Vodafone, Analjit May Buy Essar's Stake - Global telecom giant Vodafone, along with its ally Analjit Singh , may jointly buy Essar’s 33% stake in Vodafone Essar to comply with India’s foreign direct investment rules for the telecom sector. Vodafone, which holds about 60% in Vodafone Essar, has the option to buy Essar’s entire stake by May this year. However, rules allow the London-based company to hold up to 74% stake in its Indian venture and requires a domestic partner to hold the remaining stake. (Economic Times)
Equanum Capital To Launch India Hedge Fund - Equanum Capital Management, a U.S.- based equity hedge fund focusing on Asia outside Japan, plans to move its operations to Singapore as it starts an India fund. Equanum Capital plans to raise about $50 million for an Indian “long-biased†hedge fund, which it aims to introduce in the second quarter. The firm already has two analysts in Asia. (Bloomberg)
Essar Oil Close To Shell Deal - Essar Oil has finalised the acquisition of Shell's Stanlow refinery in UK for $350 million. The Stanlow refinery is part of the Royal Dutch Shell group with a capacity of 2.37 lk barrels per day. Essar will pay $50 million on signing of the deal, another $100 mn on closing of the deal and $100 mn each in the next 2 years after closing the deal. European companies are selling their non profitable plants to cut expenses and they fit into Indian refiners global strategy of expansion. (Economic Times)
Henkel May Sell India Biz Stake - German FMCG giant Henkel AG is exploring various possibilities with its subsidiary Henkel India, which include divesting part stake to a local company which will run the company, or even offloading the entire business. Henkel Germany holds a 50.97% stake in Henkel India, which is a joint venture with Tamil Nadu Petroproducts, part of the Spic Group. A C Muthaiah-led Spic through its group entity holds a 16.6% stake in the company that owns brands such as Henko, Neem, Fa and Loctite across FMCG, personal and home care and industrial segments.Potential suitor list include domestic firms Godrej, Wipro and Jyoti Laboratories. (Times of India)
KVB Raises Rs 107.5Cr From FIIs - Karur Vysya Bank (KVB) has received the Foreign Investment Promotion Board's approval to issue shares worth Rs 107.50 crore to foreign institutional investors (FIIs). This will be 25% of bank’s proposed rights issue worth Rs 450 crore. Before March 2011, the bank is planning to raise Rs 300-325 crore and the remaining, of the Rs 450 crore, will be raised by May 2011. (Business Standard)
PFC Eyes Equity Funding For Nuke Projects - Power Finance Corporation (PFC), the biggest lender in the power sector, is open to the possibility of equity participation in upcoming nuclear projects in the country. PFC has held initial discussions with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) on funding possibilities, where the state-owned lender has offered to provide debt financing and consultancy services to start with, and explore the possibility of equity participation in due course. NPCIL has indicated to lending institutions that it might need upwards of Rs 1,00,000 crore over the next 5-10 years for funding its aggressive plan to scale-up capacity. (HinduBusinessLine)
Rolta Offloads 50% In JV With Shaw - Rolta has offloaded its 50% stake in Shaw Rolta, a joint venture with Stone & Webster Inc (SWRL), a subsidiary of the Shaw Group Inc for a consideration Rs 125 crore. In addition, Rolta will receive Rs 36 crore over two years for defined services, resulting in a total income of Rs 160 crore from the deal. SWRL was established as 50:50 joint venture in 2004 to serve as an off-shore engineering centre for Shaw's global projects, and to focus on EPCm (Engineering, Procurement, Construction Management) business in India, including the nuclear energy sector. (HinduBusinessLine)
