T Rowe Price May Exit UTI AMC - The public sector shareholders of UTI Asset Management have been asked to be prepared for an exit by the largest shareholder, T Rowe Price. The US-based asset manager, which holds 26% in the fund house, has been protesting at the appointment of an IAS officer without enough fund management experience as the company’s chairman. In January 2010, T Rowe had taken 6.5 per cent each from the four sponsors — State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda and Life Insurance Corporation — for Rs 650 crore. (Business Standard)
Temasek Arm Buys Bangalore Tech Park For Rs 800Cr - Mapletree India China, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings of Singapore, has acquired 100% stake in a Bangalore technology park for Rs 800 crore. The international fund, which invests in real estate firms, has completely bought out the promoters of Assetz Global Technology Park (AGTP). The project is a joint venture between development and marketing firm Assetz Property Group and Delhi-based investor Mithilesh Tripathy. (Economic Times)
Morgan Stanley-backed Biotor Ceases Operations - Biotor Industries, a Mumbai-based biofuel company, in which Morgan Stanley had picked a significant minority (over 30 per cent) stake in 2008, has ceased operations. Morgan Stanley Private Equity invested Rs 200 crore in Biotor out of the $1.5 billion dedicated fund for Asia The company has debt of around Rs 1,100 crore. Biotor has been having issues for almost a year and has gone into corporate debt restructuring. Earlier, when the company failed to achieve milestones in accordance with the share purchase agreement, the PE fund had raised its stake to 45%. (Business Standard)
iGate To Delist Patni Computers - iGATE Corp. said it is looking to buyout unit Patni Computer Systems Ltd.'s minority shareholders for at least Rs 356.74 a share and delist the outsourcing services provider from Indian stock exchanges. The floor price iGATE plans to offer is way below the price of Rs 503.50 a share it had paid Patni's founders in January when the U.S.-listed company, along with private-equity firm Apax Partners LLP, bought a majority stake in Patni in a deal worth $1.22 billion. (Wall Street Journal)
Vodafone To Prepare For India IPO - The head of Vodafone's India operations said the firm will start preparing for a possible initial public offering, but a listing was unlikely to happen soon. Marten Pieters, managing director and chief executive of Vodafone India, also said he expects consolidation in a sector crowded with more than a dozen players in the next 12 to 24 months.
Edserv Looks At Buys In Test Preparation - Chennai-based provider of technology-driven learning, EdServ Softsystems Limited, is looking at acquisitions in the area of test preparation education.
EdServ has entered into the test prep segment through some content acquisitions almost a year ago. While it was only a supplemental service to its existing education solutions services through its partner firms, the proposed acquisition would support it to create customers of primary loyalty through registration. (Business Standard)
Reliance Capital Looks At More Stake Sales - Close on the heels of completing a stake sale in life insurance venture, Reliance Capital plans to strike more strategic deals for sale of equity in other businesses, including mutual funds and general insurance. The funds received last month from the 26% stake sale in Reliance Life to Japan's Nippon Life, would boost Reliance Capital's balance sheet, analysts have said in their reports on the company. (Economic Times)
Fortis Healthcare CFO Quits - Even as Fortis Healthcare is winding up the buyout of its foreign arm, Fortis International, its chief financial officer Yogesh Kumar Sareen has resigned from services of the company. Hemant Dhingra will take Sareen’s place immediately. Since Fortis Healthcare announced in late September that it will acquire 100 per cent of Fortis Healthcare International from Malvinder Mohan Singh and Shivinder Mohan Singh (who are also promoters of Fortis Healthcare), there has been considerable protest in the analysts community regarding the deal. (Financial Chronicle)
