Tata-Quippo To Rope In PE Cos To Fund Aircel’s Tower Buy - Tata-Quippo is likely to rope in two private equity players to finance in the acquisition of Aircel’s tower assets. The deal will have a ticket size of $1.2 to $1.5 billion (approximately Rs 5,572 crore to Rs 6,965 crore) with $700 million to $1.2 billion coming from the PE players. New York-based private equity fund Apollo Management may be one of the two private equity partners. The other one will be chosen from General Atlantic and Carlyle. The PE players could hold close to a third of the merged entity of Aircel and Tata-Quippo. (Business Standard)
Govt Allows Analjit Singh, Asim Ghosh To Sell Vodafone Stake - The Centre has allowed Max group chairman Analjit Singh and former Vodafone-Essar CEO Asim Ghosh to part-sell their respective stakes in Vodafone-Essar Ltd to Vodafone plc. Singh stands to make Rs 533 crore and Ghosh Rs 329 crore from their divestment. The UK firm’s stake in the GSM mobile operator will rise from 6% to 58%. Ghosh holds a stake through investment firm AG Mercantile, while Singh holds a stake through the firm Scorpios Beverages. (Financial Express)
AI Capital Plans New PE Fund For Asian Investment - Alternative Investment Capital Ltd. plans to start a new fund to invest in Asian private equity next year. The AIC Japan III Fund will be the company’s third of private-equity funds with focus on Asia investments. The firm’s new fund plans to put money in about 15 to 20 funds gradually over about three years, and targets an internal rate of return of more than 20%.
KDCL To Become Global Textile-Chemical Giant - Ahmedabad-based Kiri Dyes and Chemicals (KDCL) plans to acquire the Germany-based DyStar Group. The deal size is estimated to be about 100-125 million (Rs 698-873 crore), including liabilities. The company has got in a consortium of State Bank of India, Bank of India, Exim Bank and Corporation Bank for evaluation of the deal and has given them the acquisition financing proposal. It plans to raise the balance amount required for acquisition through a mix of equity and funding through a special purpose vehicle. (Buiness Standard)
Arcil Shifts Focus To Retail - The Mumbai-based Asset Reconstruction Co. (India) Ltd, or Arcil has shifted its focus to the retail sector by building a home loan portfolio of Rs 2,000 crore in the past year through Arms, its distressed consumer loans division. The private sector ICICI Bank Ltd is the largest contributor to this portfolio with Rs 300 crore. The company has sold more than 50 flats so far and there is another 200 more coming up for sale by the end of the financial year. (LiveMint)
Taro Investor Reverses Stance, Backs Sun - Minority investor Templeton Asset Management switches sides to support Sun Pharma's legal battle to acquire Israel's Taro Pharmaceuticals. Templeton, which holds 10% in the company, had supported the promoters led by chairman Barrie Levitt over the last two-and-a-half-years since the stake sale agreement was signed.(Business Standard)
Bharati Revises Open Offer Price For Great Offshore - Bharati Shipyard has increased the open offer price for Great Offshore by 5.4% from Rs 560 to Rs 590 a share. The open offer for a 20% stake in the offshore drilling company will remain open from December 3 to December 22. Bharti plan to acquire over 7.8 million shares in Great Offshore. The company, which holds a 22.48% stake in Great Offshore, is locked in a battle with ABG Shipyard.(Business Standard)
DIPP Bats For Higher FDI cap In Broadcasting Sector - The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has proposed to increase the FDI cap to 74% from the current cap of 49% for direct-to-home (DTH) services, uplinking hubs, teleport services and FM radio. DIPP, however, has made no changes in the existing FDI cap of 49% for cable television networks and has also fixed a 74% FDI cap for satellite radio and Headend-in-the-Sky (HITS) sectors. (Business Standard)
Dainik Bhaskar publisher set to launch IPO - Bhaskar Group (DB Corp) will launch its IPO in the second week of December. The company will be looking to divest up to 1.81 crore shares out of which 1.27 crore shares would be a fresh issue, while the remaining would constitute an offer for sale by Cliffrose Investment Ltd, an affiliate of private equity firm Warburg Pincus. The offering constitutes 10% of the fully diluted post-issue capital of the company. Warburg Pincus holds a 7.14% stake in DB Corp, which was bought at an enterprise value of Rs 2,100 crore. (DNA)
Larsen's IT Unit Looking for Acquisition - L&T Infotech Ltd. plans an acquisition with a revenue range of $200 million to $500 million. The acquisition will help the company achieve its goals of $1 billion revenue and listing on stock exchanges by March 2012. The company currently clocks annual revenues of about $450 million. (Wall treet Journal)
Prism Acquires Nastek - Prism Informatics Ltd, a listed software development firm, has said that it acquired a 100% stake in Nastek Solutions Pvt. Ltd. The acquired company, which is based out of Mumbai, provides software consulting and onshore/offshore outsourcing. (BSE)
BSNL Puts Zain Acquisition On Hold - Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd has put on hold its plan to acquire a stake in Kuwaiti mobile telephone operator Zain. BSNL and state-run Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd have been considering partnering India's little-known Vavasi Group and Malaysian billionaire Syed Mokhtar al-Bukhary to acquire a 46% stake in Zain. The company took the decision as Vavasi did not respond to certain specific information sought by the Indian firm. (Reuters)
Bharti Airtel's Foreign Acquisitions On Hold - Bharti Airtel said that its overseas acquisition plans are still on hold. The statement comes after the company called off talks with South Africa's MTN for a planned tie-up due to the inability of the South African government to accept the deal in current form. (Reuters)
BSNL Plans Acquisitions In Africa - Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd is looking at smaller acquisition opportunities in Africa. The decision comes after the company’s plan to acquire a stake in Kuwaiti mobile telephone operator Zain was put on hold. (Reuters)
