On the last day of Satyam's stint in India's benchmark indices - the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex and the National Stock Exchange S&P CNX Nifty - its shares turned out to be a punter's delight.
Former economic affairs secretary E A S Sarma has written to the Securities and Exchange Board of India questioning the delay in investigating Satyam Computer even after he had alerted the regulator 'well in advance' about certain irregularities in the company's books of accounts after the Maytas deal was called off last month.
"I wrote nearly eight letters to Sebi alerting them about Satyam's fraudulent practices and the company's connivance with local politicians but none of the letters elicited any response from the regulator. Sebi remained silent about the issue even while I mentioned to them that MCA launched a fact-finding probe. But the fact is that the MCA probe too was very slow and only on paper," Sarma said.
This follows a letter written by eight US Congressmen to that country's Export-Import Bank (Exim Bank) asking it to immediately suspend all financial assistance to RIL until the company agrees to stop selling gasoline to Iran.
Tata Power Company, the largest private sector power player in the country, plans to divest part of its stake in group companies Tata Teleservices and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) to raise about Rs 2,000 crore for funding its ongoing projects, said informed sources.
When it comes to the average assets under management among the top five mutual funds, there has been a shuffle in positions. While Reliance Mutual Fund has been able to maintain the number one position at Rs 700 billion, ICICI Prudential has been pushed to number four from second spot by HDFC Mutual Fund. ICICI Prudential was above HDFC by Rs 73 billion in January-end 2008. But at the end of December, HDFC's assets were up by Rs 48.79 billion over that of ICICI Prudential.
The Wadia group is looking to renegotiate the price of Groupe Danone's stake in Britannia Industries following the market slump and the credit squeeze in the global markets.
Sterlite's revised offer to acquire Asarco may see fresh rival bids as the valuation of the bankrupt US copper miner fell in line with the commodity prices.
The October 2008 landslide in stock prices, which caused a nearly 90 per cent drop in India's equity derivatives business, has dealt a severe blow to Asia's oldest bourse, the Bombay Stock Exchange.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India is conducting inspection of stockbrokers, who act as depository participants (DPs) and are also into margin-funding business, as there have been instances of client-account mismanagement.
Tata Steel's $5 billion steel project in Vietnam has hit a roadblock, thanks to a delay in land allocation.
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board has cleared a proposal by German plastic moulding major Ralf Schneider to set up a wholly-owned subsidiary in India, setting aside objections raised by its former Indian partner Larsen & Toubro under Press Note 1 of the Foreign Direct Investment policy.
The retail arm of the Mukesh Ambani-led group had almost halted its expansion plans as a credit crunch roiled markets across the globe forcing companies to withhold new projects. The company also froze fresh recruitment.
To be the first firm to take advantage of new RBI ruling.
In the termination letters, RIL mentioned that the business has been impacted by the slowdown and the company was not in a position to continue with their employment. Employees who would resign will get one month's salary as compensation. When contacted, an RIL spokesperson declined to comment on the development.
People are also spending more on travels and education. Compared to $160 million spent on travel and education last year, $207 million has already flown out of the country from April to August, 2008.
Leading power players Reliance Infrastructure and GMR Energy believe this will help ensure coal availability for their mega projects in the pipeline. "They have various proposals on their table, which are relatively cheaper when compared to the scene before the beginning of the financial crisis. However, the acquisitions will depend on the ability of the acquirers to raise funds as the banks have stopped lending at cheaper rates," said a source.
The steel plant will be closed down in 25 days unless an investor takes it over, operative executive director of the Bulgarian metallurgic enterprise Plamen Stoyanov told the Bulgarian media. Bulgaria's biggest steel plant has already shut down some of its production facilities, including two of its blast furnaces, and plans to stop operations completely by the end of this month.
The move, which comes in the backdrop of a global slowdown, aims to improve profit margin amid falling demand for polyester products worldwide. "The company has shut down plants for manufacturing polyester filament yarn, polyester staple fibre, paraxylene, purified terephthalic acid and linear alkyl benzene. However, it is yet to close down the second units of PSF and PFY," sources said.
The promoter group companies controlled by Anil Ambani are expected to buy R-Infra shares from the open market. "The promoters want to control the majority stake in the company to ward off any hostile attack, when corporate rivalry heightens in the country. As the share price of R-Infra is cheaper around Rs 400, the promoters feel that the purchase of shares from the open market would be profitable, boosting the confidence of the shareholders in turn," said sources.
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