Lavasa to Raise Rs 1,500 Crore Through IPO - Lavasa, a hill city project majority owned by Hindustan Construction Company (HCC), plans to raise Rs 1,500 crore through an initial public offering (IPO). The amounts raised will be used towards the funding the cost of the project being planned near Pune. The company plans to sell shares by October 2010. The size of the offering would be 10% of the valuation of the Lavasa project. Its valuation currently stands at Rs 10,000 crore and is expected to go up to Rs 15,000 crore. The Lavasa project has received an investment of Rs 450 crore from Axis Bank, Allahbad Bank and Bank of India for a stake of 2.5 per cent, 1.5 per cent and 0.5 per cent, respectively. (Business Standard)
LIC to Subscribe to ADAG’s Non Convertible Bonds - Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) will subscribe to non-convertible debentures (NCDs) worth Rs 3,000 crore to be issued by the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) companies. The deal could be sealed by early next week. One of the key criterias LIC insists on is that the company should have a minimum ‘AA’ rating from one of the four approved credit rating agencies in the country. The company is yet to decide if it will take the whole amount in one tranche or in several tranches. (Business Standard)
NPCIL to Raise Rs 40,000 Crore Through Debt - The Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) plans to raise Rs 35,000-40,000 crore by debt over the next five years to meet the requirement of the civil nuclear power program and also for fuel as it is firming up deals with a host of natural uranium supplying firms from France, Russia and Kazakhstan for sourcing 3,000 to 4,000 tonnes of uranium. The debt for the projected civil nuclear power programme will be raised in the next 4-5 years as fund raising will be done through a combination of domestic financial institutions and external commercial borrowings (ECBs). (The Economic Times)
Promoters of Akruti Developers Redeem Shares - Promoters of Mumbai based developers, Akruti City, have redeemed 2.32% of their stake pledged with Indiabulls Financial Services (IBFSL) by paying back the due debt. On January 6, Akruti had redeemed 3.65% of promoter’s stake, which was pledged with IBFSL. The developer, which is implementing slum redevelopment projects in Mumbai, has repaid total debt of Rs 75 crore in three installments. Akruti has a land bank of 45.2 million square feet, primarily comprising 15 million square feet of residential and another 15 million square feet of special economic zone development. (Business Standard)
Tata Motors Enter Into Pre-owned Cars Business - Tata Motors have launched their pre-owned cars business in major cities. The company intends to launch into other parts of the country in a phased manner. The per-owned cars business named Tata Motors assured has been launched on a pilot basis through 15 dealers in 10 cities -Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Vapi (Gujarat). Tata Motors aims to offer a choice of certified pre-owned Tata cars, which will be refurbished in Tata Motors’ authorised dealer’s workshops. (Business Standard)
IDBI Home Finance Sale Faces Dilemma - The IDBI Bank board will meet on Friday to decide if the bank should sell its wholly-owned subsidiary, IDBI Home Finance, to Dewan Housing Finance Corporation at a valuation that is below what has been estimated by the advisor to the sale. IDBI Capital Markets had valued IDBI Home Finance at Rs 351 crore in late August. In the wake of the changing market conditions, another exercise was undertaken in the first week of January and the base value was estimated at Rs 17 per share, translating into a valuation of Rs 247 crore. Factoring in the premium, the total valuation was Rs 333 crore. The offer of Dewan Housing Finance is around Rs 22 crore lower than the latest value assigned to the company and around Rs 40 crore less than the original valuation. (Business Standard)
Maharashtra Abandons Rs 480 Crore Contracts with Maytas Infrastructure - Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has ordered the cancellation of Rs 480-crore contracts to Maytas Infrastructure given by the state power distribution company Mahavitaran and called for fresh bids. Maytas was awarded the contract for commissioning of sub-stations, transmission and distribution lines in Ahmadnagar, Beed and Latur districts in September last year. The cancellation of the contracts has been ordered after the fraud committed by Raju came to light and the connection between Satyam and Maytas became evident. (Business Standard)
Educomp Solutions Files Police Complaint - Education solutions provider Educomp Solutions has filed a complaint with the Additional Commissioner of Police, Economic Offences Wing, Crime Branch (Delhi Police) to identify the source of malicious emails alleging account manipulation. Despite the fact that the company sent a detailed clarification the stock exchanges saying that it had not fudged its accounts, the stock was battered 22% on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). (Business Standard)
NACIL May Offload Stake to Foreign Airlines - National Aviation Corporation of India Ltd (NACIL), the entity created following the merger of state-owned Air India and Indian Airlines, is looking to foreign carriers for investment in its airline. Air India has started sending feelers regarding a possible stake sale to carriers like Singapore Airlines and German airline Lufthansa. The move follows a recent proposal in the Cabinet by civil aviation minister Praful Patel to allow foreign direct investment of up to 25% in Indian carriers. Air India had recently approached the Tata group to divest 10% stake, but with no result. (The Financial Express)
European Aviation Acquires Maintenance Firm Indamer - European Aviation Holding Co. Pvt. Ltd has acquired Indamer Co. Pvt. Ltd, a Mumbai-based aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) firm for an undisclosed amount. According ti sources, further consolidation is expected since the MRO industry is fragmented. It could also witness participation of foreign players once the industry stabilizes. (LiveMint.com)
ICVL May Pick Up Stake In US Based Patriot Coal - International Coal Ventures (ICVL) is considering picking up equity stake in US based Patriot Coal. ICVL is a special purpose vehicle of leading PSUs -SAIL, RINL, NMDC, CIL and NTPC. The proposal for equity participation has come from the owners of the US-based company. Whether ICVL will pick up minority or majority stake has not yet been finalised. (Business Standard)
