Vedanta Raises $1.25 Billion - The London-listed Vedanta Resources has raised $1.25 billion (approximately Rs 5,925 crore) through issue of convertible bonds, primarily for funding its aluminium project at Jharsuguda in Orissa and to also increase stakes in group companies. The bonds, which will mature in 2016, have a coupon of 5.5 per cent payable semi-annually in arrears and will be convertible into fully-paid ordinary shares. It will have a maturity of seven years with a five-year put option. (Business Standard)
Tech Mahindra Begins Open Offer for Satyam - After hitting the upper circuit barrier for three consecutive days, Satyam Computer Services’ share price was 0.5% down today, to close at Rs 80.45 from the previous close of Rs 80.85. This was even as Tech Mahindra’s open offer to acquire a 20 per cent stake in the company began today. Even the Tech Mahindra stock was down 6.7 per cent, to close at Rs 722.60 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. (Business Standard)
Hindalco in Talks With Lenders to Recast Bank Covenant - Hindalco Industries is negotiating with its lenders after it breached a condition linked to a $1-billion - about Rs 4,800 crore - loan which the company had raised last year to refinance an expensive bridge loan for acquiring Canadian aluminium maker Novelis. The breach happened mainly due to adverse market conditions in Europe and the US, according to persons close to the development. (The Economic Times)
LIC Housing Plans to Raise Rs 15,000 Crore - LIC Housing Finance is looking to raise up to Rs 15,000 crore of debt in the current financial year through options such as commercial paper (CP), non-convertible debentures (NCDs) and external commercial borrowings (ECBs). The company is also looking to raise additional funds through qualified institutional placement (QIP). The company has already raised about Rs 3,000 crore in the past two months. (The Economic Times)
Philips Makes Buyback Offer at Rs 242 a Share - Philips Electronics India has come up with a buyback offer for a maximum of 60,23,070 equity shares at a face value of Rs 10 each. For this, the company has set aside a Rs 146-crore corpus at a price of Rs 242 per equity share. The buyback offer was cleared by shareholders at the company’s 79th AGM here on Friday. Parent company - Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV - now holds nearly 96.4% in Philips Electronics India, while the balance 3.6% is held by individual shareholders, foreign institutional investors (FIIs), banks and mutual funds (MFs). (The Economic Times)
Reliance Infratel Eyes Investments from PE Firms - Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Infratel is looking to raise about Rs 5,000 crore (close to $1 billion) through sale of shares, for which it is in talks with a number of private equity firms. Reliance Infratel, a subsidiary of the group's telecom arm RCOM, is looking to dilute 10-15% stake in a private placement of shares with the PE firms. The company had last year scrapped plans to raise about Rs 6, 000 crore through sale of about 10% shares in an IPO due to adverse market conditions. The company, which owns telecom towers of its parent RCOM, is looking to raise an estimated $1 billion through the placement of shares and might finalise on the names of potential investors in the coming days. ()
IHCL To Buy Controlling Stake in ELEL - IHCL on Friday announced that it was going to acquire a controlling stake of 85 per cent in ELEL Hotels and Investments, the company which holds a long term sub-lease for the land on which the Sea Rock Hotel is located in Bandra, North Mumbai, for a consideration of Rs 680 crore. HCL already has an existing arrangement with the company that owns the Sea Rock Hotel to provide technical and management expertise for the restoration and operations of the hotel. The acquisition will be funded through internal accruals. (The Hindu)
BlackRock to Acquire Barclays Global Investors for $13.5 Billion - The investment management firm BlackRock today said it will buy British banking giant Barclays' fund management arm for $13.5 billion, creating a combined entity with assets worth nearly $3 trillion. BlackRock Inc has executed a purchase agreement to acquire Barclays Global Investors, including its market leading ETF platform, iShares, from Barclays Plc. The transaction would create an independent and fully integrated asset management firm named 'BlackRock Global Investors' with combined assets under management of over $2.7 trillion, bringing together market leaders in active and index strategies. (Business Standard)
