Mergers & Acquisitions
Sterlite Tech To Acquire UK Co – Anil Agarwal's Sterlite Technolgies is in advanced stages of discussion to acquire UK-based cabling co Brand-Rex for about $55 million. PwC is advising Sterlite on the transaction. Sterlite controls 46% of the Indian optical market. Brand –Rex is controlled by Murray Capital.
Patni Plans Buys In Apac Region - Patni Computer Systems is planning to double its revenue from the Asia-Pacific region, and is looking for a acquisition in the region. The firm plans its acquisition in Japan especially as it sees it as a major market. It already has a small operations in Taiwan and Vietnam.
SBI Looks At Overseas Acquisitions - India's largest bank is saying that it is mulling acquisitions though it has not arrived upon any targets. The bank also said that it had around $5 million exposure to Lehman Brothers, of which it expects to recover about 60-70%.
Sarda Group Acquires Talbot & Co - The $500 million Sarda Group has acquired asset and facility management brand Talbot & Company for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition would give the group a headway and entry into in facility management services. The group is involved in jute mills, chemical and IT business in USA.
Bajaj Hind Sugars Acquires Two Sugar Mills - Bajaj Hindustan Sugars Ltd is Phenil Sugars, which has two sugar plants in Uttar Pradesh with total capacity of 6,000 tonnes crushed per day. Bajaj will offer one share for every two shares of Phenil.
Corporate
PepsiCo To Invest $500M In India – The food and beverage giant is planning to invest $500 million in the country over the next three years to triple its revenues in the next five years. The investment would be in manufacturing capacity, market infrastructure, environment sustainability initiatives, R&D and agriculture. The investments are said to create 50,000 jobs.
Essar To Invest $1.6 Billion in US Plant - ESSAR Steel Holdings plans to invest $1.6 bn (Rs 7,200 crore) over the next five years to build an integrated steel plant, with a capacity of 2.5 mn tonnes, in the Minnesota region. The supplies to set up this unit will come from US-based Minnesota Steel, which it acquired in 2007. This comes after Essar's failed bid Esmark Steel.
Palador To Launch Movie Channel - The largest distributor of world cinema in India is planning to launch a world cinema television channel by the first quarter of 2009. Palador holds more than 1,000 titles and was planning to launch a channel in JV with UTV, which broke up. It has DVD tie up Moser Baer and channel tie-up with Zee Movies.
