Central Excise, Vadodara II , [2015] 62 taxmann.com 154 (Gujarat)]

High Court quashed adjudication order due to unexplained delay of 22 months in passing order Inordinate and unexplained delay of 22 months in passing adjudication order after conclusion of hearing, itself vitiates said order; hence, same was set aside and matter was remanded back for re-adjudication [S2 Infotech (P.) Ltd. v.Union of India [2015] 62 taxmann.com 153 (Bombay)]

No service-tax on entrance fee collected by club which doesn't confer any access to services Where collection of entrance fee by club from its members : (a) did not confer members any access to services, facilities or advantages; and (b) was to meet expenses necessary for sustenance and survival of club and maintenance of its assets, then, entrance fee, not being a consideration, was not chargeable to service tax [Cricket Club of India Ltd.v.Commissioner of Service Tax [2015] 62 taxmann.com 2 (Mumbai - CESTAT)]

Refund of duty paid on material which is used in export goods should be claimed within 1 year Application for refund claim of CENVAT Credit under Rule 5 should be filed before expiry of one year [ADF Foods Ltd. (100% EOU) v. Commissioner of Central Excise & Customs, Nashik [2015] 62 taxmann.com 195 (Mumbai - CESTAT)]

SEZ units can claim ST-refund within one year from date of payment of ST; date of advance payment is irrelevant Refund of service tax is to be claimed within one year from date of payment of service tax to service provider, and not from date of advance payment [Commissioner of Central Excise & Customs, Nashik v. Indiabulls Realtech Ltd. [2015] 62 taxmann.com 49 (Mumbai - CESTAT)]

Time limit to file refund claim doesn’t apply to rebate claim arising out of export Since notification issued under rule 18 of the Central Excise Rules, 2002 does not provide any period of limitation for a claim for rebate, rebate claim cannot be dismissed as time-barred applying provisions of section 11B of Central Excise Act, 1944

Issue No. 81: OCT, 2015 Page 11 of 22

[JSL Lifestyle Ltd. v. Union of India [2015] 62 taxmann.com 46 (Punjab & Haryana)

Tribunal can't examine validity of review order passed by Committee of Chief Commissioners Tribunal cannot examine validity of review order, beyond factum as to whether or not a decision has been taken by a Committee of Commissioners/Chief Commissioners to institute appeal; if decision has been taken, Tribunal cannot examine why and how was said decision taken, as such a review is an administrative act [Commissioner of Service Tax v. Japan Airlines International Co. Ltd. [2015] 62 taxmann.com 118 (Delhi)]

Issue No. 81: OCT, 2015 Page 12 of 22

COMPANY LAW UPDATES

RBI UPDATES Circular/Notification/Guidance

Annual Return on Foreign Liabilities and Assets (FLA Return) – Reporting by Limited Liability Partnerships In order to capture the statistics relating to Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), both inward and outward, by Limited Liabilities Partnerships (LLPs) in India, it has been decided that henceforth, all LLPs that have received FDI and/or made FDI abroad (i.e. overseas investment) in the previous year(s) as well as in the current year, shall submit the FLA return to the Reserve by July 15 every year, in the format as prescribed in the A.P (DIR Series) Circular No. 145 dated June 18, 2014. Since, LLPs do not have 21-Digit CIN (Corporate Identity Number), they are advised to enter ‘A99999AA9999LLP999999’ against CIN in the FLA Return. [Source: Notification No. RBI/2015-16 /210 A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 22 dated October, 21, 2015]

Non-Banking Financial Company-Micro Finance Institutions (NBFC-MFIs) – Directions – Modifications The National Scheduled Castes Finance & Development Corporation (NSFDC) under the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India, has proposed to expand its outreach by channelizing funds through select NBFC-MFIs at lower rate of interest. The objective of NSFDC is to work for the economic empowerment of persons belonging to Scheduled Castes living below the Double Poverty Line.

In order to enable NBFC-MFIs to act as channelizing agents of NSFDC, it has been decided that the condition relating to the maximum variance permitted shall not be applicable to loans extended by NBFC- MFIs against funding by NSFDC. The on-lending to individuals by NBFC-MFIs out of funds of NSFDC shall only be through direct credit to their accounts with banks. Further, NBFC-MFIs shall exclude borrowing from NSFDC in arriving at the average cost of funds of the company for the purpose of pricing of credit, other than to the beneficiaries targeted by NSFDC. For this, NBFC-MFIs shall maintain proper record of funds received from NSFDC and the lending out of those funds. [Source: Notification No. RBI/2015-16 /196 DNBR. CC. PD.No. 069/03.10.01/ 2015-16 dated October, 1, 2015]

Issue No. 81: OCT, 2015 Page 13 of 22

CORPORATE FINANCE  Latest News Private Equity

French businessman picks up stake in Warburg Pincus Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière, CEO of French financial services firm Fimalac, has picked up a 5 per cent stake in marquee global private equity firm Warburg Pincus through his family holding company GroupeMarc de Lacharrière (GML). [Source: VCCircle, October 29, 2015]

Essel Finance invests in Mumbai realtor Rashmi Essel Finance has invested across two ongoing residential projects of Mumbai-based private developer Rashmi Group in the form of structured debt. [Source: VCCircle, October 28, 2015]

PremjiInvest puts $33M in hair-care firm behind Streax, Super Vasmol PremjiInvest, the private investment firm of Wipro Ltd chairman Azim Premji, has invested Rs 216 crore($33 million) to pick up a significant minority stake in Mumbai-based consumer products company Hygienic Research Institute Pvt Ltd [Source: VCCircle, October 26, 2015]

General Atlantic to buy 21.6% in IIFL Wealth for $173M Global private equity firm General Atlantic has inked its biggest India related deal in 11 years to buy a stake in wealth management unit of IIFL Holdings Ltd (formerly ). [Source: VCCircle, October 26, 2015]

GIC picks 50% stake in Tishman Speyer's office park in Hyderabad Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC has picked a 50 per cent stake in New York-based real estate developer Tishman Speyer’s office park in Hyderabad, WaveRock, according to a press statement. A 50:50 joint venture between GIC and Tishman Speyer will now own WaveRock [Source: VCCircle, October 23, 2015]

Issue No. 81: OCT, 2015 Page 14 of 22

Everstone picks 51% stake in auto ancillary firm SJS Private equity firm Everstone Capital has picked controlling 51 per cent equity stake in Bangalore-based auto ancillary manufacturer SJS Enterprises for about Rs 350 crore ($54 million), [Source: VCCircle, October 12, 2015]

AION invests $90M in Pepsi bottler Varun Beverages AION Capital, a joint investment platform of Apollo Global and ICICI Venture, has invested Rs 600 crore ($90 million) to buy an undisclosed stake in Varun Beverages Ltd (VBL), a leading manufacturer of beverages in India and one of the largest bottlers of Pepsi in India and certain international markets. [Source: VCCircle, October 09, 2015]

Grabhouse raises $10M from Sequoia, Kalaari Mumbai-based Cryptopy Technologies Pvt Ltd, the company behind broker free rental accommodation listing platform Grabhouse.com, has raised $10 million (Rs 65 crore) in a Series B round of funding from its existing investors, Sequoia Capital and Kalaari Capital. [Source: VCCircle, October 08, 2015]

Apax buys 23% stake in Zensar from Electra for $129M Private equity firm Apax Partners has bought a 23 per cent stake in mid-cap software services firm Zensar Technologies Ltd from private equity investor Electra Partners for £84 million (Rs 833 crore, or $128.6 million) [Source: VCCircle, October 09, 2015]

SportzVillage raises $10M from Gaja Capital Growth stage private equity investor Gaja Capital has invested Rs 65 crore ($10 million) in sports and fitness education venture Junior Sports and Services Pvt Ltd, the firm that operates under the brand SportzVillage to help the company expand operations across India. [Source: VCCircle, October 05, 2015]

Beauty products e-tailer Nykaa raises $9M from TVS Capital, others Mumbai-based FSN E-Commerce Ventures Pvt Ltd, owner of beauty products e-commerce property Nykaa.com, has secured Rs 60 crore ($9 million) in its second institutional funding round led by private equity firm TVS Capital. [Source: VCCircle, October 05, 2015]

Voylla raises $15M from Peepul Capital Voylla.com has secured $15 million (about Rs 100 crore) in fresh funding from private equity firm Peepul Capital, as the fashion jewellery and accessories e-tailer looks to expand its network of offline stores. [Source: VCCircle, October 05, 2015]

SoftBank leads $1B Series E round in US-based SoFi Japanese telecom and internet giant SoftBank Group Corp has led a $1-billion Series E investment round in US financial technology startup SoFi which is a marketplace lender that provides student loan refinancing, mortgages and other types of loans. [Source: VCCircle, October 01, 2015]

Issue No. 81: OCT, 2015 Page 15 of 22

Merger & Acquisition

HCL Technologies buys US CRM services firm PowerObjects for $46M HCL Technologies Ltd, India's fourth-largest software services firm, has acquired Minneapolis-based customer relationship management (CRM) services provider PowerObjects for $46 million (about Rs 300 crore) [Source: VCCircle, October 30, 2015]

Max to buy 51% stake in BK Modi-controlled Saket City Hospital Max Healthcare Institute Ltd, an equal joint venture between Max India Ltd and South Africa-based Life Healthcare, has decided to acquire 51 per cent equity stake in Delhi-based Saket City Hospital Pvt Ltd from Singapore-based BK Modi Group company, Smart Health City Pte Ltd [Source: VCCircle, October 28, 2015]

Talwalkars buys 49.5% stake in Sri Lanka's Power World Gyms Mumbai-based fitness chain company Talwalkars Better Value Fitness Ltd has entered the Sri Lankan market by acquiring a 49.5 per cent stake in Power World Gyms Ltd (PWG) for an undisclosed amount in cash. [Source: VCCircle, October 23, 2015]

Citrus buys payment platform Zwitch Citrus Payments Solutions Pvt Ltd, which operates an online checkout and payment solution Citrus Pay, has acquired Bengaluru-based payment platform Zwitch, run by iZwipe Payment Technologies, for an undisclosed amount. [Source: VCCircle, October 21, 2015]

Square Yards acquires design studio Oryden Property search aggregator Square Yards has acquired Oryden TechLabs, an Ahmedabad-based design and animation studio, for an undisclosed amount. [Source: VCCircle, October 20, 2015]

News curator Inshorts buys analytics platform Retention.ai Mobile news curator Inshorts has acquired BetaGlide, the company that runs data analytics platform Retention.ai, in a cash-and-equity deal. [Source: VCCircle, October 15, 2015]

Eros acquires UK's PingTune for music messaging play Indian movie production house Eros International Plc has acquired UK-based music messaging app PingTune for an undisclosed amount. [Source: VCCircle, October 15, 2015]

Cisco makes first India acquisition, buys Pawaa Networking equipment giant Cisco took over Bangalore-based IT security firm Pawaa Software Pvt Ltd for an undisclosed amount, making its first acquisition in India. [Source: VCCircle, October 14, 2015]

Issue No. 81: OCT, 2015 Page 16 of 22

Deals app Little buys Chandigarh-based Trideal Little Internet Pvt Ltd, which owns the deals discovery app Little and counts Zovi.com founders Manish Chopra and Satish Mani as promoters, has acquired Chandigarh-based curated deals marketplace Trideal for an undisclosed amount. [Source: VCCircle, October 13, 2015]

Cox & Kings buys hotel booking website LateRooms for $13M Mumbai-based tour and travel firm Cox & Kings Ltd said on Tuesday it has acquired UK-based hotel booking website LateRooms.com for £8.5 million (around Rs 85 crore, or $13 million). [Source: VCCircle, October 13, 2015]

TVS Logistics buys majority stake in Australia's Transtar As part of making its foray into the Australian market, logistics service provider TVS Logistics has picked up majority stake in Melbourne-based Transtar International Freight for an "undisclosed sum". [Source: VCCircle, October 08, 2015]

Educomp sells ed-tech firm Wizlearn to V-cube for $14M Educomp Solutions Ltd has sold its entire stake in Singapore-based Wizlearn Technology Pte Ltd to V- cube Global Services Pte Ltd, the debt-laden Indian education company said in a stock exchange filing on Monday. [Source: VCCircle, October 07, 2015]

Venture Capital

Ride sharing app LiftO raises $130K in angel funding Mumbai-based Teilen Infoservices Pvt Ltd, which runs and operates people-to-people (P2P) ride-sharing app LiftO, has raised $130,000 (Rs 85 lakh) in angel funding from Tree House Education's Rajesh Bhatia, Temasek's fund manager Dheeraj Mehta and other investors. [Source: VCCircle, October 30, 2015]

Moglix gets pre-Series A funding from Accel Partners, Jungle Ventures Singapore based MOGLILABS Pvt Ltd, which runs online markeplace for industrial tools Moglix, has raised pre- Series A funding from Accel Partners and Jungle Ventures. [Source: VCCircle, October 30, 2015]

Issue No. 81: OCT, 2015 Page 17 of 22

India Quotient invests in home healthcare startup Care24 Mumbai-based home healthcare startup Aegis Care Advisors Pvt Ltd, that operates under the brand Care24, has secured $350,000 (about Rs 2.27 crore) in its first round of funding from early stage investor India Quotient (IQ). [Source: VCCircle, October 29, 2015]

IAN backs UK-based VoIP service Aznog Indian Angel Network (IAN) has made an undisclosed investment in London-based Aznog (formerly known as CalLiberate), a VoIP service provider. [Source: VCCircle, October 29, 2015]

UrDoorstep raises funding from Rajeev Chandrashekhar's Jupiter Capital Bangalore based online hypermarket Urdoorstep Eretail Pvt Ltd has received Series A funding from independent member of Parliament Rajeev Chandrasekhar-led Jupiter Capital to fund its expansion plans. [Source: VCCircle, October 28, 2015]

Simpli5d raises bridge funding from Redcliffe's Jain, YourNest Simpli5d Technologies Pvt Ltd, a Gurgaon-based company that provides digital anti-fraud tech solutions, has raised an undisclosed amount in bridge funding led by Dheeraj Jain, partner at UK-based hedge fund Redcliffe Capital, and existing investor YourNest Angel Fund. [Source: VCCircle, October 28, 2015]

Almamapper raises $400K in seed funding Ahmedabad-based Almamapper Technologies Pvt Ltd, which runs education networking and peer-to-peer learning platform Almamapper, has raised $400,000 (Rs 2.6 crore) in seed funding from Oswal Techno Ventures LLP. [Source: VCCircle, October 28, 2015]

Razorpay raises $9M from Tiger Global and Matrix Jaipur-based Razorpay Software Pvt Ltd, an online payment startup, has raised $9 million (Rs 59 crore) in Series A funding led by Tiger Global with participation from Matrix Partners. [Source: VCCircle, October 27, 2015]

OrbiMed, others commit $50M to online drugs marketplace Netmeds Net-Meds Marketplace Pvt Ltd, which runs online pharmacy venture under Netmeds.com, has received investment commitment of $50 million (Rs 325 crore) from healthcare focused global private equity firm OrbiMed [Source: VCCircle, October 26, 2015]

Labs aggregator Medd gets $150K in bridge round Diagnostics tests booking app Medd has raised $150,000 (about Rs 1 crore) in a bridge round of funding from a group of angel investors. [Source: VCCircle, October 26, 2015]

Issue No. 81: OCT, 2015 Page 18 of 22

Flexing It gets $500K in angel funding from PropTiger’s Agarwala, others Flexing It, a curated marketplace that connects companies with part-time resources for consulting assignments, has raised $500,000 in angel funding from HCC Infrastructure head Arjun Dhawan, PropTiger.com CEO Dhruv Agarwala and other investors. [Source: VCCircle, October 26, 2015]

Ratan Tata, Amex invest in US bitcoin startup Abra Abra, a bitcoin-powered remittance app, has secured an undisclosed amount in funding from Tata Sons’ chairman emeritus Ratan Tata and American Express as part of an expanded Series A funding round. [Source: VCCircle, October 23, 2015]

Agentdesks raises under $3M in seed funding Agentdesks, a mobile-only customer relationship management platform for real estate agents, has raised $2.95 million in seed funding from a clutch of investors including Sierra Ventures, Cota Capital and Vegas Tech fund. [Source: VCCircle, October 21, 2015]

IAN invests in health food startup Jiyo Natural Indian Angel Network (IAN) has invested an undisclosed amount in Bangalore-based health food startup Jiyo Natural Pvt Ltd, which claims to sell personalised, calorie-monitored and chemical-free food. [Source: VCCircle, October 21, 2015]

Hyperlocal delivery firm Opinio raises $7M from Delhivery, others Bangalore-based hyperlocal delivery startup Opinio has raised $7 million in Series A funding led by e- commerce logistics firm Delhivery. Sands Capital and Accel Partners also put money in this round, Opinio said in a statement. [Source: VCCircle, October 20, 2015]

Brewer & gastropub The White Owl raises funding from Amit Patni RAAY Global, a family office of Amit Patni, has invested in The White Owl Brewery, a Mumbai-based craft beer maker that also runs its own gastropub in the city, as per a disclosure on its website. [Source: VCCircle, October 20, 2015]

Health-tech firm Attune raises $10M from Qualcomm, Norwest Attune Technologies Pvt Ltd, a cloud-based healthcare technology solutions provider, has raised Rs 64 crore (about $10 million) in a funding round led by Qualcomm Ventures India. [Source: VCCircle, October 20, 2015]

Tiger Global, Flipkart seed fund Cube26 with $7.7M Delhi-based mobile technology startup Cube26 Software Pvt Ltd has raised a seed investment of Rs 50 crore from Tiger Global and Flipkart. Tiger Global, which is also one of the lead investors in Flipkart, has led the round while Flipkart has contributed a minority share, the company stated in a press release. [Source: VCCircle, October 19, 2015]

Offbeat travel destination discovery startup Holidify raises $100K

Issue No. 81: OCT, 2015 Page 19 of 22

Delhi-based Holidify Travels Pvt Ltd, which runs an online portal for discovering offbeat travel destinations, has raised $100,000 (Rs 65 lakh) in angel funding from the promoter family of Aarti Group. [Source: VCCircle, October 19, 2015]

Homers.in secures seed funding Homers.in, a C2C platform that facilitates home rentals, has raised its first round of funding from a clutch of angel investors. [Source: VCCircle, October 19, 2015]

Rewards app Bounty gets seed funding from Fireside, others Nanolocal Technologies Pvt Ltd, which runs rewards app Bounty, has raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from Fireside Ventures, Mumbai Angels and MAPE Advisory Group. [Source: VCCircle, October 15, 2015]

Lookup raises $2.5M from Vinod Khosla, others Lookup, a messaging app that connects local merchants with customers, has raised $2.5 million in Series A funding led by venture capitalist Vinod Khosla’s personal fund, Khosla Impact. [Source: VCCircle, October 14, 2015]

Parampara Capital invests in S-Cube Futuretech Software products company S-Cube Futuretech Pvt Ltd has raised funding in a Series A round from venture capital firm Parampara Capital, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. [Source: VCCircle, October 14, 2015]

Voodoo raises seed funding from SAIF Partners Voodoo Technologies Pvt Ltd, which runs a mobile app that compares prices and deals on e-commerce sites, has raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from SAIF Partners. [Source: VCCircle, October 13, 2015]

Gridle raises $100K in seed funding Ahmedabad-based Pivoting Softwares Pvt Ltd, which runs productivity platform for work Gridle, said on Monday it has raised $100,000 (Rs 65 lakh) in seed funding through crowd-funding platform LetsVenture. [Source: VCCircle, October 12, 2015]

Mobile balance tracker Mubble gets Series A funding from Accel Mubble, an Android app that allows prepaid cell phone users to do postpaid-like usage tracking, has raised an undisclosed amount in Series A funding from Accel Partners. [Source: VCCircle, October 12, 2015]

Mini truck booking platform Quifers raises $300K from IAN, Smile Mumbai-based Vonken Technologies Pvt Ltd, which runs logistics tech venture Quifers, has raised $300,000 (Rs 2 crore) from Indian Angel Network (IAN) and consumer internet and media platform Smile Group. [Source: VCCircle, October 08, 2015]

Issue No. 81: OCT, 2015 Page 20 of 22

Digital marketer Mobikon raises fresh VC funding Digital marketing startup Mobikon Asia Pte Ltd has raised an undisclosed amount in fresh funding from Singapore-based venture capital firms Life.Sreda and Qualgro Pte Ltd. [Source: VCCircle, October 08, 2015]

Virtual homeopathy clinic Welcome Cure raises $6M Welcome Cure Pvt. Ltd, which runs an online healthcare platform providing consultation, diagnosis and treatment using homeopathy, has raised $6 million (Rs 39 crore) in its pre-Series A funding round [Source: VCCircle, October 07, 2015]

Ed-tech startup Schoolguru raises $3M from family offices Schoolguru Eduserve Pvt. Ltd, a provider of e-learning services to universities, said on Wednesday it has secured Rs 20 crore ($3 million) in a Series A round of funding from family offices of affluent individual investors based in India and the US. [Source: VCCircle, October 07, 2015]

DocPlexus gets $700K from Uniqorn and ASP Consulting DocPlexus, a social networking platform for doctors, has secured about $700,000 (Rs 4.6 crore) in seed funding from Uniqorn Ventures and Austria-based ASP Consulting. [Source: VCCircle, October 06, 2015]

Ashoka University raises $7.6M more from HNIs Ashoka University, a non-profit private university, has raised Rs 50 crore ($7.6 million) from a group of high net-worth individuals (HNIs), taking the total amount collected from its expanding list of 65 founders-cum-donors to Rs 425 crore to date [Source: VCCircle, October 06, 2015]

WorkIndia raises $500K from Satyen Kothari and others Mumbai-based Eloquent Info Solutions Pvt Ltd, which runs job portal for blue-collar workers WorkIndia, has raised $500,000 (Rs 3.25 crore) in a pre-Series A funding round led by Citrus Pay founder Satyen Kothari. [Source: VCCircle, October 06, 2015]

Yuvi-backed YouWeCan invests in SportyBeans Cricketer Yuvraj Singh-backed early stage investment firm YouWeCan Ventures has invested in Luminosa Education Pvt Ltd, a firm that runs multi-sport programmes for pre- and early-school children under the SportyBeans banner. [Source: VCCircle, October 06, 2015]

Rock N Shop raises $150K for premium shopping play Rock N Shop, an online marketplace for luxury products, has raised $150,000 (Rs 1 crore) in seed funding from a bunch of unnamed high networth investors. [Source: VCCircle, October 05, 2015]

Fast food chain Burger Singh raises $500k

Issue No. 81: OCT, 2015 Page 21 of 22

Tipping Mr Pink Pvt Ltd, the Gurgaon-based company that runs fast food chain Burger Singh, has raised Rs 3.2 crore ($500,000) in a bridge round of funding from a group of angle investors. [Source: VCCircle, October 05, 2015]

IndiaLends gets $1M more from DSG Consumer Partners, others IndiaLends, an online marketplace that connects lenders and borrowers for unsecured loans, has raised $1 million in a bridge investment round led by existing investors DSG Consumer Partners, Siddharth Parekh and Gautham Radhakrishnan. [Source: VCCircle, October 05, 2015]

Money transfer app Chillr gets $6M from Sequoia Chillr, a person-to-person money transfer and recharge app, has raised nearly Rs 40 crore ($6 million) in Series A funding from venture capital firm Sequoia Capital and other investors. [Source: VCCircle, October 05, 2015]

Home services aggregator EasyFix raises funds from Axilor Gurgaon-based Easyfix Handy Solutions Pvt Ltd, which operates an online aggregation platform for home maintenance and repair services under EasyFix, has raised an undisclosed amount in its first round of institutional funding from Axilor Venture Capital, a seed stage investment and incubator set up by Infosys co-founders SD Shibulal and Kris Gopalakrishnan. [Source: VCCircle, October 01, 2015]

Issue No. 81: OCT, 2015 Page 22 of 22

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