facebook-page-view
Advertisement

News Round Up: Foreign VC May See Auto Route, Goldman To Cut 10% Jobs

By Nimesh Sharma

  • 24 Oct 2008

 

Advertisement

Venture Capital / Private Equity

Foreign VC Entry May See Auto Route: The government is mulling over easing of investment norms private equity funds. One of the key proposals being considered is to put the registration of foreign venture capital (FVC) funds under the automatic approval route. Lack of clarity in rules has led to 81 applications from FVC firms having piled up with RBI for approval under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). The process now involves approval of SEBI and RBI in that order to clear the FVCI application.

LinkedIn, AdMob Raise Funds: LinkedIn, the business networking website has raised an additional $22.7 mn to provide stability to its growing online business network amidst the economic storm and provide more financial flexibility. The investment was made by return backer Bessemer Venture Partners, and three newcomers - SAP Ventures, Goldman Sachs Group. and McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. This investment is a follow-on to the $53 mn series-D round it had raised at a valuation of $1 bn earlier this year.

Advertisement

AdMob, the California-based mobile ad network, which garners huge traffic volume from India,$15.7 million in third round funding from Sequoia Capital and previous investor Accel Partners. AdMob has now raised a total of $34.7 million in three rounds in about two years.

 

Policy

Advertisement

RBI To Ease NBFC Investment Norms: RBI is mulling over options to make cheaper finance available to the non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) including a separate line of credit for bank finance backed by government securities or AAA-rated commercial paper (CP). It is also reviewing the various restrictions on placing bank funds with NBFCs and may relax prudential ceilings as commercial paper worth Rs 20,000 crore to Rs 25,000 crore are coming up for maturity.

 

M&As

Advertisement

Gail Eyes 19% Stake In ONGC's Dahej Plant: GAIL India, the transporter and marketer of natural gas, is planning to buy a stake of up to 19% stake in Oil and Natural Gas Corporation’s (ONGC) petrochemical project located in Dahej in Gujarat.

3 PSUs To Join Hands To Export Nuclear Reactors: Nuclear Power Corporation is joining hands with BHEL and NTPC to set up a company by the end of this year that will pursue export opportunities for nuclear expertise that India has indigenously developed in three decades. The move comes as India is now free to engage in nuclear energy commerce. A number of countries with small electricity grids were now open to India setting up nuclear power reactors that generate 220 MW of electricity. Nuclear Power Corporation will also form another JV with NTPC to set up nuclear plants within the country with the larger, 1,000-1,600 MW imported reactors.

Sterlite To Pay $50 Mn Fee For Canceling Asarco Bid: Asarco has asked for a $50 mn break-up fee after the decision taken by Sterlite Industries (India) to cancel its $2.6 bn purchase of Asarco. Arizona based Asarco, will draw the entire amount of a $50 mn letter of credit that Sterlite was required to post when it signed a contract to buy Asarco out of bankruptcy. Sterlite had told Asarco to cut the purchase price by hundreds of millions of dollars, after which the bid had to be dropped.

Advertisement

 

Others

Goldman To Cut 10% Of Jobs: Goldman Sachs Group is planning to cut about 3,260 jobs. That represents about 10 percent of the total workforce of the New York-based bank. The job cuts are expected throughout the company. Goldman Sachs had recently converted to a bank-holding company.

TVS Motor Trims Spend On Expansion Plans: TVS Motors, the two-wheeler maker, has trimmed its investment plans owing to slowing demand and tighter retail financing. TVS was earlier planning to invest more than Rs.1 bn annually on expansion but will now invest about Rs. 750 mn per year for the next two years. It has plans to launch three variants of existing models and two brand new models in the next one year.

Phoenix Group To Invest Rs 500 Cr In Realty: Phoenix Group Global, owner and promoter of luxury resorts, is planning to invest over Rs 500 crore in various hotel, real estate and floriculture projects in the country. The proposed investment would be funded with debt and equity in the ratio of 7:3 respectively. It would launch hotel projects under its new brand Zuri Hotels and Resorts in various cities.

Share article on

Advertisement
Advertisement