The total number of agents of Reliance Life at the end of September stood at 211,293. By December-end, the numbers were down by 68,450 to 142,843, according to an investor presentation made by the company.
Investment banking experts and capital market advisors, who are engaged in talks with companies that are looking at fund-raising options, said that while 13 large-cap companies were looking at raising capital to the tune of Rs 30,000 crore through QIPs, rights issues and NCDs, 20 other companies had initiated talks to raise about Rs 15,000-20,000 crore. At least 10 NCD issuances are expected during the first half to raise a total of Rs 10,000-15,000 crore.
It hopes to enter the business in 9-15 months. "We have plans to enter diesel generator, petrol, LPG and kerosene segment, but it will be too early to comment on any specific deal," said Kalyan Bhattacharya, president and CEO, Birla Power Solutions. "The size of the acquisition will depend on the horse power of the engines manufactured by the company. BPSL is looking at a company manufacturing diesel engines of capacities ranging between 25 horse power and 200 horse power."
It will also close 30 unviable stores. The company's move comes after its net loss widened to Rs 141.2 crore in the March-ended quarter, owing to mounting losses in apparels. The loss was Rs 82.2 crore in the apparel business, against a loss of Rs 4.44 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.
Market experts said on an average around 80,000 accounts were opened every month during 2008-09 as against 0.3 million accounts monthly in 2007-2008. "Investors are closing their accounts as brokerage houses have started levying annual maintenance charges. Even the depositories have increased their transaction fees. We currently open about 25,000 accounts on an average per month as compared to over 40,000 accounts during 2007-08," said an official at a large securities house.
EGF, managed by the Capital Group, bought 16.13 million shares, or a 1.02 per cent stake, in RIL from the open market in the March-ended quarter. When share prices were down in the fourth quarter, Life Insurance Corporation added 2.4 million shares of RIL to its kitty, taking its stake to 5.52 per cent. The purchase would have cost LIC over Rs 250 crore. LIC had also bought over six million shares of RIL in the third quarter, at an investment of around Rs 800 crore.
The takeover battle for United States copper miner Asarco continues to rage, as its estranged parent Grupo Mexico has offered $1.3 billion to counter Sterlite Industries' offer for the second time.
Tech Mahindra, the highest bidder for Satyam Computer Services, has tied up Rs 875 crore funding from mutual funds and insurance companies and is in talks with banks to mobilise Rs 1,000 crore bridge loans.
"The price quoted by L&T (Rs 45.90) in the financial bid is fairly decent, compared with the share price of Satyam in the last three months. The team of (L&T chairman) A M Naik never expected that anybody could quote 10 per cent above their price, as there was no clarity on Satyam's liabilities. Even if somebody had quoted less than 10 per cent of what L&T quoted, the company could have raised the bid in the open bidding round," said a source in L&T.
A company executive said unlike India, the price of petrol changed on a daily basis in the US. "In India, we don't have a level playing field, since the government gives public sector oil marketing companies subsidies. Since the RIL refineries operate on better refining margins, we could earn more revenue from free markets," he said. "We have better understanding beyond a theoretical knowledge about the US and European markets after our long experience in these markets."
Total MF investments in debt papers like certificate of deposits, commercial papers and collaterised borrowing and lending obligations stood at around Rs 184,000 crore at the end of February. Industry experts said that by March-end, this corpus had depleted by over 50 per cent. "The industry would have lost around Rs 1 lakh crore as banks and institutions redeemed their investments during the last week of March," said Jaideep Bhattacharya of UTI Asset Management Company.
Interestingly, mutual funds had increased their holdings in Satyam to 38.6 million shares in December, after its controversial proposal to acquire promoter-family firms Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties was blocked by institutional players. Fund managers believed then that Satyam was available cheap. However, on January 7, Ramalinga Raju delivered a fatal blow by declaring he had fudged the company's balance sheet for seven years.
Depressed markets, Sebi queries, change in guidelines halt launches.
Part of government strategy to push demand.
Most of these deals include outstanding payments for acquisitions or stakes in companies. Market experts explained that these Indian firms were keen to settle their deals, even at a discount as they feared that payments might get delayed indefinitely, in case the matter reached court. Lehman's assets in India are currently valued at over Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion).
After the rechristening of Telco to Tata Motors in 2003, one of the auto-maker's earliest decision was to settle its high-cost debts of around Rs 500 crore with the proceeds from foreign currency convertible bonds, or FCCBs. The company had raised $100 million and repaid the debt.
Reliance Retail has added 485 stores in the last one year, taking the total count to 950 and the footprint is now spread across 77 cities (58 in the last one year) across India. While his critics say Ambani may have lost the plot as the progress of his retail plans are nowhere near what he had sought to achieve, others feel the Reliance chief is just being pragmatic given the not-so-conducive environment for expansion in retail.
A company executive said that the Anil Ambani group is still keen on foraying into television broadcasting business. The top-line of broadcasters was shrinking in the December-ended quarter on the back of economic slowdown and the consequent slowdown in advertising revenues, said the latest Ficci & KPMG report.
In a few months, private sector lender IndusInd Bank may have a new identity. The move was in line with the repositioning exercise initiated by the new management team led by Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Romesh Sobti.
Cash-strapped Royal Bank of Scotland is reviewing its branding agreement with cricketer Sachin Tendulkar a year into the deal.
© 2025 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances