Infosys linked to buyout talks for UK's Sage

Infosys Technologies is in the thick of yet another European buy-out rumour --this time involving the UK-based Sage Group.British publications have reported that Sage's stock price on the London Stock Exchange went up on Tuesday on talk that Infosys, CapGemini orsoftware giant Microsoft may be interested in acquiring the company.

The publications said that a couple of institutions picked up shares in Sage even as retail investors in the Britain were rushing out of banking-related stocks following the run on Northern Rock bank.

Headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne, the Sage Group is a supplier of accounting, payroll, CRM and business management software for large, medium and small size enterprises.

Read more in The Times of India article.

'Temasek wants Nasdaq's 30% stake in LSE'

Singapore’s state-owned Temasek Holdings has approached Nasdaq to buy its 30% stake in the London Stock Exchange (LSE), a newspaper reported on Sunday. The Sunday Times said in an unsourced report that Temasek had made the approach in recent days and the deal could lead to a full takeover of LSE by the Singaporean investor.

On August 20, Nasdaq Stock Market said it may sell its stake in LSE, worth £800 million ($1.6 billion), to bolster its chances of buying Nordic exchange operator OMX and it was already in touch with interested parties. The US exchange company said later in the day in a statement that it will not sell its LSE stake to a single buyer. The reported interest by Temasek, which owns stakes in UK banks Barclays and Standard Chartered, comes amid growing protectionism in Europe and the US towards sovereign wealth funds making aggressive overseas investments in search of higher returns.

The newspaper said several parties, including the New York Stock Exchange and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, may enter the fray as well as investment and infrastructure funds, while another newspaper report said that Nasdaq was seeking to sell up to half of its LSE stake to Deutsche Boerse.Nasdaq, eager to expand its presence in overseas markets, is locked in a $4 billion bidding war with Borse Dubai for OMX, which owns exchanges in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and the Baltic states.

Vedanta sells Sterlite Gold for $86m

Vedanta Resources, the Anil Agarwal-led mining major, has sold its 84.2% stake in Sterlite Gold to Georgia’s GeoProMining for $86 million. The Canada-listed Sterlite Gold’s main assets include gold mines in Armenia.

The deal comes a year after Vedanta acquired Sterlite Gold for around Rs 300 crore, a step believed to be in line with the LSE-listed group’s global ambitions. But problems with the local government are believed to have led to the group’s exit from Armenia.

GeoProMining had made an all-cash offer to Vedanta Resources at a price of $0.3845 per share of Sterlite Gold, amounting to $86 million. “In addition, GeoProMining has agreed to repay Sterlite Gold’s debt of around $25 million to Vedanta Group companies. The carrying value of Vedanta’s investment in Sterlite Gold was $83 million on June 30, 2007,”said a source.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

Shekhar Kapur to raise $500mn in S'pore

Shekhar Kapur, the director of Oscar-nominated film Elizabeth, is in talks to raise a $500 million fund in Singapore to invest in the entertainment industry, including movies and music across Asia.

Investors in Singapore were more willing to bet on businesses that might take a longer period of time to make a profit, unlike hedge funds or private equity firms, the Indian director said in an interview in Singapore.

Kapur aims to capitalise on rapid economic growth in Asia, home to 3.8 billion people, or 60 per cent of the global population. In India, the second-fastest growing major economy after China, he directed Bandit Queen in 1994, a controversial film that gained international attention when it was banned by the Indian government.

Startup companies with innovative ideas and technology needed time to nurture their businesses, said Andrew Craissati, a former investment banker and chief executive officer of the US-based Transpac Media, which advises companies on listing on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM).

Read more in The Business Standard article.

Unitech to raise $2-3 bn overseas to fund projects, expansion

Unitech Ltd, the second largest real estate firm in India by market capitalization, is looking to float a Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) in an overseas market to raise $2-3 billion (about Rs8,000-12,000 crore) to meet its expansion plans.

Unitech and its investment arm will sell a stake in the six special purpose vehicles (SPV) that currently own six commercial properties to the Reit.
This trust could likely be listed in Singapore, though Hong Kong or the London Stock Exchange are also options, R. Nagaraju, general manager, corporate planning, Unitech, said.

The Reit will be listed in the later half of 2008, after a portion of the construction work in each of the various projects is completed.Reits, common in several developed countries, use money from investors to purchase and manage property. They are traded on major exchanges just like stocks. They are also granted special tax considerations and enable sharing in non-residential properties as well, such as hotels, malls, and other commercial or industrial properties that yield rental income. Much of the income from the properties owned by Reits is shared among its investors.

Unitech’s Reit will acquire a 60% stake in each of the six SPV’s created for the six commercial projects that Unitech is developing,. This stake is currently held by Unitech Corporate Parks Plc.

Read more in The Livemint article.

Charter makes 20% open offer for Esab India

London-based Charter has made an open offer to the shareholders of Esab India for acquiring 20% stake in the engineering firm for Rs 131.14 crore.

A Charter subsidiary has made an offer for acquiring 3,078,604 fully paid up equity shares in Esab India representing 20% stake at Rs 426 per share, the company said in a filing to the London Stock Exchange.

According to Esab India's shareholding pattern as of March 31, Charter holds 5,743,200 shares amounting to 37.31% in in the company through a subsidiary, Esab Holdings.With this offer, Charter's shareholding in Esab India would increase to 57.3%, subject to the regulatory approvals.

Shares of Esab India, which is engaged in the business of welding consumables and equipments, closed at Rs 460.35, up by 8.8% on the BSE today.

London-based Charter owns two international engineering businesses through a number of intermediate companies - Esab, which is a global welding company, and Howden, a global leader in the manufacture of air and gas handling equipment.

UTV Motion raises $70mn from UK IPO

Media and entertainment firm UTV Motion Pictures on Tuesday said it has raised 70 million dollars (around Rs 290 crore) through its listing on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of London Stock Exchange.

Upon listing, UTV Motion Pictures, a subsidiary of UTV Software, is expected to have a market value of 309.3 million dollars (over Rs 1,200 crore) as promoters are seeking to dilute 25 per cent of its total equity base through the share-sale at 2.90 dollars apiece, a company statement said.

The Isle of Man incorporated firm today announced the book closure of its initial public offer and over 2.41 crore shares carrying a face value of 0.05 dollars each (comprising of 23.17 per cent of the equity post-issue).

Read more in The DNA Money article.

NSE ranks as third-fastest growing bourse in the world

India's National Stock Exchange has emerged as the world's third fastest-growing bourse in terms of increase in listed companies, outpacing global names such as NYSE, Nasdaq and London Stock Exchange.

While NSE recorded a 15 per cent jump in the number of listed firms to 1,244 during the one-year period ended April 2007, Bombay Stock Exchange has consolidated its position as home to the maximum number of listed companies in the world.

NSE's 15 per cent growth is next only to 23.3 per cent growth at Poland's Warsaw Stock Exchange and 15.4 per cent for Malta Stock Exchange, data compiled by the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) show.

The Mumbai-based bourse has added 160 companies to its listed universe from a total of 1,082 at the end of April 2006. Out of these, more than 60 companies have joined the bourse this year itself.

Read more in The DNA Money article.

The bourse has seen a whopping ten-fold surge in number of listed companies in nearly 13 years from about 100 firms in 1994-95, after it was recognized as a stock exchange under the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act in April 1993.

London firms keen on CSE revival

The financial services companies in the UK are keen on participating in the revival of the Calcutta Stock Exchange (CSE), the Lord Mayor of London A J Stuttard said.

The involvement of the companies can only be possible with regulatory permissions and a strong “political will” on the part of the local government. The revival of the exchange is essential to develop the region as a financial services centre, the Lord Mayor said.

London has proved itself as a financial services centre by setting up a separate Finance Services Authority, independent of government control, to develop the city in line with modern requirements.

The city houses the London Stock Exchange (LSE), London Metal Exchange (LME), the Euronext derivatives platform and Baltic Exchange apart from being a base for large financial services companies. According to established data, 3,500 trillion pounds are managed from UK.

Read more in The Business Standard article.

Petrobras, Petroplus in race for Cairn

Interest from Malaysia’s Petronas in Cairn India and Swiss Petroplus in Cairn India’s parent, Cairn Energy, saw the shares of both the companies gaining on the bourses.

Petronas, which already owns 10 per cent of Cairn India through a pre-IPO placement, was now looking to buy out Cairn Energy’s 69 per cent stake in Cairn India, sources said. The takeover talks pushed Cairn’s share price on the BSE to Rs 144.30 on Friday, up 2.3 per cent on Thursday’s close of Rs 139.85.

This was 4.85 per cent higher than the Wednesday’s close of Rs 134.05. At the current price of Rs 144.30 a share, Cairn Energy’s 69 per cent stake would be worth around Rs 17,700 crore.

Finacial Times report that Swiss refiner Petroplus is planning a bid for Cairn Energy, sent the Cairn Energy stock higher by 3.5 per cent to £17.93 a share on the London Stock Exchange on Friday.

Following the news, Citigroup changed its status on both Cairn Energy and Cairn India to “buy”. The research group revised the price target for the Cairn stock from Rs 145 to Rs 185.

Reuters okays £8.7 bn thomson offerAdd to Clippings

British financial information group Reuters agreed to be bought by Canadian group Thomson for £8.7 billion on Tuesday in deal creating the biggest global force in the sector. The takeover, pitched at e12.8 billion or $17.2 billion, would elevate Thomson-Reuters above industry leader Bloomberg into first place and also hand Thomson ownership of Reuters’ non-financial news and photo agency.

The new company, to be called Thomson-Reuters, would be listed on the London and Toronto stock exchanges and headed by Reuters chief executive Tom Glocer. Thomson chairman David Thomson would keep his role.

Thomson’s bid has won the crucial backing of the Reuters Founders Share Company which controls a “golden share” allowing it to block any takeover to defend the Reuters Trust Principles of editorial independence.

The tie-up would combine Thomson’s strong presence in the United States with Reuters’ penetration of markets for trading, financial and business information in Britain and continental Europe.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

TCS looks at foreign listing

Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata group, is considering a $1 billion-plus (over Rs 4,300 crore) overseas equity sale in Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) this year to fund acquisitions of other entities.

Banking sources said the equity offer may take place in six months and include a fresh share offer as well. The group is examining the pros and cons of listing on the major exchanges, including London, Luxembourg and New York stock exchanges.

A listing on the New York Stock Exchange, where other software giants – Infosys, Wipro and Satyam — are listed, gets immediate attention from global brokerages. But the flip side is the time-consuming compliance norms under the Sarbanes-Oxley regulations.

Bankers said raising funds through an equity sale in TCS makes sense as Tata Sons holds a 78.35 per cent stake in the country’s largest software company. As a policy, Tata Sons chips in with funds whenever any group entity makes a major acquisition.

For instance, Tata Sons is expected to contribute to Tata Steel’s $12.15 billion purchase of Anglo-Dutch steel company Corus, although a major chunk of the money will be raised through debt.

Read more in The Business Standard article.

Traffic on M&A St to swell further

Riding on the boom in the Indian economy, corporate India is expected to be an active player in the global mergers & acquisitions (M&A) market in 2007, with significant deal activity expected in IT/ITeS, telecom, pharmaceuticals, energy, banking and financial services sector, according to a CII whitepaper on M&As. Corporate India is likely to see many billion-dollar deals in energy and pharmaceuticals sectors, the whitepaper said.

One of key enablers for future M&A would be availability of structured financing options. While high economic growth has left Indian companies flush with surplus funds, India Inc is already exploring exchanges like the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of LSE, Kosdaq of South Korea, TSX of Toronto, Sesdaq of Singapore and the Euronext to take advantage of liberal listing norms, a quicker listing process and better valuations from wider range of international investors.

Indian companies are expected to raise at least £2-3 billion from AIM alone. With almost 60% of the investors in the market being long-term investors willing to invest in long-gestation projects, AIM is likely to emerge as the preferred market for Indian companies to raise capital.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

Genpact eyes $600-million US listing

Genpact, one of the country's largest business process outsourcing firms, is mulling a US listing through an initial public offer to raise over $600 million for the company and its promoters.

The company is planning to sell about 15% equity through a public float on either Nasdaq or New York Stock Exchnage later this year, merchant banking sources said.The company's major shareholders — GE and US-based private equity giants Oakhill Capital and General Atlantic — are likely to sell part of their holding through this IPO, which could value the firm at around $4 billion.

Genpact has appointed three US-based investment banks — Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and Citigroup — for the IPO and it may file the regulatory prospectus in the next few weeks, to be followed with a listing later this year.

Read more in The Times of India article.

Flag Tele listing on LSE soon

Flag Telecom, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Reliance Communication (RComm), has mandated Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank as lead managers for the maiden initial public offering (IPO) on the London Stock Exchange.ADAG is expecting to recover ten times the value paid for buying the company in 2002.

Flag, which runs an international fibre bandwidth all across the globe, has announced an investment of Rs 7,000 crore to set up a new generation network which will provide high speed transmission. The cash from the IPO will be used to partly finance the ambitious project which is expected to be up and running by 2009. The new network will link to the Mediterranean to Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Malta, Libya and Lebanon, Trans-Pacific to the US and Japan, Far East and Africa.

Read more in The Business Standard article.