Nine years after parting ways, Prannoy Roy and Rupert Murdoch are again coming together for a unique airtime sale and marketing alliance.
Three independent people with knowledge of the talks said the group had been selected in the first round and was now likely to make a formal bid.
Its tie-ups so far have been with international brands, either through licensing agreements or joint ventures, to get them into India.
Vedanta had proposed to buy a 51 per cent stake in Cairn India for $9.6 billion in the middle of last year. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs is expected to take up the issue next week.
The fund, with an initial corpus of $150 million, is set to be the first of its kind, said two independent industry sources familiar with the development.
At present, when Indian corporates declare dividends, a dividend distribution tax is slapped at 15 per cent.
On its radar are Alberto-Culver and the personal care and laundry portfolios of Sara Lee, both recent acquisitions of Unilever.
As it firms up its telecom re-entry strategy, Reliance Industries subsidiary Infotel Broadband has told telecom tower companies that it will pay only half the prevailing rental for towers taken on lease.
Four years after buying Novelis, a company three times its size, Hindalco is now banking on the Atlanta (US)-headquartered aluminium rolling and recycling major to fund its Rs 23,000-crore expansion plan in India.
Anti-government protests in Egypt are making Prashant Goenka, director, international business, Emami Ltd, nervous
Companies are predictably working overtime to cash in on the boom. LG, Samsung, Panasonic, Videocon have all lined up new models of both HDTV-ready and full-HDTV sets for the world cup this year.
With Reliance Industries openly expressing displeasure about the merger between its joint venture gas partner, Atlas Energy, with Chevron, all eyes are now on Atlas' special shareholder meeting on February 16, called to approve the proposed merger.
The cola wars will no longer be restricted to Coke and Pepsi, with their Latin American competitor Ajegroup setting up shop in India.
After 15 months of negotiations, the Aditya Birla Group has finally agreed to buy out the US firm Columbian Chemicals Company (CCC) for $875 million from One Equity Partners, the merchant banking arm of JPMorgan Chase. This has catapulted the group to become the world leader in carbon black with a combined two million tonne annual production.
"Instead of plastic faces, which appear artificial, why not use real people?" asks K V Sridhar, national creative director at ad agency Leo Burnett India. "They are compelling brand ambassadors, who can lend an air of authenticity to the communication exercise."
"Both domestic and international business grew well this quarter. Growth in net sales of the domestic business was close to 50 per cent, while the international business saw nearly a three-fold growth during the same period. Our international acquisitions have played a role in helping us register good numbers this quarter."
The Aditya Birla Group is in acquisition mode again. It appears set to acquire US carbon black manufacturer Columbian Chemicals. According to two independent sources, negotiations are at the last stages, and a deal is expected to be announced next week. The size of the deal, said these sources, is expected to be around $900 million (Rs 4,100 crore).
Five months before the put option window closes, JP Morgan has come out with a report stating that Essar's stake in Vodafone Essar is around $2 billion, which is far less than what the shareholder agreement between the two companies in 2007 envisaged.
The Rs 1,500-crore (Rs 15 billion) ladies handbag market will see some major action this year, with luggage makers V.I.P and Samsonite contemplating entry soon.
Market research based on interviews or questionnaires to understand the consumer mind will soon become pass.
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