Tanti group of companies, the promoters of Suzlon Energy Ltd, jointly with Bahrain-based Arcapita Bank, has acquired Honiton Energy Holdings, a Chinese wind energy firm. The company has not disclosed the value of the deal. The joint venture partners will invest $2 billion by 2012 to develop a 1,650-MW portfolio of wind farms in the Inner Mongolia region of China. The acquisition is being channelled through Colossus Holdings, a Singapore-based holding company of the Tanti group. The group directly and indirectly owns 66 per cent of Suzlon Energy, the world’s fifth leading supplier of wind turbines with a 10.5 per cent global market share. […]

Japanese fund manager Nomura Asset Management is set to pick up a stake in LIC MF Asset Management Company which manages LIC Mutual Fund. In a statement issued in Japan, Nomura Asset Management Company, the fund management unit of Nomura Holdings, said it has agreed to invest in an asset management unit of Life Insurance Corporation of India. Agency reports quoted Riyo Azechi, a spokeswoman for Nomura Asset stating that the Japanese fund manager will work together in India with LIC Mutual Fund Asset Management Company on the asset management business. Speaking to ET, LIC MF chief executive Sushobhan Sarker said that a memorandum of understanding has been signed with Nomura whereby both companies would look at ways of working together. He said that the outcome of these explorations would decide whether Nomura would pick up a stake in LIC MF or not. A team comprising of officials on both sides would be constituted to take the partnership forward. […]

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has issued a no objection to the inclusion of Pioneer Global Asset Management SpA (Pioneer Investments) as a co-sponsor in BOB Mutual Fund. Consequently, Pioneer Investments has acquired a 51% shareholding in BOB Asset Management Company Limited. Pioneer Investments through this joint venture with Bank of Baroda is set to commence its asset management operations and mutual fund business in India. The new venture will now be named as “Baroda Pioneer Asset Management Company Limited”, with Pioneer Investments holding 51% stake with management control and Bank of Baroda holding 49% in the AMC. . The joint venture combines world class investment management skills of Pioneer Investments, gained over the last 80 years from various markets across the globe, with the very strong presence in India of Bank of Baroda’s wide network of branches. For Investors, this would result in newer opportunities for wealth creation combined with easy accessibility. […]

Talco, the Tajik national aluminium plant, has denied earlier reports about possibly selling its general stake to Nalco, India’s second largest aluminium manufacturer, AsiaPlus reports. Despite media reports claiming Nalco would most likely acquire 51% of the Tajik plant, Saekhat Kadyrova, Talco’s press secretary, dismissed such reports as “absurd”, emphasizing that negotiations have never taken place. If Nalco sealed an agreement with the Tajik company, it would become the world’s third largest aluminium manufacturer. “Selling a company that provides 75% of the country’s total cash currency, and when world aluminium prices are soaring […]

Bangalore-based Bearys Group is scouting for a partner to raise around USD 350 million to fund its two Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in Bangalore and Mangalore, besides a few other projects, a top official said. “We are holding talks with several private equity players in the overseas market to mop up USD 350 million to fund our SEZs and other projects. Talks are in advanced stages and we hope to finalise one partner in the next 3 to 4 months,” Bearys Amanah investment's CEO, Shariq Nisar, said. Bearys Amanah Investment is the real estate investment arm of the Rs 2,000-crore Bearys group. The UBS Group of Switzerland, Dubai Islamic Bank and Gulf Investment House are some of the entities the Bearys group is negotiating with, Nisar said. […]