The Ruias of the Essar group have decided to get into yet another takeover battle. And this time they are taking on none other than Lakshmi Narayan Mittal, the owner of world's largest steel maker, ArcelorMittal, to take over the Bulgarian steel firm, Kremikovtzi AD, an ailing steel mill owned by Mittal's younger brother Pramod Mittal.
The Bombay Stock Exchange is set to see a reshuffle in its board of directors, the first since the country's oldest bourse was demutualised and became a limited company last year. The reshuffle, details of which are yet to be discussed, is widely believed to be at the behest of market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India.
The Aditya Birla group's wireless telephony firm Idea Cellular has agreed to buy Spice Communications in a three-stage deal in which minority shareholders of Spice would be given an option either to swap their shares for the Birla group firm or sell them in an open offer.
Telecom to Telekom Malaysia in an attempt to complete the merger, sources involved in the negotiations said, declining to be identified. The group has hired Enam Financial as adviser to the transaction. Investment banking sources said the lawyers from both the parties are now busy structuring the deal so that the acquisition meets all the regulatory norms of the country and the Birlas retain control over Idea Cellular.
Idea Cellular, the Aditya Birla group firm that is on the verge of taking over Spice Communications by buying out B K Modi's 41 per cent stake, is sounding out its bankers to raise funds to upgrade in the struggling telecom operator's network and technology.
Kolkata-based personal care products maker Emami, which made a hostile takeover bid for Zandu Pharmaceuticals, on Friday forced the latter to withdraw a plan to offer preferential shares to its promoters.Zandu had sent notice to the Bombay Stock Exchange late on Thursday evening saying its board would meet to discuss a preferential share issue to the promoters and directors.Emami lawyers swung into action and sent legal notice early on Friday to Zandu's board.
Market participants hammered the Emami stock on anticipation that the company would have to fight an intense battle with the Parikhs, one of the promoter groups in Zandu, who are planning to stay put.
Sylph Technologies stock rises 100,000% to Rs 800 on re-listing.
At least four top brokerages -- Religare Enterprise, Edelweiss Capital, Emkay Shares and Stocks and Modern Securities -- have delayed their fourth quarter results.
Prithvi Haldia, managing director of Prime Database, a company tracking corporate and primary market developments, is however of the view that primary markets usually follow the secondary market. IPOs have suffered mainly as the timing was not right.
Ajay Bagga, CEO, Lotus India Mutual Fund, feels the government should have taken timely action to control inflation. He feels that the recent fall is not a bull-market correction but a serious downturn that could last for about six to eight months. He said the government cannot afford to keep interest rates this high. It is likely to cut rates once the inflation moderates. Meanwhile the rupee will be allowed to appreciate to compensate for the rise in global commodity prices.
Sources said non-banking financial companies of brokerage outfits had extended loans to clients by availing of bank credit. They could face serious trouble if auditors 'qualify' their books for extending loans on small- and mid-cap stocks as 'highly risky'. With just over a week to go before the end of the current financial year, most of the NBFCs are cleaning up their books before the audit to avoid being caught on the wrong foot.
Budget proposal has put an end to the flourishing trade in STT, as STT is likely to be treated as any other deductible expenditure against business income.
One of the main factors that created a big hype for the R-Power initial public offer, said experts, was its grey market premium of over Rs 400 on January 18 -- the day the issue closed. R-Power collected a record $180 billion (Rs 710,000 crore or Rs 7,100 billion) as the issue was subscribed 72 times.
Volatility in the secondary markets has forced some initial public offers to revise their price bands as markets continue to be plagued by liquidity problems.
According to stock brokers, the real pain in markets started with the over-zealousness on the part of stock exchanges in collecting margin money after the 700 points fall on January 18 and another 14,00 points fall on January 21. The trading terminals of nearly 90 per cent stock brokers were shut on Tuesday when the markets hit the lower circuit of 10 per cent within a few minutes of opening bell, as the National Stock Exchange doubled the margin money overnight.
Overall market open interest on NSE down 15 per cent to Rs 89,307 crore (Rs 893.07 billion). A majority of stock brokers have unwound their leveraged positions in the futures and options segment. The total leveraged position (in excess of Rs 1 lakh crore or Rs 1 trillion) contributed heavily to the stock market crash.
A severe squeeze in liquidity in the domestic and the global markets over the last one week helped bears to make a killing on Monday, as they anticipated little buying support even at lower levels, said dealers.
The deal, sources say, is that the retail investor, subscribing on broker's behalf, would have to make an application for 225 shares, the entire cost of which -- considering the discount of Rs 20 a share that RPL has offered -- would come to Rs 96,750.
In anticipation of the IPOs of FCH and RPL, investors were seen off loading small and mid-cap stocks heavily.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances