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No full stops on M&A street April 30, 2007 My leisurely breakfast was interrupted by a phone call and at that moment I realised that it was going to be another working Sunday (did I hear you say 'What's that?'). On the line was a banker friend who broke the news that the Anchor Group was about to announce the sale of its electrical business to a foreign firm on Monday. It was time to hit the phone lines. Several calls and a particularly cold breakfast later, I had three names - French giant Schneider, Japan's Matsushita and Germany's Siemens. Ahem, I also learnt that Schneider was in advanced stages of discussion with the Shah family, the promoters of Anchor. Trust me, for an M&A reporter, every bit of information counts.. Monday He was also sure that the second highest bidder, Matsushita, and Anchor will address a press conference at noon. How I wish I had this information some nine hours back! As it turned out, my contact was spot-on and Schneider pulled out of the deal. The Shah family, in yet another example of Indian family-run businesses getting excellent valuations from foreign firms, sold an 80 per cent stake in Anchor Electricals. Tuesday Piece of cake indeed, I mean, to ask a reporter to get an exclusive interview and really another thing to get it done - more so, since it was going to be a simultaneous announcement in India and Japan (Sesa Goa's owner is Japan's second largest trading company, Mitsui & Co). At times miracles do happen though - Anil Agarwal was in a mood to celebrate and had all his time for me. Wednesday But it turned out to be a dull, routine news report as the Tata Group remained tight-lipped on their strategy. The evening was rather colourful at the former Lazard India chairman Udayan Bose's Bengali New Year party. I saw Sushim Mukul Dutta enjoying his drink in a quiet corner of the hall, which was filled up by almost all the top editors of financial newspapers in the city. Also... Powered by More Guest Columns | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||