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The billionaire owners of an Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket team have held talks about buying into Liverpool, according to reports. Representatives of the GMR group, who run the Delhi Daredevils team, were guests at Anfield for Tuesday's 4-4 thriller with Arsenal. GMR chairman Grandhi Mallikarjun Rao is worth an estimated £4.2billion and the senior official he sent to Liverpool in midweek is thought to be a Reds fan. […] The board of Maytas Infra Limited met here on Friday under the chairmanship of K Ramalingam, and Anil K Agarwal, O P Vaish and Ved Jain all government-nominated directors along with Teja Raju, vice-chairman and whole-time director and B Narasimha Rao, the whole-time director, according to a company release. The board had extensive discussions on the business plan, orders in hand and under execution. More importantly, it also had discussions with bankers as well as the chairman of IL&FS Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS), Ravi Parthasarathy, amid reports that it appears set to take over Maytas Infra soon. Interestingly, IL&FS owns a 37% stake in Maytas Infra. […] Ms Ramnath, who has been heading ICICI Venture fund since 2001, is likely to put in her papers on April 20, when the company’s board meets. The ICICI Group could also witness another change at a senior level over the next few days. Shikha Sharma, MD of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, the largest private sector life player in India, may also put in her papers and move to Axis Bank. ET had first reported the likelihood of the two honchos putting in their papers in its edition dated February 12. Ms Ramnath is believed to have apprised senior ICICI Bank officials of her decision to quit earlier this week. Officials privy to information said Ms Ramnath is likely to float her own fund along with a couple of other ICICI Venture colleagues. Ms Ramnath was not available for comment. When contacted, an ICICI Bank spokesperson said, “We do not comment on speculation.” […] Reliance ADAG is close to acquiring 50% stake in a UK-based currency exchange and money transfer firm for an undisclosed amount. This will enable the Indian company to sell its financial products to the 1.4 million NRI population. The name of the UK firm is under wraps but a person with knowledge of the development said the target company was recently named as one of the fastest growing firms in the UK with more than 250 outlets. “It could either be TTT Moneycorp or No1 Currency,’’ he said, adding, the deal will be routed through Wall Street Finance, an Indian public-listed firm that ADAG acquired recently to enter the money transfer business. […] US and European telecoms groups and other investors are in talks to buy up to a 26 percent stake in India's Reliance Communications, a report said Thursday. The Economic Times, a leading Indian financial daily, said foreign investors were in discussions to take a 20-to-26 percent holding in India's second-largest cellular operator, which is led by tycoon Anil Ambani. The deal would hinge on whether Reliance Communications, known as RCom, can get a premium over its current share price, the newspaper said, citing an unidentified banker with knowledge of the discussions. […] EVERTON have become the latest Premier League team to be courted by billionaire Indian businessman Anil Ambani. Intermediates representing Ambani have been in contact with Goodison owner Bill Kenwright, intent on arranging a meeting between the two parties. Ambani, said to be the sixth richest man in the world with a fortune of £24bn, has targeted Everton after failing in an attempt to take control at Newcastle United. Ambani’s son, Jai Anmol, is thought to have attended Everton’s pre-season friendly against PSV Eindhoven at Goodison for informal talks with Kenwright and club director Robert Earl. […] Reliance Communications chairman and managing director Anil Ambani may have issued a statement sometimes back that he was not interested in buying English club Newcastle United. But the speculation simply refuses to die. According to the Times, it is becoming increasingly likely that the telecoms giant will seek formal talks with the Premiership club’s board with a view to a £220 million buyout on Monday. Ambani was first linked with the takeover last month but it seemed he was dissuaded by the £260 million tag and the fact that the Tyneside club had failed to strengthen the squad. But following the club’s latest tribulations, the exit of Geordie favourite, manager Kevin Keegan, Reliance believes the time is ripe to make a move. […] News that Anil Ambani-controlled Adlabs Films has engaged itself with Fame India for a possible takeover put on fire the shares of Mumbai-based multiplex chain. From Wednesday to Friday, shares of Fame India shot up 12.18 per cent as its shares closed at Rs 42.50 a piece on speculation that Adlabs Films was willing to pay a significant premium to the current market price. The buzz was that Adlabs would pay Rs 80 per share, almost double from the prevailing market price. When contacted by Televisionpoint.com, officials of both the companies denied the market speculation. Adlabs spokesperson Anjali Malhotra said, “This is the rumour that has been going on for the last one year. It is absolutely baseless.” Shravan Shroff, managing director, Fame India, said, “There is no truth in the matter. It is just speculation.” […] After its divorce from STAR, Balaji Telefilms is learnt to be in conversation with a clutch of investors to park the 25.99% stake held by Rupert Murdoch’s media firm. The potential investors may include Reliance ADAG, sources say. The other name doing the rounds is film distribution company Eros International. While the negotiations are on, the promoters of Balaji are still unclear whether to buy back a part of the stake or a new investor would buy the entire 25.99%. While the Balaji spokesperson refused to comment, a senior ADAG official strongly denied any plan to pick up Balaji stake. Eros CEO Sunil Lulla could not be reached. It is possible that private equity investors may also be interested, but their names could not be ascertained. In the event, Reliance BIG Entertainment picks up even 15% of this stake, it will trigger an open offer for another 20%. […] DreamWorks SKG is near an agreement to get $550 million in funding from Indian billionaire Anil Ambani, allowing Steven Spielberg's film studio to split from Viacom Inc., according to a person with knowledge of the talks. A deal may be reached as soon as next week, said the person, who declined to be identified because the agreement isn't final. The studio will borrow $400 million and no additional outside equity will be required, the person said yesterday. The investment from Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group would give Spielberg, 61, the backing he needs to leave Viacom as soon as November. DreamWorks partners Spielberg, David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg sold the studio to Viacom for $1.6 billion in 2006. […] |