First Day of Dealings

RNS Number:4636V
Promethean India PLC
25 April 2007

Embargoed for 8 am

25 April 2007



                         Promethean India PLC Announces

  First Day of Dealing on AIM following successful fundraising of #50 million

Promethean India PLC ("Promethean India" or "the Company"), an investment
company that focuses on businesses that are established or operating in India,
today announces the flotation of its Ordinary Shares and Warrants on the
Alternative Investment Market ("AIM"), under the ticker symbol PTHI for the
Ordinary Shares and PTHW for the Warrants.



The Company has raised #50 million (gross of expenses) via a Placing of new
Ordinary Shares and Warrants. The Company and its subsidiaries (the "Group")
will be advised by Promethean Investments LLP (the "Investment Manager") and by
an Indian resident investment adviser (the "Investment Adviser"). This is the
second AIM listed company whose investments are managed by the Investment
Manager, the first being Promethean Plc, who has to date made a number of
successful acquisitions. Members of the Burman family, the Indian family that
controls Dabur India Limited, will be closely involved in managing and advising
on the Group's investments. Sir Peter Burt, who is also chairman of the Company,
and Gaurav Burman are founder members and principles of the Investment Manager.
Gaurav's brother, Mohit Burman, is heading up the Investment Advisor.



Fundraising Statistics



Placing Price                                                      #1.00

Number of new Ordinary Shares in issue following the Placing  50,000,000

Number of Warrants in issue following the Placing             11,500,000

Gross proceeds of the Placing                                #50,000,000

Net proceeds of the Placing after expenses                   #48,250,000



About Promethean India



Promethean India is a recently established public limited company, incorporated
in the Isle of Man. The Company intends to generate returns for its Shareholders
by investing through the Group in businesses that are established or operating
in India, through the utilisation of the knowledge and skills of a highly
connected and credible advisory team with a track record of successful
investments in India.



Investment Rationale



India has one of the fastest growing GDPs in the world, with growing stock and
capital markets. The Investment Adviser will be headed up by Mohit Burman, who
is a member of the family that controls Dabur India Limited, the fourth largest
fast moving consumer goods company in India, and Dabur Pharma Limited, which is
the largest oncology focused pharmaceutical company in India. Both are listed on
the Bombay Stock Exchange and have a combined market capitalisation of
approximately US$1.9 billion. The members of the executive team of the
Investment Advisor have been responsible for a number of joint ventures in India
with various blue chip institutions such as Fidelity, Aviva and ABN Amro. It is
anticipated that the Investment Manager's experience in identifying,
structuring, executing and managing investment opportunities, combined with the
access to an extensive network of Indian businesses provided by Mohit Burman and
his team, will fuel a high-quality deal-flow, giving the Group a significant
competitive advantage in investing in businesses in the high-growth Indian
market.

Investment Strategy



The Group will be a value and growth orientated investor, targeting
opportunities in the areas below where there is a clear ability for the team to
add value by various methods, including by virtue of its network, operating
knowledge, ability to secure local licenses, and find high quality management
where required.

                        Domestic growth - the Investment Adviser believes that
there is a significant opportunity to invest in companies which are in a
position to take advantage of the high-growth Indian domestic market. These
investments would be across a broad range of sectors, including, for example,
financial services.



                        International expansion - the Investment Adviser
believes that there are many Indian businesses which are currently domestically
focused but which could become successful international businesses through the
competitive advantages that result from factors such as the lower labour and
production costs in India. These investments would be across a broad range of
sectors.



                        Restructuring - the Investment Adviser believes that
there are many Indian businesses which provide excellent opportunities for value
creation through operational, corporate or financial restructuring.



Investment Policy



The Group may invest in both private and public businesses and across the small,
mid and large-cap range of companies. The Group's investments will be non
sector-specific but its exposure to any one sector will be carefully managed.
Investments will be by way of cash, with shares in the Company not being used as
consideration for any acquisitions.



The Group will combine the knowledge of the local Investment Adviser with the
investment and structuring skills of the Investment Manager and will look to
ensure the factors listed below are considered before making an investment.

                        Management - the intention is to invest only in
opportunities where there is a high quality, well proven management team in
place or where a management team has been identified that will drive the
investee company going forward and deliver the levels of performance required.



                        Valuation - the Investment Manager and Investment
Adviser will look to find opportunities where it is expected that IRRs are
likely to be at least 25 per cent. per annum. The Investment Manager and
Investment Adviser will identify and evaluate opportunities through the network
and credibility of the local team, generating unique and proprietary
transactions much like the ones the team has executed over the last decade. Full
financial analysis will be done prior to any investment, using professional
advisers where it is necessary.



                        Operations - there will be a disciplined approach to the
due diligence. Extensive research will be done in order to ensure that the
operations of the business are acceptable, with an acceptable risk profile, and
if there are any issues that these can be addressed post investment.



                        Exit options - the achievability of an exit will be a
critical factor, and all exit options will be considered including a trade sale
to both domestic and international businesses, or a flotation in India, the US,
or the UK.



The Investment Manager will actively manage a concentrated portfolio of
investments. The Investment Manager believes that it is better to manage
investments in an active manner. This approach is likely to result in a
concentrated portfolio. The Investment Manager believes that such an approach
has the potential to improve returns and reduce risk.

As a result, it is envisaged that all equity investments would be between #5
million and #35 million, which is expected to give a portfolio of 6 - 10
individual investments being managed at any given time. The Group intends
generally to take stakes of a minimum of 5 per cent. in each portfolio company.
It may use leverage in individual investments and it is intended that no more
than 25 per cent. of the net assets of the Group will be invested in a single
transaction.

The Investment Manager intends to invest at least half the funds raised within
the first 12 months. The Group intends to be fully invested within the first 24
months, although there is no fixed period within which the Group is required to
make an investment or return funds to shareholders. The Investment Manager
believes that in a high growth economy like India it is possible to retain a
stake in a business for, and realise value in, the long-term. Although the Group
will be focused on getting its initial investment returned to it within 36
months of the date of investment, the Investment Manager believes that if a
business is performing well and continuing to create sufficient value then it
may be appropriate to hold an investment in that business for more than 36
months.

The Company's target internal rate of return across the portfolio will be a
minimum of 25 per cent. per annum. (This is a target, not an estimate or a
forecast, and there can be no assurance that it will be achieved.)

Management



The Board of Directors of the Company (the "Board"), the Investment Manager and
the local Investment Advisor have between them considerable experience in
private equity, venture capital, portfolio management, corporate transactions
and structuring and fund analysis. This experience was typically obtained whilst
working for leading US, UK and Indian financial institutions. The Board believes
that this experience, in combination with the access to established business
networks provided by the Investment Adviser in India, will provide the Company
with sufficient investment opportunities to allow it to execute its investment
strategy.



The Board has overall responsibility for the Company's activities. The Board is
responsible, inter alia, for monitoring the performance of and for appointing,
supervising, directing, and, if necessary, replacing the Company's service
providers.

Investment Manager



The Investment Manager, which is required to provide discretionary investment
management services to the Group, will manage the Group's investments, assisted
by advice from the Investment Adviser. The members of the Investment Manager
include Promethean plc, Sir Peter Burt and Gaurav Burman.



Investment Adviser

The Investment Adviser will provide non-binding investment advice to assist the
Investment Manager in identifying, structuring, executing, monitoring, managing
and exiting from investments.

The Investment Adviser, which is headed up by Mohit Burman, is required to
provide investment advice to the Group and to the Investment Manager.

Investment by the Burman Family



The Burman family has agreed to invest alongside the Group through a
co-investment arrangement with the Group. The initial commitment of the Burman
Family is an amount in Rupees equivalent to #7.5 million at admission.



Further enquiries:

Promethean India PLC
Michael Burt                            [phone]
Gaurav Burman                           [phone]

Insinger de Beaufort
Nandita Sahgal/Peter Ward               020 7190 7000




No offer or invitation to purchase or subscribe for shares of the Company is
being made at this time. Any such offer will be made in or by reference to the
AIM admission document published by the Company and any acquisition of ordinary
shares of the Company should be made only on the basis of the information
contained in the AIM admission document. The price and value of, and income
from, shares may go down as well as up. Persons needing advice should consult an
independent financial adviser.

The contents of this announcement have been prepared and issued by the Company
and have been approved by Insinger de Beaufort solely for the purposes of
section 21(2)(b) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.

The distribution of this announcement outside the United Kingdom may be
restricted by law. No action has been taken to permit its distribution, other
than in the United Kingdom. Persons into whose possession this announcement
comes are required to inform themselves about, and to observe, any such
restrictions. In particular, this announcement is not for publication,
distribution or release, in whole or in part, in or into the United States of
America, Australia, Canada or Japan, or their respective territories or
possessions.

Any person in the EEA who acquires any shares of the Company in any offer or to
whom any offer is made will be deemed to have represented and agreed that it is
a qualified investor within the meeting of Article 2(1) (e) of the Prospectus
Directive (Directive 2003/71/EC).

This document does not constitute an offer to buy or to subscribe for, or the
solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for, ordinary shares of Promethean
India in any jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation is unlawful.

The shares have not been and will not be registered under the United States
Securities Act of 1933 (the "Securities Act"), or under the securities
legislation of any state of the United States of America, nor under the relevant
securities laws of Canada, Australia and Japan, and may not be offered or sold
in the United States of America, Canada, Australia or Japan except pursuant to
an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration
requirements of the Securities Act and in compliance with any applicable state
securities laws. Neither the United States Securities and Exchange Commission
nor any state securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved
or disapproved of these securities or determined if this announcement is
truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offence.
There will be no offering of shares in or into United States of America, Canada,
Australia or Japan or in any country, territory or possession where to do so may
contravene local securities laws or regulations. This announcement (or any part
of it) is not to be reproduced, distributed, passed on, or the contents
otherwise divulged, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States of
America, Canada, Australia or Japan or in any country, territory or possession
where to do so may contravene local securities laws or regulations.

Certain statements contained in this announcement are, or may be deemed to be,
'forward-looking statements'. In some cases, these forward-looking statements
can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms
'believes', 'estimates', 'anticipates', 'expects', 'intends', 'may', 'will' or
'should'. By their nature, forward looking statements involve risks and
uncertainties and may be based on a number of assumptions and readers are
cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future
performance. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the
forward-looking events described in this announcement may not occur and the
Company's actual results and performance may differ materially from the
impression created by the forward-looking statements. Due to such risks,
uncertainties and assumptions, readers should not rely on such forward-looking
statements, which speak only as at the date of this announcement. The Company
expressly disclaims any obligations or undertaking to publicly update or revise
these forward-looking statements after the date of this announcement, except as
required by applicable law or regulation. No statement in this announcement is
intended to be a profit forecast or to be relied upon as a guide to future
performance.




                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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