Warburg Pincus to invest Rs 276 crore in Laqshya

24th June 2008, Mumbai : Global private equity firm Warburg Pincus has bought close to 15% in Mumbai-headquartered Laqshya Media,a leading outdoor advertising company, for Rs 276 crore. They will be investing the money in Laqshya over the next one year.

Laqshya Media intends to continue investing in developing world-class media assets in premier cities and infrastructure projects like airports,bus shelters and transit systems.The company has a strong presence in India, Sri Lanka and the UAE and plan to expand their footprint across Africa, South-East Asia and the Middle East. Laqshya Media were advised by the investment bank Avendus Partners. The other contenders in the running were Goldman Sachs,Credit Suisse First Boston, Morgan Stanley and KBC.

The outdoor advertising industry is in a consolidating phase and as the quality of products reaches global standards, India is witnessing fast and transformative growth.The emergence of organised retail, malls, new airports, roads and highways have created a growing need for billboards, mobile vans and bus shelters at the outdoor level.This has attracted several venture capital funds and private equities and outdoor media companies are attracting foreign and Indian funds. Goldman Sachs picked up 16.5% in Times Innovative Media and Mumbai-based OOH media is being backed by 3i. These are included in at least half a dozen small and mid-size deals in this space in the market.

Laqshya Media is a full service out-of-home media firm who own advertisement assets ranging from digital signage networks, transit media concessions, street furniture along with conventional billboards and unipoles. UTI Venture had invested $10 million in 2006. It also has a Dubai subsidiary, Right Angle Media, for which it raised $35 million last year from Saudi-based Amwal Al Khaleez.