Anil Ambani Group's financial services firm Reliance Capital is considering divesting up to 20 per cent stake in its mutual fund arm, Reliance Asset Management Company, to an overseas strategic partner. Induction of global partner would help Reliance Asset Management Company to expand its reach and help improve product, technology and process, sources told. Reliance Capital holds 93.37 per cent in Reliance Asset Management Company, the largest mutual fund house with asset under management over 1.18 lakh crore. When contacted, Reliance Capital spokesperson said, "As a policy, we do not comment on speculations." In 2007, Reliance Capital sold 5 per cent stake to global investor Eton Park for Rs 501 crore, at an equity valuation of Rs 10,000 crore.   more »

Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance Entertainment is likely to put in a bid for the iconic film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, or MGM, as it seeks to increase its presence in Hollywood beyond its existing tie-up with Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks Studio, a person privy to the development told ET. MGM, the owner of a library with more than 4,000 titles, including classics such as the Pink Panther and James Bond movies and more recent ones such as Legally Blonde, a series of comedy films, has been put on the block by its lenders, a consortium of over 100 financiers led by JPMorgan. Twelve potential bidders with background in media and movie-making have signed non-disclosure agreements, according to a Reuters report. Banking sources said Reliance Entertainment is among them.   more »

The government may consider selling its 8.9% L&T stake it holds via Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India(SUUTI) to BHEL, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting Newswire18. When contacted, BHEL’s Chairman this morning said that he is not aware of any such move. But sources indicated that this is part of a larger plan by the government to sell its key holdings in Axis Bank, L&T and ITC, which it holds via SUUTI in case money from auction of 3G spectrum does not come in this financial year.   more »

Ikya Human Capital Solutions, the Bangalore-based HR services firm, is likely to be a target for global HR firms planning to set up shop in India. Some of the names floating around are companies like the Dutch USG Group, Spherion, Volt, Robert Half and Michael Page from the US, and Radia from Japan who are looking to enter India and it is likely that they may look at Ikya to start their operations. However, Ikya management denied that they will sell out. Ikya, which describes itself as a human capital solutions company that offers executive search, recruitment, staffing and learning, and development solutions, has now remodelled itself by offering more value-added services. Ikya in 2008 received a funding of $8 million from India Equity Partners (IEP), a private equity fund focused on India.   more »

Turner Broadcasting, a company owned by Time Warner, might buy a majority stake in general entertainment channel (GEC) NDTV Imagine. According to reports in the media, the Turner Broadcasting-NDTV Imagine negotiations have reached a conclusion, and Turner, which also owns GEC Real, could buy as high a stake as 90 per cent in NDTV Imagine.   more »

Reliance Capital Ltd. may sell a 20%-26% stake in its life insurance unit - Reliance Life Insurance Co. - in the fourth quarter of the current fiscal year, its chief executive said Wednesday. "It (sale) could be to a strategic or financial partner ... most likely it will be foreign company," Sam Ghosh told Dow Jones Newswires over the phone.   more »

The US buyout specialist Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) has joined the race to acquire a minority stake in Vijay Mallya-promoted United Spirits Ltd, says a media report. "...It has emerged that Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), the US buyout specialist, has entered the race to buy a minority stake in United Spirits, the parent company through which Mallya owns Whyte & Mackay," UK's The Times has reported. The report published online said that KKR faces competition from the likes of Diageo, the British maker of Guinness stout and Gordon's gin, for the stake in United Spirits.   more »

After a series of forgettable outings despite big hype in the second edition of the Indian Premier League, is Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan selling his Knight Riders franchise? According to speculation, SRK is in talks with Subroto Roy’s Sahara Group and the Anil Ambani Group for selling around 20% stake in the franchise. However, the biggest hurdle to any deal could be the high valuation of the team, industry sources said. Shah Rukh’s company bought the Kolkata franchise last year for around Rs 300 crore and he would expect the brand to be valued at least around Rs 500 crore. Unfortunately, that expectation appears too high in the current economic climate.   more »

The billionaire owners of an Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket team have held talks about buying into Liverpool, according to reports. Representatives of the GMR group, who run the Delhi Daredevils team, were guests at Anfield for Tuesday's 4-4 thriller with Arsenal. GMR chairman Grandhi Mallikarjun Rao is worth an estimated £4.2billion and the senior official he sent to Liverpool in midweek is thought to be a Reds fan.   more »

The board of Maytas Infra Limited met here on Friday under the chairmanship of K Ramalingam, and Anil K Agarwal, O P Vaish and Ved Jain all government-nominated directors along with Teja Raju, vice-chairman and whole-time director and B Narasimha Rao, the whole-time director, according to a company release. The board had extensive discussions on the business plan, orders in hand and under execution. More importantly, it also had discussions with bankers as well as the chairman of IL&FS Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS), Ravi Parthasarathy, amid reports that it appears set to take over Maytas Infra soon. Interestingly, IL&FS owns a 37% stake in Maytas Infra.   more »