Wayne Burt in talks to acquire power, chemical firms in India

Wayne Burt Capital, a deep value fund backed by US and European private equity funds, is in talks to acquire majority stake in thermal power and two chemical companies in India with an investment kitty of around $100-150 million, said a top company official.

The group will also expand the production capacity of Cetex Petrochemicals Ltd, where it owns majority stake and may look at exiting the company in couple of years time, Wayne Burt Group chairman T.G.S.Mahesh told reporters here Tuesday.

"We are looking to acquire two chemical companies - one based in south and another in west - and a 160 MW thermal power company in Tamil Nadu. We plan to invest around $100-150 million for acquisitions in India," he said.

Not disclosing the name of the power company in Tamil Nadu that the group is looking at, he said: "It is a standalone power project which got stuck. We have held talks with the promoters and others. The power purchase agreement (PPA) and the fuel supply agreements are in place for the project."

He said the two target chemical companies have a turnover of around Rs.1,000 crore.