Satyam Bid Winner To Be Announced By April 13 - Satyam winner is likely to be announced by April 13. The board of the troubled IT firm has extended the final date for submission of bids for acquiring up to 51% stake in the company to 13 April. It's also expecting to announce the bidder then, PTI reported quoting a Deepak Parekh, a member of the government-appointed board. "Wemet bidders yesterday and they requested for an extension of the date. They wanted more information about the company and hence the extension,†Parekh said.
They had earlier fixed 9 April as the deadline for submitting bids.
ByCell Gets FIPB Approval - The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has approved the Swiss telco ByCell's plans to invest over Rs 2,500 crore in India. This comes after the Switzerland based telco, promoted by a Russian businessman filed took FIPB and department of telecom (DoT) to court over their failure to clear its application. ByCell holds a letters of intent for launching mobile services in Assam, Bihar, the north eastern states, Orissa and West Bengal. While ByCell holds a 74% in the telecom arm, the rest are held by Hyderabad-based Jayalakshmi. (Economic Times)
HDFC-HDFC Bank Merger Buzz Increases - The buzz around a possible merger between HDFC and HDFC Bank has increased following Macquarie Research. The report states that the benefits of a merger would come from combining HDFC Bank’s liabilities base, which Macquaire states are the best in the country, with HDFC’s ‘best-in-class’ loan origination. Also cross-selling to HDFC’s large customer base would be a secondary opportunity. (ET)
Apollo Eyes Wockhardt - Wockhardt Hospitals may have found another suitor in India’s largest hospital chain Apollo Hospitals. Apollo would be interested in Wockhardt Hospitals if it gets a majority stake. Currently Singh family promoted Fortis Healthcare is the front-runner to buy Wockhardt at a valuation of Rs 1,000 crore, but reports suggest that talks maybe stuck over valuation differences. (ET)
Cognizant Enters Fray For Satyam - Cognizant Technology Solutions may be back in the race to acquire fraud hit IT major Satyam Computer Services. The Nasdaq listed IT major did not complete the due diligence process for Satyam earlier. Cognizant may have a arrangement with private equity firm Wilbur L Ross & Co that if bid goes up a certain limit, the two will join hands for Satyam deal. The government-appointed Satyam board may announce the final list of bidders today. (Business Standard).
RBS Begins Sale Process: Royal Bank of Scotland Plc. (RBS) has started the sale process of ABN Amro Bank NV’s retail and commercial banking assets in Asia, including India, reports Mint. They have sent an information memorandum to three prospective buyers—Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd, Standard Chartered Bank Plc., and Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd, Mint reports quoting a person familiar with the development. Investment bank Morgan Stanley is managing the RBS sale across Asia (Mint).
FIPB Rejects Nova Scotia's Plan: The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has rejected the proposal of Bank of Nova Scotia to set up a wholly owned subsidiary for wholesale trading in precious metal commodities, reports The Economic Times. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the department of financial services have believed to be obvjected to the plan. As per existing policy, other than nominated agencies and banks authorised by RBI, no other organisation is allowed to import precious metals like gold (The Economic Times).
