The latest industry buzz is that a deal between Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communications (RCom) and South Africa’s MTN may be announced on Sunday, July 6, which is the death anniversary of Dhirubhai Ambani. The speculation has gained currency because, in 2006, Anil Ambani had announced his interest in acquiring a controlling stake in Hutch Essar on the birth anniversary of his father. The 45-day exclusivity period for talks between RCom and MTN ends on July 8, and therefore, an announcement (either yes or no) could be announced anytime by then, sources pointed out. An extension of the exclusivity period, by as much as 30 days, cannot be ruled out either. Following the feud between the Ambani brothers, the deal structure is believed to have been changed between MTN and RCom, as first reported in this newspaper on June 27. Instead of a proposed merger between the two, RCom is now looking at acquiring below 35% stake in MTN, sources said. RCom may tie up with investors, including sovereign wealth funds, to buy a stake in MTN.   more »

A rumoured counter-bid by Pfizer for Ranbaxy is eerily similar to the US firm’s actions in November 1999 when it launched an aggressive bid to stop Warner-Lambert from being bought by American Home Products. To acquire Warner-Lambert, Pfizer ended up paying $20 billion more than what American Home Products offered. The jewel in Warner-Lambert’s crown was Lipitor — the cholesterol-fighting drug, in which Ranbaxy is the generic leader. The speculation now is Pfizer will go all out to outbid Daiichi. On November 4, 1999, hours after executives of the American Home Products and Warner-Lambert announced a $70-billion merger agreement, Pfizer scuppered the deal with a $82.4-billion hostile bid for Warner-Lambert. Though the Warner-Lambert board rejected the bid initially, Pfizer managed to acquire the company for $90 billion. The anti-cholesterol drug’s patent is on the verge of expiry in the US and European markets. Ranbaxy has entered into a legal battle with Pfizer to launch the drug in the US and European markets. Though Ranbaxy has not been greatly successful in its legal strategy, industry analysts feel that by acquiring Ranbaxy, Pfizer can control the generic market of Lipitor and the market for other blockbuster generic drugs.   more »

Reports suggest that the West Asian company, Al Rostamani may buy a 25% stake in Gujarat Heavy Chemicals Ltd, or GHCL for USD 200 million. Nikhil Sen, Head of International Strategy said that the West Asia initiative is an integral part of their strategy. However, he clarified that he cannot comment on the report of West Asian company's buying stake. Soda-ash is a very strong area of business for the company, he said. Sen added that the company is looking at bolstering both its soda ash and retail business in West Asia. The company is also in talks with some domestic and international companies regarding few verticals within India, he said. They may announce a deal in a few days, he said. (Money Control)    more »

A local media report said that Reliance ADAG was keen on acquiring stake in the airline, in which Tata Group has minority interest. The third largest listed private airline operator by sales had underperformed the market over the past one-month till 5 June 2008, declining 24.97% compared to the Sensex’s decline of 9.05%. It had also underperformed the market in the past one quarter, declining 42.49% compared to Sensex’s decline of 1.29%. The company’s current equity is Rs 240.65 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10. Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher Airlines and the countrys largest private sector carrier Jet Airways are also said to be in fray for picking up a stake in SpiceJet. SpiceJet, which just completed three years of operations, is valued at around Rs 755 crore, according to its market capitalisation. Anil Ambani had also evinced interest last year to buy a controlling stake in Deccan Aviation. Rising aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices will hit airlines. Airlines re suffering huge losses and they cannot pass the entire burden (of jet fuel price rise) on users as it negatively affected the number of passengers carried by them.   more »

Noida-based infrastructure developer Jaiprakash Associates is considering a dilution of its equity to fund the initial expenses of the Rs 40,000-crore Ganga Expressway Project. If market sources are to be believed, the company is in talks with a handful of foreign investors. This is not the first time Jaiprakash Associates is offloading stake to fund a project. The company had raised Rs 1,150 crore by selling 1% stake to ICICI Bank. The dilution was effected to capitalise Jaypee Infratech, a subsidiary company formed to develop, construct and operate Taj Expressway, a 165-km, six-lane access controlled toll expressway between Noida and Agra in Uttar Pradesh.   more »

Pearl Exploration & Production Ltd., a Canadian oil and natural-gas explorer, climbed to a four-month high in Stockholm trading after the Economic Times of India said ONGC Videsh Ltd. is in talks to buy a Canadian oil company. ONGC Videsh is negotiating a possible takeover of a mid- sized Canadian oil producer whose assets include oil sands, the Economic Times of India reported on its Web site, without saying where it got the information. The target company is listed on Canadian and Swedish exchanges, the newspaper said.   more »

After the battle for Hutch, the telecom sector could be all set for its next big encounter. The buzz is that Sunil Mittal owned Bharti Airtel and Anil Ambani owned Reliance Communications are both eyeing a controlling stake in African telecom major MTN. CNBC-TV18 finds out if there is fire beneath the smoke. It’s been a while since Sunil Mittal wore the hat of Bharti Airtel's CMD in a public forum. And even though the announcement was of a distribution tie-up with IFFCO, Mittal couldn't evade questions on a potential bid for African telecom giant MTN. "We are not making any bid. We are open to opportunities and there is nothing on the table,” said Sunil Mittal, CMD, Bharti Airtel. MTN is reportedly having a board meeting on May 5 to evaluate bids. In a communication to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange earlier this week, the company had said, “MTN has not received any specific proposal. MTN receives tentative approaches from time to time, which are always evaluated. MTN has been valued at about USD 41 billion, that is almost as much as Bharti which is valued at USD 44 billion.   more »

Financial services provider Karvy Stock Broking (KSBL) is in advanced stages of negotiations to acquire a Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC). If all goes well, Karvy expects to seal the deal by next month, a top company official said. "Four to five NBFCs have approached Karvy with proposals and the company is examining that. Karvy would finalise the target company by mid May," the official said. Though Karvy had earlier opted to apply for an NBFC licence, the company would now prefer to buy an established NBFC having a good track-record, the official said. However the details of the NBFCs, who have been approached by Karvy, are not known. But the company is understood to be in talks with two to three south-based NBFCs. Karvy is one of the fast growing financial services provider in India and has operations in segments such as stock, commodities and insurance broking, investment banking, mutual funds distribution and depository services.   more »

Hinduja Group is planning to buy a controlling stake in French auto component manufacturer Valeo in a deal expected to to be valued around 1.5 billion dollars, a newspaper report said Monday. The Indian business conglomerate met top executives of Valeo in Paris recently and talks were on, the Business Standard newspaper reported citing unnamed sources. A Hinduja Group spokesman based in Mumbai said the report was speculative and refused to comment.   more »

Though both HDFC Bank and Centurion Bank of Punjab (CBoP) have denied any M&A talks, reports suggest that a mega merger between two of the leading private sector banks is on the cards. A financial daily has even stated that the Boards of Directors of the two Mumbai-based private banks are scheduled to meet on Saturday to discuss modalities of the proposed merger. HDFC Bank is likely to acquire its smaller rival in an all-stock deal worth more than Rs100bn, the business newspaper reports. The deal could be carried out at Rs57 per CBoP share, says the financial daily. The newspaper adds further that on Wednesday, officials of both the banks were huddled in a closed-door meeting with a leading investment banker to thrash out the share-swap deal.   more »