Mumbai, February 6:

India Value Fund Advisors (IVFA) has teamed up with Hicare founder A Mahendran to acquire a pest control company from Danish multinational ISS Global. The deal is worth 200 crore.

ISS Hicare is currently India's second largest pest control services provider, according to IVFA. It operates across 27 cities and serves more than 100,000 residential customers and 10,000 commercial customers.

The Indian pest control industry is estimated at $166 million (around 1,038 crore) in size and growing at around 15 per cent annually, driven by the countrys large and growing urban population, rising income levels and improving awareness of health and safety issues.

The market has historically been serviced either by do-it-yourself products, such as insecticide sprays, or the unorganised local players. With only two national players, Pest Control of India and Hicare in the market, two multinationals Rentokil and SIS-Terminix are also present.

Hicare was founded by Godrej Industries and Mahendran Holdings in 2004, where Mahendran was a co-promoter along with Godrej Industries, to provide pest control services. Mahendran built up the business when he was a managing director at Godrej. The company was later acquired by Danish multinational ISS Global in 2009.

IVFA, that manages over $1.2 billion in assets, has joined hands with Mahendran through GoodLife Products Ltd, a group company of Mahendran Holdings Ltd.

Vikram Nirula and Haresh Chawla from IVFA have joined as directors on the board of the company and Mahendran will be Chairman. The private equity firm will support the expansion of Hicares branch network and the introduction of new services and products.

(This article was published on February 6, 2014)

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IVFA to acquire pest control firm

New Zealand's leading pest control agency says bed bug attacks in Auckland are rising rapidly.

But as two holidaymakers in Rotorua discovered, the problem could also be spreading further out from the Super City.

"[I] went to lay on the bed and found something crawling around on the pillow," says David Smith. "[It] turned out when we popped this bug blood came out onto the pillow."

Mr Smith and friend Anthony Craig were taking a break in the North Island tourist hub, where they stayed at the Silver Oaks Geyserlands Hotel in Rotorua.

"More bugs appeared on the walls, coming up from the bed board, blankets, and throughout the night they were appearing on the ceiling and the walls and in the carpet as well," says Mr Smith.

Rentokil, the country's largest pest control agency, has seen a 63 percent increase in bud beg callouts in Auckland over spring and summer compared to last year. That has been increasing since 2000.

Bug eradicator Jon Thompson says it's partially because the insecticide DDT was banned in the late 1980s.

"With the arrival of cheap air travel and people moving around the world a lot more, backpackers, that has certainly contributed to it as well," he says.

Bed bugs are a tough species - eggs are immune to many chemicals and larvae can survive up to a year without food.

Heat chambers are the only effective way to kill bed bugs at every stage of the life cycle. Large heaters on the wall will bring the heat in a room up to about 60degC, and large fans will keep that temperature there for about an hour. It's not cheap, and the parasites are winning the battle.

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Bed bug attacks on the rise

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Burglars strike twice in one day in Southampton

11:05pm Thursday 6th February 2014 in News By Maxwell Kusi-Obodum, Senior reporter

POLICE believe two burglaries within half a mile of each other in Southampton could be linked.

Intruders plundered an engagement ring and 105 cash after breaking into a home in Pentire Way, Shirley.

They removed part of a back garden fence panel to gain access before forcing open patio doors with a blunt tool.

They conducted an untidy search in upstairs bedrooms before damaging another fence panel in a neighbouring garden on the way out.

Intruders also used a tool to force open the rear door of a home in Wilton Crescent the same day, but left empty-handed after an untidy search.

Both break-ins happened on Tuesday, January 28 the first between 4.30 and 6pm and the second between 8am and 10.30pm.

Witnesses should contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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Burglars strike twice in one day in Southampton

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THINKSTOCK

(CNN) Laura Kassem had tripped before. But this time, she fell hard. She couldnt seem to control her body as she went down, even to protect her face from hitting the concrete sidewalk.

It happened again the next day as she stepped off an escalator. Then again in the parking garage on Monday when she went to work.

I had no idea what was going on, the 33-year-old remembers. I had no idea why I would just drop all of a sudden.

The third time, she went to the emergency room, where a neurologist ordered an MRI and a cardiologist performed a tilt test normally done on patients who faint because of a sudden drop in blood pressure.

The tests revealed nothing. Doctors sent Kassem home with instructions to drink more water.

Kassem continued to trip over nothing. So she went to the Cleveland Clinic, where she says her symptoms baffled doctors in the rheumatology, cardiology and neurology departments.

Back home in Sylvania, Ohio, a suburb of Toledo, Kassem made an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon to address the extreme pain in her hips and lower back. He sent her to a neurosurgeon, who in turn sent her to see a neurologist who specialized in neuromuscular disorders.

Meanwhile, Kassem tried to avoid open spaces. She hugged walls so that if her body froze up, she wouldnt fall flat on her face. She already had a few loose teeth, and her nose was a mix of blue and purple.

One night, Kassem and her sister were watching 20/20 when the woman being interviewed began describing Kassems symptoms. The woman had been diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome, or SPS, a rare neurological disorder characterized by painful muscle spasms and progressive stiffness in the lower back and limbs.

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Living with Stiff Person Syndrome: Im a statue for your lawn

A construction worker steps over a puddle in a lot being prepared to be turned into a grassy lawn next to a newly built hotel across from the Olympic Park at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. It's not a great time to be a journalist in Sochi. Hotels are a mess with broken furniture, stray dogs and construction workers. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

David Goldman, Associated Press

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Its not a great time to be a journalist in Sochi, Russia, for the 2014 Olympic Games.

Its frigid. Hotels are a mess with broken furniture, stray dogs and construction workers. Theres no hot water.

But journalists arent staying quiet about it. Recently, reporters covering the Olympics and in town for the Winter Games posted some of their tales on Twitter, tweeting out their misery, confusion and displeasure with how Sochis Olympics have been handled, The Washington Post reported.

Various journalists tweeted about the lack of Internet, water main breaks and a bathroom that asked the rooms guest not to flush the toilet, The Post reported.

Amid continued debate over whether or not Sochi is prepared to host the 2014 Olympics, which begins Thursday, reporters from around the world are starting to check into local hotels to their apparent grief," The Post said.

A New York Times reporter chronicled his journey in Sochi, saying that Sochis buildings are numbered and without names. Theres a lot of construction, and stray dogs are strolling through the streets, he wrote.

So far, the inconveniences have mostly affected the news media, perhaps the least sympathetic of the participants here. But the parents of athletes are on the way, and there is some trepidation among Olympic officials that outrage will flow if these people receive the no-hot-water treatment. Or if their hotel rooms are not ready.

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Stray dogs, broken curtains and no hot water: Journalists speak out about Sochi conditions

A vehicle driven by Gary Swann, no age listed, of 134 N. Lincoln St. was traveling west on East Broad Street when it crossed North Railroad Street and struck a tree at 1:08 p.m. Monday, police said.

Swawn and a passenger, Thomas Martinez, no age listed, same address, were transported by Life Lion EMS to the Hershey Medical Center, where Swann was listed in fair condition Tuesday, and Martinez was released after treatment, a hospital spokeswoman said. The vehicle was towed.

Automatic alarm >> Palmyra Citizens and Campelltown fire companies were dispatched at 6:43 p.m. Tuesday to Palmyra Nursing Home, 341 N. Railroad St.

WIRE DOWN >> Citizens Fire Co. was dispatched to 100 N. Chestnut St. at 5:27 a.m. Wednesday.

TREE DOWN >> Citizens Fire Co. was dispatched to 159 N. College St. at 10:01 a.m. Wednesday.

TREE DOWN >> Citizens Fire Co. was dispatched to 605 N. Lincoln St. at 10:29 a.m. Wednesday.

poles, wires damaged >> Prescott Community Fire Co. was dispatched at 5:44 p.m. Tuesday to Prescott Road and East Cumberland Street.

WIRE DOWN >> Avon Citizens Fire Co. was dispatched to 2020 Leinbaugh Ave. at 7:02 a.m. Wednesday.

WIRE DOWN >> Hebron Fire Co. was dispatched to 12 Folmer St. at 7:39 a.m. Wednesday.

TREE DOWN >> Campbelltown Fire Co. was dispatched to 2108 Brandt Road at 7:44 a.m. Wednesday.

Link:
Police blotter, 2/6