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IFGL Refractories Ltd, the SK Bajoria refractories maker, is acquiring a 96% stake in Hofmann Ceramic GmbH of Germany for around €7 million. The deal will also give IFGL control over Hofmann's subsidiaries in the UK and the Czech republic, apart from increasing its footprint abroad to six countries. The Hoffman entities reported a combined turnover of € 13.67 million in 2007-08. IFGL's stepdown subsidiary in the UK, Monocon International Refractories, which was acquired in 2006, will acquire the Hofmann stake. At present, it has plants in India, China, the UK, the US and Brazil making the special vessel- lining materials that can withstand temperatures of over 1500 degrees C involved in steelmaking. […]
Aegis is acquiring an undisclosed majority stake for an undisclosed amount in search-marketing firm Communicate2, according to Stahle. The partnership enables Aegis to club communication services from its media specialist company (planning and buying) Carat with search marketing services and launch Isobar, the global firm’s digital services arm. Communicate2 may remain a separate brand under Isobar or merge in time with iProspect, Aegis’ global search marketing company which is part of Isobar, said Stahle. Communicate2’s founder and managing director Vivek Bhargava will continue to lead the company. Significantly, the entry of Isobar marks a breakthrough, in terms of expanding the India presence, for Aegis Media. Aegis Media has companies such as Carat and Synovate, which are already here, Isobar, which has now launched in India, and Posterscope (Aegis’ out of home specialist), which will launch here by the end of the year. Velocity, Aegis’ global sports marketing arm, will launch soon. And Vizeum (Aegis’ other media specialist brand) will launch only when Carat expands enough that there is room for another brand to handle conflicting business. […]
Pfizer Inc., the world's largest drugmaker, may make a hostile bid for Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd., countering an agreed takeover by Daiichi Sankyo Co., the Business Standard said, citing people familiar with the matter. Pfizer, based in New York, may offer to buy the 65 percent of Ranbaxy that's not held by the founding Singh family, the paper said. Daiichi Sankyo Co. agreed on June 11 to pay as much as $4.6 billion for Ranbaxy to enter the generic-drug market where sales are growing twice as fast as branded medicines. Pfizer's India unit and Daiichi declined to comment. A battle for Ranbaxy, India's biggest drugmaker, may bolster shares of a company that have lagged behind the benchmark index for the past three years. Ranbaxy has waged a costly legal battle with Pfizer in the U.S. and Europe over the right to sell cheap copies of blockbuster drugs led by cholesterol treatment Lipitor. […]
Mukesh Ambani-spearheaded Reliance Industries, on Thursday said that its growth plans included greenfield investments and acquisitions besides adding 9 lakh tonnes per annum to its polypropylene capacity at its Jamnagar refinery. We will consolidate our position by pursuing greenfield investments and acquisitions in the entire value chain, RIL`s chairman and managing director, Mukesh Ambani, told shareholders at the company`s annual general meet here. The company will commission a 9,00,000-tonne per annum polypropylene facility this year at its new refinery in Jamnagar, making it the world`s third-largest producer. The company`s new 2.5 million tonne per year paraxylene manufacturing facility in Jamnagar would provide a platform for growth in the polyester business in India and overseas, he said. “The second potential avenue for growth and transformation is in alternative energy,” RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani said during the company`s annual general meeting here. “This is a natural extension of our conventional energy portfolio.” […]
Telekom Malaysia (TM) will pay Rs 150 per share for a less than 15% stake in Idea Celluar, valuing the AV Birla Group company at Rs 40,000 crore or $9.3 billion. Idea will then buy out the Modis’ 40.8% stake in Spice Communications, and TM will have 20% equity in the entity formed after merging Spice and Idea. “TM will invest around $2.2 billion in Idea and get shares in the merged company,” sources close to the development told ET. Since TM’s stake will increase through a merger, an open offer will not be required. “While TM will buy less than 15% through preferential offer, it will get a little over 5% through merger. The preferential offer for TM was a pre-condition for Spice-Idea merger as TM is keen on a bigger India play. This was the only way Idea could have got Spice, which it has been eyeing for over an year now,” said sources. With this, TM’s three-year old dream of partnering Idea Cellular will come true. Way back in June 2005, TM, in a consortium with Singapore Technologies Telemedia, wanted to acquire 47.7% stake in Idea Cellular. They wanted to buy out the stake of US telecom giant AT&T — now Cingular Wireless — for about $390 million. However, the Department of Telecom (DoT) raised objections to the deal and TM’s ambitions could not be fulfilled. […]
Gammon India Ltd. said it has acquired a 75.1 percent stake in steam turbine maker, Franco Tosi Meccanica Spa. for 40 million euros. In a regulatory filing, the company also said it has bought 50 percent in power sector services firm, Sadelmi Spa., for 7.5 million euros. SCI shares closed up 3.12 percent at 390 rupees on the Bombay Stock Exchange, and the benchmark Sensex closed up 1.99 percent at 15,185.32 points. (Forbes) […]
The AV Birla group flagship Grasim Industries on Tuesday said it has sold its sponge iron business — Vikram Ispat — to Welspun Power and Steel for Rs 1,030 crore. Grasim, in a statement issued here, said the company would transfer its Vikram Ispat undertaking into a new special purpose vehicle (SPV), to be formed as a subsidiary company of Grasim. The SPV would be funded by Welspun Power and Steel through equity investment and induction of debt to acquire the SPV and sponge iron business. The SPV would use the funds inducted by Welspun to make the payment to Grasim. The transaction is expected to be completed within the next six months, the statement added. Ravi Kastia, group executive president and business head, Grasim, told ET that the company would plough back the money into its core businesses of viscose-staple fibre and cement. […]
In one of the biggest buy outs of any Indian company by an MNC, Japanese major Daiichi Sankyo has picked up the promoters – Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh's – 34.8% stake at Rs 737 per share in drugmaker Ranbaxy Labarotaries. This means complete exit of Ranbaxy promoters from the company. However, the senior Singh (Mr Malvinder Singh) is expected to continue to head the management for sometime. The story was first broken by ET. As ET reported earlier, the Japanese company may buy the promoters' stake at Rs 737 per share or around 30% premium over Ranbaxy's share price of Rs 560.75 on Tuesday. At this share price, the company is valued at around Rs 27,492 crore while the promoters will get around Rs 9,573 crore. The Japanese major will also make a mandatory open offer, as per the Indian laws, to buy an additional 20% stake in the company. The source added that Daiichi Sankyo plans to hold a controlling 51% stake in the Indian company. […]
Idea Cellular is set to acquire BK Modi’s 40.8 per cent stake in Spice Communications for around Rs 2,200 crore at Rs 77.50 per share. A top industry source confirmed that the two companies have finalised the deal at Rs 77-78 per share, a premium of 45 per cent to Spice’s closing share price of Rs 53.2 on Monday. The deal pegs the valuation of Spice Communications at Rs 5,347 crore. The company is likely to make an announcement in the next few days. After buying out the Modis, Idea Cellular will make the mandatory open offer for 20 per cent stake in Spice that is currently held by the public. The two companies will be subsequently merged, said a source. Telekom Malaysia, which currently holds 39.2 per cent in Spice Communications, will be given a proportional stake in the combined Idea-Spice entity, sources said. […]
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deputy governor Shyamala Gopinath has put a question mark on three investment proposals of the State Bank of India (SBI) relating to its exposure in private equity companies, two of which are aimed at floating real estate funds. Sources said Ms Gopinath, who is the RBI nominee on the board of the country’s largest bank, had expressed her reservations about the proposed investments. The entities, which SBI has identified for investment are Sage Capital, promoted by Manish Kanchan, Unitech’s Unitech Realty Investors, and South Asian Real Estate (SARE), promoted by Anuj Gupta, an NRI. Sources said Unitech and SARE proposals were approved internally by the SBI investment committee. However, when the bank circulated the proposal papers among board members as an agenda for a subsequent board meeting, Ms Gopinath voiced her concerns. The question, however, remains as to why the RBI deputy governor had objected to the proposed investments. […]
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