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Wipro Ltd , India's third-biggest software exporter, is expected to bid for France's Capgemini by the end of January in a deal valuing the French firm at up to $7 billion, the Hindustan Times said on Monday, citing unnamed sources. Citigroup and HSBC have been in discussions to finalise a plan before the year-end holidays, it said, citing investment banking sources. “Details about leveraged buyout financing and other options were discussed,” it quoted a banker close to the deal as saying. […] Tata Motors will be named on Dec. 21 as the winning bidder in the auction for Jaguar and Land Rover, according to a report in Britain's Birmingham Post newspaper. Tata will pay £1 billion, or about $2 billion, for the two Ford Motor luxury auto brands, said the newspaper, which is based near Jaguar and Land Rover's home in the British midlands. Ford spokesman Mark Truby said the company plans no announcements regarding a sale of the prestigious British brands. He said the U.S. automaker is still on track to announce the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover early next year. Tata is vying with another Indian automaker, Mahindra & Mahindra , as well as U.S. private equity firm One Equity Partners, for the units. Earlier this month those companies had submitted bids that ranged from $1.5 billion to $2 billion, said one person involved in the talks, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are confidential. […] Travelguru, the online travel portal has signed a strategic agreement to acquire Desiya.com, a B2B hotel portal based in Gurgaon. The deal size is $25 million. Desiya.com is a New Jersey-based online travel company with offices in London, New Jersey, Gurgaon and Kolkata. Speaking to Hindustan Times, Ashwin Damera, founder & CEO of Travelguru.com said, “Since Desiya operates in the B2B online travel and we operate in the B2C online travel space, this acquisition is complementary for us. It will make us leaders in the online hotel business space.” Talking about financials, Damera said that Travelguru, which has been backed by VC firms like Battery Ventures and Sequoia Capital India would break even in August or September 2008. By 31 March 2008, it expects revenues of $45 million. The company has seen two rounds of funding totaling to $25 million. Damera holds a founder’s equity share in the company as well. […] India's biggest discount carrier, Deccan, will merge with upmarket Kingfisher Airlines to create the nation's biggest domestic airline, officials said. The firm formed by the merger next year will keep the name Kingfisher, the flagship brand of Vijay Mallya's UB Group, officials from the two carriers said after a four-hour meeting. “The merger will bring about synergies across the board and lower the cost of operating both the airlines,” Deccan founder G R Gopinath told a Press conference in this southern Indian city where his airline is based. A merger would marry two airlines that had seemed unlikely bedfellows, with Gopinath earlier this year likening the flamboyant Mallya to someone from Venus and himself to a Martian who would never be able to do a deal. That was before he sold a 26 per cent stake in June to UB Group, accepting a 5.5-billion-rupee ($139-million) lifeline to keep his fleet in the skies as Deccan Aviation reeled under heavy losses. […] IDFC private equity on Thursday unveiled its biggest investment till date with a $65 million (Rs 260 crore) play in the Chennai-based dry bulk shipping company Goodearth Maritime (GML). IDFC would pick up around 15-20% stake in the company, which part of the diversified Archean Group with interests in ores, minerals, industrial chemicals and renewable energy. The move comes at a time when GML is planning big ticket investment into a greenfield ship building yard at Cuddalore as well as foraying into on-shore and off-shore oil drilling sector. The transaction was sealed on Thursday evening, with 03 Capital advising GML on the deal. GML’s shipyard is expected to require a total investment of around $500 million in the first phase. With a capacity to build around 25-30 ships a year, including VLCCs, which could probably make it the biggest private sector shipyard in the country. The major players in private shipyard space are ABG and Bharati, both of which are based in Mumbai. […] California Software Company Limited has announced that the company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for acquisition of the minority shareholding of 49% in Inatech Infosolutions, India; the acquisition is approximately valued $ 6.17 million. Earlier in November 2006, the Company had taken 51% majority interest in Inatech Infosolutions. However, the company was to originally acquire the balance in November 2009. Founded in 1992, California Software Company Ltd is a public limited company in India with a global presence. Its development practices are certified at CMMi Level 5. On the other side, Inatech Infosolutions, founded in 2002, is a fast growing Oracle Certified Advantage Partner (CAP) in EMEA region. […] Citigroup , Singapore's Government Investment Corp (GIC) and other international investors are buying 15 percent of a real estate venture of India's Shapoorji Pallonji group for about $300 million, Indian papers reported. The deal involved investments in six projects in the commercial, residential and shopping malls sectors in Kolkata, Pune, Nagupur and other cities, the Economic Times reported on Tuesday, citing an unidentified source. It said the deal was worth $290 million, while the Times of India said the stake was valued at $320 million. A spokesman for Citigroup in India declined comment. The Shapoorji Pallonji group is run by Pallonji Mistry, whose family is the single biggest shareholder of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group. […] Resurgere Mines & Minerals India Ltd. announced that Merrill Lynch International has taken a 12.74% stake in the firm. Resurgere Mines & Minerals India is engaged in the business of extraction, processing and sale of mineral products and exploration and development of mining assets. The Company's diverse product range includes various forms of iron ore such as Lump ore, Size ore, Calibrated Lump ore (CLO) and Iron ore fine etc. and bauxite. It sells all these products domestically except iron ore fines which it exports to China. It is one of the few Companies in the mining industry to have obtained ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001:2004 Certification from UKAS, United Kingdom. Furthermore, the Company is a recognised Star Trading House of India and is also member of various business councils i.e. CAPEXIL, FIEO, FIMI etc. The Company proposes to enter the capital markets with a public issue of 5,000,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each through 100% book building process and it has filed DRHP with SEBI for the purpose. Motilal Oswal Investment Advisors Pvt. Ltd is the BRLM for the Issue. The company proposes to fund purchase of plant and machinery for setting up of its extraction and crushing facilities at the mines, and purchase railway rakes to set up its logistics infrastructure facilities through the net proceeds of the Issue. […] Global private equity major CVCI to invest 125 million dollars in JBF Global Pte Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary JBF Industries Ltd. These funds are meant to be used for international operations of the Company, for expansions and acquisitions. With this transaction, CVCI’s investment in JBF Industries is worth Rs 560 crores since June 2005. “The investment is through a preferential allotment of security. Given the fact that the company has huge potential and has consistently performed and delivered since our first investment, we are very happy to continue our association with JBF and participate in its growth “Says Mr P R Srinivasan, Director CVCI. The Company has begun production at its RAK plant, JBF RAK FZ LLC, in Emirates, a joint venture with RAKIA (Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority) for setting up a Polyester PET resin packaging in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah. The plant, a world class manufacturing facility with a capacity of 900t/day polymerization will address the markets outside India. One line in the plant is for production of thick film while the second line is for longer width thin film. Equipments are from Dornear, Germany. This is the first plant of this size set up by an Indian company in the Emirates. The new facility started its first phase production in July 2007. In the 2nd Phase ” JBF RAK FZ LLC, is expected to start production of Polyester Film (BOPET) by quarter ending 31st December 2007. JBF RAK FZ LLC will be part of JBF Global Pte Ltd. […] IDG Ventures India, a $150 million (Rs594 crore) early-stage technology venture capital fund, has made an undisclosed investment in Bangalore-based 3D Solid Compression Pvt. Ltd, a 3D content creation and visualization start-up incubated jointly by Stanford University and Indian Institute of Science(IISc), Bangalore. Sudhir Sethi and Hemir Doshi, who lead IDG’s investment team, will join the 3D Solid Compression board. The company was born out of an on-campus academic research project by Stanford University professors Krishnan Ramaswami and Fritz Prinz. Ramaswamy later moved to IISc where he teamed up with B. Gurumoorthy, a faculty member at IISc, to take the project forward. This is the first instance of a US-India cross-border technology research project being spun out into a start-up and successfully roping in venture funding. ( Livemint) […] |