Diageo Plc's United Spirits Ltd. is holding talks to sell the Whyte & Mackay spirits business to Alliance Global Group Inc, the Philippines-based ow-ner of Emperador brandy, people familiar with the process said. The transaction may value the whisky maker at about 400 million pounds ($675 million), according to the people, who asked not to be identified because discussions are private. Talks are advanced, though they could still fall apart over matters including valuation, the people said. Diageo owns about 29 per cent of United Spirits, which combined with voting and other governance arrangements with former owner Vijay Mallya was enough for control. (Bloomberg)
Stake sale in insurance arm likely this fiscal, says chief executive of Reliance Capital: Diversified financial services major Reliance Capital will this fiscal look to offload a part of its holding in its general insurance arm Reliance General Insurance (RGI). Currently, RGI is wholly-owned by Reliance Capital. Ghosh indicated that the process for any stake sale in RGI may gather pace only after the general elections gets over this month. Reliance Capital was looking at a stake sale in RGI even in 2013-14, but this transaction did not materialize. (Business Line)
Indiabulls Housing Finance to raise Rs 4,500 crore via bond issues in 2014-15: Mortgage lender Indiabulls Housing Finance (IBHF) is aiming to raise Rs 4,500 crore ($749 million) through bond issues in 2014-15, a top company official has said. "We will raise Rs 4,500 crore in this fiscal through bond issues and on a net basis, excluding repayment of earlier bond issues, the same will be Rs 3,500 crore," the company's Managing Director and chief executive Gagan Banga said. In 2013-14, it raised Rs 10,525 crore ($1.75 billion) through the bond issuance route, which contributed to 26% of the incremental borrowing done by the company. ()
EESL in talks for $100 million ADB fund to boost energy conservation: Power PSUs promoted Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) is negotiating with the Asian Development Bank for a $100 million (Rs 599 crore) long-term loan to boost implementation of energy conservation projects. "We are in early stage of talks with ADB for a line of credit of USD 100 million. We received development funds for clean and conservation of energy from other development agencies like KfW of Germany and AfD (French Agency for Development)," EESL Managing Director Saurabh Kumar told. KfW had given 50 million euros and an agreement has been signed for another 50 million for AfD. ()
Infosys may eye acquisitions in Nordic countries, says president BG Srinivas: Infosys president BG Srinivas is highlighting growth and opportunities in Europe, a region he used to head, while the company searches within and outside for its first nonfounder chief executive. Srinivas, who was made one of the two presidents of Infosys in January with responsibility for most client-facing functions, was especially bullish about Nordic countries where he said the company may look at acquisition targets. And in Europe as a whole the aim is to increase revenue contribution to 30% from 25% now. Srinivas, 53, said Infosys's next acquisition could be similar to Lodestone, the Zurich-based management consultancy firm it bought in 2012 for $350 million. ()
Kazakhstan offers oil field to ONGC Videsh: Nearly a year after it blocked India’s $5 billion deal to take stake in Kashagan oilfield, Kazakhstan has offered ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) a stake in medium-sized Abai oil block in Caspian Sea. The block Abai, which was previously being operated by Statoil of Norway, is adjacent to OVL’s Satpayev exploration block. Kazakhstan made the offer at the meeting of the joint working group in Astana late last month, official sources said. OVL, the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd (ONGC), has been offered 25% interest in the Abai block, which according to Kazakhstan government estimates has 2.8 billion barrels of oil reserves. However, the Indian firm believes reserves may not that high and will study data before accepting the offer. (Live Mint)
Samsung Life set to buy 26% in ING Insurance: Exide Industries, which fully-owns ING Life Insurance, is in advanced stages of negotiations to sell 26% of its stake to Korean insurer Samsung Life. Sources close to the development said Exide had been scouting for a potential buyer for quite some time, adding Samsung Life was one of the companies with which its talks had progressed. The deal was likely to be announced as early as next week, the sources indicated. The South Korean insurer had already firmed up plans to enter India and had also set up a representative office in the country. (Business Standard)
IFCI may rope in strategic investor for factoring arm: IFCI Limited, the government-owned finance company, plans to rope in a strategic investor for its factoring subsidiary, IFCI Factors Limited, to give the latter a new lease of life. Top executive of IFCI said the non-banking finance company would look at giving 26-27% stake in the subsidiary to the prospective investor. These were initial thoughts and there was no specific deadline set for a decision, he said. At one point, IFCI Factors was contemplating public offering to issue shares to public. In July 2011, it had also filed draft prospectus with Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), the capital market regulator, for an initial share sale, which could garner between Rs 750-1,000 crore. Enam Securities was manager for the offer then. However, plans did not move ahead. (Business Standard)
Courtesy: VCCEdge
