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The disinvestment of promoter Andrew Yule's stake in lubricant outfit Tide Water Oil might turn out to be a high-voltage affair. Sources close to the development said that major domestic and international oil players — Reliance Industries, French oil giant Total, US oil giant Chevron, Hinduja group and Keventer group — have evinced interest in bidding for the Calcutta-based firm. Tide Water markets lubricants under Veedol brand and is a key player in the diesel lube market in the country. The Union ministry of heavy industries has already given green signal to the divestment of Tide Water Oil in May. The ministry has also asked Andrew Yule to appoint a consultant for the same. When contacted, the CMD of Andrew Yule, Kallol Datta, said the company would float a global tender for appointing a consultant for disinvestment of Tide Water by end-June. “We are hoping to get a good response,” he said. However, he did not comment on the interest shown by the oil giants for acquiring Tide Water. But, according to sources, Reliance Industries has internally discussed about the synergy between its business and Tide Water. […]
The Shyam Group and Spanco Telesystems & Solutions, one of India’s leading telecom systes integration and IT services companies, have entered into a pact with Punj Lloyd to acquire the latter’s interests in Spectranet, its ISP division. A joint venture, called Citycom Networks, has been formed for this purpose. The deal is expected to close over the next few months and is subject to statutory and regulatory clearances. The new promoters of Spectranet intend to create a neutral telecom infrastructure for next generation wire line and wireless broadband that promises exciting possibilities for telecom operators and ISPs. […]
Ess Dee Aluminium, India's biggest pharmaceutical packaging company, has won a regulatory approval to bail out India Foils, which is owned by Vedanta Group, ahead of a possible takeover. Ess Dee, based in Mumbai, has been cleared by the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) to help revive Kolkata-based India Foils, part of billionaire Anil Agarwal-controlled Vedanta group. Ess Dee and Vedanta's Madras Aluminium (Malco), the holding company of India Foils, will form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to turnaround India Foils, which is saddled with liabalities of over Rs 300 crore. The SPV will invest in about Rs 50 crore immediately to upgrade the three manufacturing facilities to US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards, eyeing exports to developed markets with value added products and contract manufacturing options, said sources. Datta added that it was still early to predict whether Ess Dee would take over the company. “We have to see how the business prospers and the manner in which it adds value to Ess Dee's business.” […]
Optical storage device maker Moser Baer India Ltd plans to raise $300 million for its solar unit, after raising $150 million through a private placement, a top official said on Thursday. “We closed the $150 million deal on a private placement. We're now raising $300 million. That will also be a private placement,” Deepak Puri, managing director of Moser Baer told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference. In May, the company's unit, Moser Baer Solar Plc, received board approval to raise $150 million. The company also plans to list its photo voltaic unit, Moser Baer Photo Voltaic Ltd, which makes solar cells and modules used in producing electricity from sunlight. “We're going to list. First let the markets stabilise, we will decide by the end of the year whether we're going to list on the London Stock Exchange or the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq or Dubai,” Puri said. […]
IVRCL Infrastructure and Projects is close to acquiring a Swedish construction equipment manufacturer. The deal, valued upwards of $100 million, will speed up the $1 billion company's backward integration drive. The deal is currently going through legal due diligence and should be closed soon if everything goes right, group chairman and managing director E Sudhir Reddy told DNA Money. The acquisition will play a key role in IVRCL's goal to be a $2 billion company within the next five years. Apart from meeting its IVRCL's requirement for construction equipment, it will also help the construction major to foray into neighbouring countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh and regions like the Middle East and southeast Asia, Reddy added. He however did not name the target company except for saying that it was a well known and established brand in the construction equipment business. […]
Sujana Towers (STL), the power and telecom towers subsidiary of the Sujana Group, has acquired 51% stake in Telesuprecon, a Mauritius-based firm, which executes telecom infrastructure projects in Central and East Africa. The Hyderabad-based company acquired the stake by subscribing to new equity shares issued by Telesuprecon. “No money is being paid to the existing promoters. STL will support the company by providing the required working capital, including guarantees,” Sujana Group director S Hanumantha Rao said at a press conference in Mumbai on Wednesday. […]
The Rahejas-owned Exide Industries has picked up a 51% stake in Leadage Alloys India (LAIL), an unlisted Bangalore-based lead smelting company, for Rs 34 crore. Following the agreement between the two companies, LAIL along with their associates will continue to hold the balance 49 % in the company’s total paid-up capital. According to the agreement, the promoters of LAIL will be in charge of the company’s day-to-day operations. The acquisition comes on the heels of Exide Industries’ buyout of another unlisted lead-smelting company Tandon Metals s in October last year for Rs 25 crore. Since global lead prices have been on an upswing, the two acquisitions are expected to help Exide increase its use of recycled lead and lead alloys for making storage batteries. And this would, in turn, reduce the company’s dependence on imports of lead — the principal raw material for storage batteries. […]
Tata Communications International, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Communications Ltd, has acquired a 50 per cent stake in China Enterprise Communications Limited (CEC), a Beijing based value-added telecom and IT services provider. The joint venture will become effective after the necessary government and regulatory approvals. “Through Tata Communications, we will focus on the development of the domestic market to provide high quality networking service to multinational companies in China. We intend to grow the strength of the brand,” said Zhu Jianhua, president and chief executive officer of CEC. The company was recently awarded a nationwide service licence by China’s ministry of information industry, the first valued-added service licence given to a virtual private network (VPN) operator. […]
Mid-sized pharma firm Maneesh Pharmaceuticals has acquired 51% stake in US-based Synovics Pharmaceuticals for an undisclosed amount. It has become fourth Indian pharma firm after Sun Pharmaceuticals, Wockhardt and Glenmark, to acquire control of an American drug firm. Although senior officials in the unlisted Maneesh declined to give financial details, the Florida-based Synovics last year’s revenue totalled $30 million (about Rs 126 crore). Confirming the development, Maneesh Pharma MD Vinay Sapte said, “Synovics is a speciality pharma firm with a focus in OTC (over-the-counter) and branded drugs. They have a strong distribution network in the US. Since, we are a generic player, the deal make sense for us as we can then offer a mix of OTC, branded and generic products in the US.” Synovics has also a FDA-approved hormone drug manufacturing facility in the US, which would help Maneesh to operate in niche markets. The Rs 880-crore Maneesh had last year acquired Kopran’s OTC brand Symle for Rs 53 crore. […]
Balmer Lawrie is set to acquire a 50% stake in a travel and tourism company with a national presence. Though the company remained tight-lipped about the target company, it has appointed SBI Caps to carry out a due diligence exercise. Talking to newspersons on Monday, Balmer Lawrie managing director S K Mukherjee said, “We want to grow our travel and tourism business in a significant way. We are looking at acquisitions and have identified a company. SBI Caps is doing the due diligence and we hope to complete a deal in the current fiscal.” Balmer Lawrie has set aside Rs 100 crore for organic as well as inorganic growth in areas such as travel and tourism, logistics infrastructure and services and greases and lubricants. […]
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