RIL-BP front-runner for picking 25% stake in Mundra Terminal: Reliance Industries-BP combine is leading the race for picking up 25% stake in Gujarat government's planned LNG import terminal at Mundra, officials said today. India Gas Solutions Pvt. Ltd., the equal joint venture between the Mukesh Ambani-led firm and Europe's second largest oil firm, is among the three companies shortlisted by Gujarat government for giving out 25% stake in the Mundra terminal. State-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) and Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) are the other two firms shortlisted, officials said. (Economic Times)
Su-Kam plans joint venture with US-based Trojan for batteries: Power back-up solutions provider Su-Kam plans to set up a joint venture with US-based Trojan Battery Company for manufacturing various types of batteries. Starting off their alliance, Su-Kam and Trojan today launched a co-branded deep cycle battery aimed at solar and inverter applications in the country. The joint venture would be mainly for manufacturing batteries. Both companies would continue to explore more opportunities for deep cycle battery solutions, including power back up applications for the industrial business market segment. (Economic Times)
GMR puts Emco Energy up for sale to reduce debt: Infrastructure conglomerate GMR has decided to sell Emco Energy Ltd, which has a 600 mw power plant in Maharashtra, part of an exercise to reduce debt. GMR has mandated global investment bank JPMorgan to help sell the recently commissioned unit, several people with direct involvement in the discussions said. GMR Energy, the energy subsidiary of the listed GMR Infrastructure owns 100% in the project. According to company officials, the total project cost is INR 3,948 crore ($658 million), out of which INR 880 crore is equity while the rest has been funded by debt from Indian lenders like Axis Bank. (Economic Times)
Volkswagen Finance plans to raise Rs 100 crore via bonds: Volkswagen Finance Pvt. Ltd, a unit of Volkswagen AG, plans to raise INR 100 crore ($16 million) through 18-month bonds at 9.85%, a source with direct knowledge of the deal said. HSBC India is the sole arranger for this tranche of fund raising for the financing arm of the German automaker. ()
GAIL is in talks with Ophir for stake in Tanzania gas assets: State-owned GAIL India Ltd has said it is in talks with Ophir Energy PLC for a stake in the latter’s offshore gas blocks in Tanzania. The company said it is in negotiations for a stake and the talks would not be affected by Ophir’s 20% stake-sale deal with Singapore-based Pavilion Energy last month. Ophir Energy PLC had recently sold a part of a natural-gas discovery off the coast of Tanzania to Pavilion Energy in a $1.3 billion deal. The deal, the first major transaction in Tanzania’s natural-gas sector, was seen by some as a setback for GAIL’s plans in that nation. (Business Standard)
As Facebook eyes up Little Eye Labs, Twitter is also looking at a startup in India: Reports of Facebook looking to acquire Bangalore-based Little Eye Labs highlight a growing interest from the Internet's biggest firms in acquiring engineering and startup talent from India. Twitter has been eyeing up an acquisition of Bangalore-based Frrole, a big data startup that sifts through half a billion Twitter posts every month to offer insights about users. iSpirt, a recently launched industry lobby and think-tank for software product startups in India, has been actively reaching out to potential acquirers including Facebook and Google. In fact, iSpirt has a list of 10 potential targets that could be acquired by the Silicon Valley based companies. In October this year, iSpirt also signed up Signal Hill Capital to drive more acquisitions of Indian startups by U.S. companies. (Tech Crunch)
India Infoline Housing plans to raise up to INR 500 cr via public issue of bonds: India Infoline Housing Finance, the housing finance arm of India Infoline plans to raise up to INR 500 crore ($80.4 million) through public issue of 11.52% secured, redeemable Non-Convertible Debentures. The greenshoe option is up to INR 250 crore. These NCDs have a monthly option and would be issued for a period of 5 years. The issue opens on December 12. "This is the fourth issue from our group in the last 3 years. ()
Courtesy: VCCEdge
