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The government today approved Norwegian telecom company Telenor's proposal to raise stake in its Indian joint venture Unitech Wireless to 74 per cent, the maximum permitted in the sector. The Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA) gave its nod to Unitech Wireless Tamil Nadu for enhancing foreign shareholding by Telenor Asia (Singapore) up to 74 per cent, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma told reporters. Telenor would for now pump in an FDI of Rs 3,740 crore for raising the stake to 67.25 per cent from the present 49 per cent. The Norwegian company had in August this year obtained Foreign Investment Promotion Board approval to enhance stake to 74 per cent. All foreign investments over $600 million (over Rs 2,800 crore) are to be approved by the CCEA. […]
Venture Capital firm Matrix Partners has invested Rs 20 crore in Ver se Innovation, a Bangalore-based provider of classified services on mobile phone. Ver se Innovation, which provides mobile classified services in categories like jobs, matrimonials and real estate, was seed-funded by OnMobile Global, a mobile VAS player incubated by Infosys, India’s second largest IT services firm. Besides, OnMobile had a global distribution agreement with Ver se Innovation. Post the funding, Aravind Rao, chairman and CEO of OnMobile, and Rishi Navani, co-founder and MD of Matrix India, will join the board of Ver se Innovation. “We are excited about the consumer mobile services opportunities in India and what Ver se has been able to accomplish in a short period of time. We look forward to partnering with Ver se team, and we highly value the partnership with OnMobile Global, said Rishi Navani, co-founder and MD of Matrix India. […]
New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV) said in an announcement to the Bombay Stock Exchange that it would buy back the 26% stake NBC Universal Inc. holds in its non-news subsidiary NDTV Networks Plc that runs several channels, including entertainment channel NDTV Imagine. The firm didn’t spell out the financial aspect of the deal. Late on Tuesday evening, website contentSutra.com reported, citing a person familiar with the development, that NDTV is in talks with Time Warner Inc. and Malaysia’s Astro All Asia Networks Plc to replace NBC. NDTV declined comment for the contentSutra story, which couldn’t independently be verified by Mint. NDTV is buying the stake through its arm NDTV Networks BV. In May 2008, NBC had acquired the 26% stake in NDTV Networks for $150 million (Rs689 crore today). […]
Quippo Telecom Infrastructure Ltd. is looking to raise around $300 million through a stake sale to pay off its debt, the unlisted Indian telecom tower company's managing director said Wednesday. “We are looking to sell less than a 10% stake. It will most probably be a fresh issue (of shares) to private-equity companies,” Sunil Kanoria, who is also the company's vice chairman, told Dow Jones Newswires. The company holds a 49% stake in Wireless TT Info-Services Ltd., or WTTIL, which was earlier named Wireless Tata Telecom Infrastructure Ltd. Wireless Tata Telecom Infrastructure was formed via a merger of the telecom tower operations of Tata Teleservices Ltd. and Quippo in January. […]
United Spirits, is set to sell new shares worth about $300-350 million to institutions to help cut its debt, after efforts to sell a stake to private equity firms and Diageo failed. The world's third-largest spirits maker by volume is set to place the shares with institutions (QIPs) as early as this week, three sources with direct knowledge of the deal said. “The market is good enough for a share sale. Why opt for a PE firm that buys at the same price and adds little value otherwise,” one source said. The sources declined to be named as they are not authorised to speak to the media. […]
As part of the growth strategy for the Sugar business, EID Parry India Limited, has acquired 76% stake in the equity of M/s Sadashiva Sugars Limited based in Bangalore with its factory at Bagalkot, Karnataka. EID Parry is a leading manufacturer of sugar in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry with 5 factories having sugarcane crushing capacity of 19000 TCD and a Cogen capacity of 84.5 MW. It also operated two distilleries with a capacity of 135 klpd. This acquisition will be EID Parry Sugar Division's first entry into Karnataka. […]
Western drug makers are stepping up the hunt for emerging market “tigers” in India. UK-based GlaxoSmithKline Plc has emerged as frontrunner for a phased buy-in of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd, people familiar with the matter said. A deal could spark a fresh wave of foreign deals in India’s drugs sector after the troubled purchase of Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd by Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd last year. While nothing is finalized, one possibility is that Glaxo will take a 20% stake in Dr Reddy’s Holdings, a family vehicle that in turn owns 23.2% of the drug maker. This would give Glaxo a stake of just under 5%, worth around $165 million (around Rs764 crore). But the British firm could also get right of first refusal on the family’s remaining holding, the sources said. Officials at both firms declined to comment. […]
Ansal Properties and Infrastructure (API) is in talks with at least two private equity (PE) players, including Red Fort India Real Estate Fund and Bahrain-based Investate Realty, to raise up to $100 million through equity stake sale in its two projects, according to two people close to the development. A spokesperson of the Delhi-based company said that API was looking for PE investments in its projects, but declined to comment on whether it was in talks with Red Fort and Investate Realty. Red Fort declined to comment, while Investate didn’t respond to an email query. According to people close to the situation, the two PE players are separately in negotiations with Ansal to buy at least 26% in the two proposed townships in Lucknow and Dadri near Delhi. […]
The government has blocked the proposed merger between Etisalat DB Telecom (earlier Swan) and Allianz Infratech citing the three-year lock-in requirement under the current rules. The two players, which entered the local telecom market as recently as last year, had moved the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in April this year seeking approval for a merger. The DoT has informed the two vide a letter dated October 7, that the merger “cannot be permitted before the lock-in period of three years”. […]
Fitness One is looking at a PE infusion of around Rs 25 crore to fund its expansion. The Chennai-based company has been actively scouting for private equity in the last few months. The 75-outlet strong fitness chain is open to diluting 15-20% equity to fund growth, Fitness One promoter and MD Vivek Anand confirmed to ET. The chain hopes to add 30-40 outlets in the next 18 months, “three-fourths of which would be company-owned, with the rest being franchisee-run,” he said. It is learnt from sources that it was close to signing a deal with TVS Capital, but talks fell through over valuation issues. The company has now mandated one of the big four consulting firms to look for the right partner. […]
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