Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Mutual Funds' ADR/GDR exposure limit to increase by $50 mn:SEBI

SEBI, to much cheer from the MF industry, has decided to increase the investment limit of single domestic Mutual fund's from $150 mn to $200 mn.It also said that there would be a sub-ceiling for individual MF's which should not be greater than 10% of their total AUM or $ 200 mn whichever is higher.

Source: The Economic Times

Millennium India Acquisition Company, Inc. to acquire stake in SMC Group

Millennium India Acquisition Company, Inc. announced that it would be picking up a minor stake in SMC group of companies worth A$39.97 mn.This would give the company a 14.9% control in what is one of the heavyweights in the finanial services industry in India.

This deal values SMC Group at $228 million, or approximately 8.6 times FY2008 projected earnings.

The capital realized from this investment will be used by SMC Group to expedite its expansion plans

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Geogit Financial sevices to partner BNP Paribas

The BNP Paribas-Geojit financial services partnership which was ascertained in March 2007 is being renamed as 'Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services Limited' in India.

BNP Paribas picked up a stake of 27.18% in March which will go up to 34.35%.Investors of Barjeel Geojit Securities LLC, a leading UAE-based provider of financial services of which Geojit Financial Services is the parent company, are to benefit by way of best practices, global products and technology as a result of this partnership.

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HDFC buys out Chubb in insurance JV

HDFC bought out the 26% stake of Chinese insurance major in the JV whose book value expected to be around Rs100 crores would make the deal worth Rs 26 crore.The General Insurance Venture was set up in 2001.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority(IRDA) has been approached by HDFC to clear the Buy-Out.Ergo,the German reinsurance company is speculated to be the lead runner in the race to pick up the Chubb stake,till then,as the HDFC authorities say the JV will be fully owned by them.

Indian insurance regulations limits foreign institutions to own a maximum of 26% stake in insurance ventures.The limit might be raised to 49% but not without political opposition.

Source: Mint

ICICI plans India's biggest Public Offering;to be worth $4.3 bn

ICICI Bank Ltd. has filed documents with the market regulator SEBI seeking a public offer speculated to be worth 17,500 crore which may go up to 20,100 crore depending on the demand.

The bank which has hired Goldman Sachs and Merill Lynch to manage the offer said it would meet its next 3 years requirements assuming the banking system grows at 25%.It proposes to use the proceeds to meet the strong credit growth and also to usher the bank's inorganic growth ambitions.

Enam Financial Consultants and JM Morgan Stanley are also hired to see the deal through.

Source: www.livemint.com

Hindalco wins court approaval for Novelis buyout

The AV Birla group promoted Hindalco is set to become the largest producer of aluminium rolled products in the world after it won the approval of the Ontario superior court to acquire Novelis, a leader in the aluminium rolled products market.The buyout is valued at $6 bn.

The Atlanta based Novelis will now become a fully owned subsidiary of Hindalco.This catapults Hindalco in the top five league of aluminium heavyweights with revenues standing at $14 bn.

Hindalco would acquire Novelis through its subsidiary AV Metals which would cost the company $44.93 per share.Novelis is on its way to being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Source: The Economic Times

Hilton-Dlf to form joint venture in hotel business

Hilton Hotels Corporation will create a joint venture company (JV) in India with DLF Limited (DLF). The joint venture company plans to develop and own 75 hotels and serviced apartments over the next seven years. The formation of the joint venture is pending receipt of formal written approval from the Government.

The JV-owned hotels will represent several brands from the Hilton Hotels Corporation portfolio, including Hilton Hotels, Hilton Garden Inn, Homewood Suites by Hilton and Hilton Residences. The JV Company will develop and build these properties, while Hilton will manage them.

DLF will hold 74% in the JV Company, and Hilton will hold the remaining minority stake as a symbol of its commitment to the venture. Over the next five to seven years, Hilton will invest up to USD 143 million in the JV Company, before any consideration of debt.

The initial stage of the joint venture will involve 20 hotels in a number of key locations, including Chandigarh, Chennai and Kolkata. A large number of these hotels are expected to be Hilton Garden Inn properties -- a business hotel brand, offering focused services. Beyond the initial 20 sites, the JV Company will continue to identify and acquire sites and undertake new hotel developments in due course of time.

Source: INR News

Central Bank to roll out IPO in June

The Central bank of India is expecting an approval for an IPO from the Securities and Exchange Board of India(SEBI) in June. The capital realized by the bank would be used to amend the basel-2 Capital adequacy ratio (CAR) as directed by the Reserve Bank of India(RBI).The CAR is expected to rise to 12 per cent from the current levels of 10.40 percent after the issue.

The management also plans to expand the bank internally, upgrade it technologically and strengthen the Human resource department. The size of the IPO is expected to be somewhere around Rs300 crore. The bank is also thinking on capital expansion as a means of capital restructuring and diversifying it services.

Arvind mills and Diesel planet to form joint venture

Arvind mills announced that it had completed a joint venture agreement with Diesel International B.V. to represent the arrival of the diesel brand in India. The new entity would be called Diesel India Fashion Arvind Pvt Ltd.

Arvind mills, as the diesel authorities claim, was carefully chosen by them after a detailed search.

The joint venture hopes to start operations before the end of this year opening stores in Delhi and Mumbai

Source: www.equitybulls.com