Mergers & Acquisitions
Saraswat Co-operative takes over an ailing South Indian Co-operative Bank : Saraswat Co-operative Bank, has taken over the ailing Mumbai-based The South Indian Co-operative Bank. South Indian Cooperative bank had run into problems two years ago and was unable to pay back its depositors' dues. The bank had a network of 12 branches and two extension counters. Saraswat Bank would be soon converting the extension counters into full-fledged branches. About 66,000 depositors can get their money back from The South Indian Bank post this merger.
L&T and Karnataka State Government Enter Into JV For An Acquisition :Engineering major L&T Ltd and Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd (KPCL) are reportedly
entering into a joint venture agreement for acquiring a coal mine in Indonesia. KPCL is the Karnataka state government owned public sector power producer, with both thermal and hydel assets. It is likely to be a 50:50 joint venture and would be leveraging on each other’s core competencies. KPCL is among the largest integrated power producers in the country. If the joint venture materialised it would be one of the first public private partnerships in the country between a state government owned entity and the private sector for power generation in the country.
Cranes Software Intl To Acquire Cubeware GmbH In Cash: Mumbai based Cranes Software International Ltd has completed the due diligence exercise to acquire Cubeware GmbH through its WOS Systat Software GmbH for a cash cum share deal aggregating to €18 million. Cranes Software would pay €12 million in cash and the remaining €6 million worth of shares of the company would be allotted to the shareholders of Cubeware GmbH.
Private Equity
Zain and Telenor Eyeing Stake In Loop Telecom : Kuwait-based Zain Telecom and Norway telcom giant Telenor are eyeing the Ruias controlled Loop Telecom ( a fully owned subsidiary of BPL Mobile) for a strategic stake, reports Business Standard. Mumbai based Loop Telecom is one of the seven operators to receive a licence for pan-Indian mobile operations in 21 circles and has received start-up spectrum in six circles. The Essar group is also a partner in India’s fourth-largest mobile services company Vodaphone-Essar. With a subscriber base of 45.7 million, Zain Telecom operates in 22 countries covering West Asia (Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon) and sub-Saharan Africa (such as Sudan).
People Moves
Wipro Man Sudip Banerjee Leaves Premji Investments : Sudip Banerjee, director on the advisory board of Azim Premji Investments, has quit the firm and will become the CEO of L&T Infotech Ltd, the IT arm of India’s largest engineering firm Larson and Toubro Ltd.
Banerjee had joined Azim Premji Investments, the private investment arm of Azim Premji, chairman of Wipro Ltd, in April. API, with a corpus of over $ 1 billion, has invested in over 40 firms. Banerjee, who joined Wipro in 1983, was the president of enterprise solutions at Wipro Technologies, the global IT services arm of the firm.
In an April restructuring, Suresh Vaswani, who headed the India and West Asia IT arm of Wipro, and Girish Paranjpe, president of Wipro Technologies Financial Solutions were elevated as co-chief executives. This led to the exit of another key executive, P R Chandrasekar, who headed the American operations of Wipro till then. Chandrasekar became the CEO of Hexaware Technologies Ltd.
Investment Banking
Barclays Group To Open Private banking Unit In India : Barclays Group, is set to launch its private banking business in the country by year-end, reports PTI quoting a senior official from the company. The group had earmarked USD 400-million to fund its expansion in the private banking business globally, two years back. The group has already hired 57 professionals for its Indian operations and plans to enhance the staff strength to nearly 100 within the next six months. Barclays plans to tap the rich clients in the HNI and UHNI segments, which offer tremendous opportunity for wealth managers in India.
