The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), Asia’s oldest bourse, is in talks to acquire to a majority stake in Computer Age Management Services Pvt. Ltd (CAMS), a registrar and transfer agent, according to a person familiar with the matter. Chennai-based CAMS processes mutual funds transactions and takes care of customer care for asset management companies and distributors. According to its website, it has a 50% market share of mutual fund transactions in India. The company is a joint venture between HDFC Ltd, private equity firm Advent International Corp. and Chennai-based Acsys Software India Pvt. Ltd. Its website didn’t reveal the shareholding pattern and Mint couldn’t ascertain which shareholder(s) was selling to BSE. BSE’s deputy chief executive officer (CEO) Ashish Chauhan declined comment as did the spokespersons for HDFC and Prabal Nag, vice-president of business development for CAMS. Acsys Software couln’t be reached for comment over the weekend. Advent also declined to comment. […]

After a drop in its Q3 net profits by 19.34% to Rs 1,164.82 crore for FY 09-10, the latest news of the much-awaited Rel Infra-GTL deal been called off, comes as another major setback, in a deal that would have seen RCom reduce its debt burden by $3.9 bn. On June 27, 2010, RCom and GTL Infra had signed a Non-Binding Term Sheet for a merger that would see a combined tower strength of over 80,000 towers, with an enterprise value of $11bn, which would have made it the largest telecom infrastructure firm in the world. However, as the deed expired on August 31, 2010, with no efforts by either party to extend the agreement deadline or enter into a new contract, the deal has been officially called off, with a notice to that effect being sent by GTL to the BSE, after a meeting of the Board of Directors of GTL on September 6. […]

Cipla India is to acquire a 25 percent stake in the manufacturing division (CMM) of South Africa's third largest pharmaceutical group Cipla Medpro South Africa, it was announced on Tuesday. Ciplo Medpro SA said it was cognisant of the need to increase volume in CMM and so was inthe process of finalising an agreement with Cipla India regarding the acquisition the consideration of which will be a “nominal value”. “Pursuant to this, Cipla India will provide additional volume and assist us in achieving World Health Organisation (WHO) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) manufacturing approvals in the near future, resulting in increased orders and business for our factory.” “This will ensure better continuity, increased capacity utilisation and further entrench the relationship with Cipla India,” the pharmaceutical group said. […]

Reliance Industries on Monday said it has acquired 14.12 per cent stake in hospitality major East India Hotels (EIH), which runs the Oberoi group of hotels. “Reliance Industries has acquired from Oberoi Hotels Private Limited and certain other promoters shares in EIH Limited representing 14.12 per cent of EIH at a total cost of Rs.1,021 crore approximately,” the oil-to-retail conglomerate led by Mukesh Ambani said in a statement. The company made the acquisition through its wholly owned subsidiary, Reliance Industries Investment and Holding Private Limited. The announcement came after the closing of stock markets. […]

Mahindra & Mahindra is focusing on inorganic growth opportunities in the farm equipment space by endorsing clean and green technology. The automaker picked up a 20 per cent stake in the Indian-arm of US-based Vayugrid Marketplace Services last week for Rs 1 crore essentially to create a business model whereby farmers can ensure better productivity and offtake, Pawan Goenka, president of automotive and farm equipment business at M&M, told FC. Vayugrid’s core area of business is contract farming and promoting alternative energies to the rural community — helping farmers to get access to energy to drive productivity and thereby create wealth. In India, Vayugrid is headquartered in Bangalore while in Pune, it has 1,000 acres of farm and agricultural land under cultivation for farmers. “Vayugrid has a business model that ties in very closely to what we want to do in the longer term in our farm equipment business –create opportunities and give knowledge to farmers to make them able to manage their crops much better, get better productivity, thereby guaranteeing a better offtake,” Goenka said. […]