The Venture Intelligence Blog

Hurdles facing the US biotech industry could benefit Indian cos.

"For all the enthusiasm that beats through the veins of the biotech industry, it remains a risky business, prone to delay, disappointment and outright failure," says a recent article in Mercury News. "In its quarter-century history, biotech has produced just 175 marketed biotech drugs. Only 70 of the 1,400 biotech companies have drugs on the market, despite spending $200 billion on research and development," it adds.

The Mercury News article profiles the travails of a Texas, USA-based biotech firm Tanox which has taken 16 years and spent (along with its partners Genentech and Novartis) hundreds of millions of dollars in developing an anti-asthma drug Xolair. And its success is still uncertain.

In order to cut costs, some US bio-tech firms are now looking to outsource their research and clinical trial processes to India. "I am here not to just talk about ideas, but also I am looking for outsourcing opportunities for my company," Vipin Garg, CEO of North Carolina, USA-based Tranzyme Pharma told Economic Times during a recent biotech conference held in Hyderabad.

Ace venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, during his latest trip to India, recommended that India can benefit significantly by having a liberal policy towards its bio-tech industry. He pointed out the area of stem cell research, which has been facing opposition from religious leaders in the US, as an especially ripe area for Indian bio-tech companies.

Avendus tops League Table for Transaction Advisors to PE deals in H1'24

Citi and Ambit claim the No.2&3 slots Avendus topped the Venture Intelligence League Table for Transaction Advisor to Private Equity Transactions in H1’2024 advising 12 deals worth $2.4 Billion. Citi stood second, having advised 1 deal worth $2 Billion. Ambit followed with 7 deals worth $797 million. Kotak Mahindra Capital ($735 million across 2 deals) and Ernst & Young ($657 million across 7 deals) completed the top five for H1’ 2024. The Venture Intelligence League Tables , the first such initiative exclusively tracking transactions involving India-based companies, are based on the value of PE and M&A transactions advised by Financial and Legal Advisory firms. Among the larger deals in the latest quarter, Citi, KPMG , Ernst & Young advised $2 Billion acquisition of the Indian business of American Tower Corporation by Brookfield . Avendus, Ernst & Young, JM Financial, Barclays and KPMG advised $ 554 million acquisition of Shriram Housing Finance by Warb...

Citi tops League Table for Transaction Advisors to M&A deals in H1'24

Ernst & Young and Avendus claim the No.2 & No.3 slots Citi , which advised the $2 Billion acquisition of the Indian business of American Tower Corporation by Brookfield, topped the Venture Intelligence League Table for Transaction Advisors to M&A Deals during H1 2024. Ernst & Young stood second advising 8 deals worth $1.5 billion. Avendus followed with 7 deals worth $1.2 billion. KPMG ($1.1 billion across 5 deals) and JM Financial ($900 million across 4 deals) completed the top five. The Venture Intelligence League Tables , the first such initiative exclusively tracking transactions involving India-based companies, are based on the value of PE and M&A transactions advised by Financial and Legal Advisory firms. Among the other larger M&A deals in H1 2024 (other than the ATC-Brookfield deal) , Ernst & Young, KPMG and Deloitte advised $1.1 Billion acquisition in PNC Infratech 12 Road Projects by Highways Infrastructure Tr...

AZB tops League Table for Legal Advisors to PE deals in H1’24

Trilegal and Khaitan & Co. claim the No.2 & No.3 slots AZB & Partners (AZB) topped the Venture Intelligence League Table for Legal Advisor to Private Equity Transactions in H1 2024 advising 41 deals worth $5.4 Billion. It was followed by Trilegal ($5.1 Billion across 54 deals) and Khaitan & Co. (4.8 Billion across 46 deals) in the second and third spot respectively. Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM) ($2.9 Billion across 34 deals) and Talwar Thakore & Associates ($2.4 Billion across 9 deals) completed the top five. Among the larger Private Equity deals during H1’2024, Khaitan & Co., Talwar Thakore & Associates, S&R Associates ,and Trilegal a dvised the $2 Billion acquisition of the Indian business of American Tower Corporation by Brookfield which was the largest PE-VC investment in 2024 . AZB advised the $900 Million acquisition of Altimetrik by TPG Capital and the $840 Million acquisition of Healthium Medtech by KKR . Resolut Partners , Khaitan & ...

AZB & Partners tops League Table for Legal Advisors to M&A deals in H1’24

Khaitan & Co. and J Sagar Associates claim the No.2 & No.3 slots AZB & Partners topped the Venture Intelligence League Table for Legal Advisor to M&A Transactions during H1 2024 advising 37 deals worth $14.8 Billion. It was followed by Khaitan & Co. ($12.8 Billion across 32 deals) and J Sagar Associates (JSA) ($9.8 Billion across 13 deals). Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM) ($6.2 Billion across 38 deals) and Trilegal ($4.8 Billion across 20 deals) completed the top five. Among the largest M&A deals during H1 2024, AZB, JSA and Khaitan & Co. advised $8.5 Billion acquisition of Disney Hotstar by Reliance Jio . S&R Associates , Talwar Thakore & Associates (TTA), Khaitan & Co. and Trilegal advised the $2 Billion buyout deal of ATC India by Canadian infrastructure investor Brookfield Asset Management . CAM advised the $1.3 Billion in the acquisition of a further stake in Ambuja Cement by Adani Enterprises . Among fo...

VC Interview: Shailendra Singh of Sequoia Capital India

In a recent interview to Venture Intelligence, Shailendra Singh discussed some of the firm’s newer investments in the early stage segment including in the online payments space, the progress at a few existing portfolio companies and the active role the firm is playing in helping its portfolio companies scale and succeed in India and globally. Prior to joining the firm in 2006, Singh was a strategy consultant at Bain & Company in New York and before that, an entrepreneur in the digital media industry. Venture Intelligence: How does Sequoia go about identifying potential early stage investments in India? Is there anything different you are doing today than, say, a couple of years back? Shailendra Singh: There is a lot more focus on technology investing and early stage investing. In general, as you might remember a few years ago, we were doing primarily growth investing but in the past 18-odd months, we have had a very strong focus on early stage and that’s continuing. In terms...