Engineering giant Larsen and Toubro, which acquired little over four per cent stake in Satyam in less than a month, is believed to have approached the government on Tuesday, evincing interest to buy the troubled IT company.
Three manufacturing sectors (engineering and construction, industrial commodities and materials and commodities) created more value for its shareholders in last five years than IT or pharmaceutical companies. Engineering and construction companies, led by Larsen & Toubro and BHEL, posted a total shareholder return of 81 per cent in the last five years trailing March 31, 2007, the BCG-CII study showed.
As IT midcap stocks ride high, it has created speculation around a potential bubble with analysts picking the midcaps' client concentration as the biggest concern area.
Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd (JPVL), promoted by the $7-billion Jaypee group, has signed a Rs 4,000-crore agreement with Larsen & Toubro Ltd, the engineering and construction major, for supply of equipment for its Nigrie Super Thermal Power Project in Madhya Pradesh.
Shares of the company were trading at Rs 1240.10 apiece on the BSE at 1350 hours, down 1.23 per cent from the previous close.
Larsen & Toubro on Monday said it is yet to take any decision on selling its over 8 per cent stake in Mahindra Satyam, but had sought market regulator Sebi's approval for offloading the holding in the IT company.
The S&P BSE Sensex surged 160 points to close at 25,262.
A team from India's $7 billion engineering behemoth, Larsen & Toubro, which holds 12 per cent stake in Satyam Computer Services started inspecting the books of the troubled company.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
At least seven companies, including Larsen & Toubro, i-Gate, Spice and Mahindra Group, have already submitted proposals to the board last week and the bids to be accepted till March 20. The board has already said that it has received adequate interest from both Indian and international bidders, including private equity firms.
The board will make the financial and legal data available to those shortlisted companies who will qualify in the EoI criteria.
Larsen & Toubro Ltd's board will meet held on Jan 29 to consider and take on record the unaudited financial results of the company for the quarter ended December 31, 2002.
The 13 firms under consideration had nearly a million employees as of March 2018, including contractual and temporary workforce.
Engineering major Larsen & Toubro said on Tuesday it has not received any intimation from market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India regarding its chairman and managing director, A M Naik's comment on the Satyam issue.
Says Satyam is not a commodity. B K Modi of Spice had earlier pushed for e-auction, for its transparency.
Amid a crowd of suitors lining up for acquiring Satyam Computer Services, the board of the beleaguered IT firm started its meeting on Wednesday.
Speaking to private TV news channel CNBC TV18, Naik said, "Some corporate action will take place in the near future but we cannot comment on taking over Satyam at this stage."
The NSE Nifty ended at 4,239, up 28 points. The index had dropped 565 points in the last two trading sessions.
Comparing the capabilities of India and China in services and manufacturing respectively, Finance Minister P Chidambaram empasised the need to excel in the manufacturing sector.
Indian corporates have raised around $11.9 billion through overseas borrowing in the first five months of 2007-08, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data on external commercial borrowings (ECB).
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.
India Inc raised $2.78 billion from overseas markets in October this year, up 44 per cent from a year ago, according to the Reserve Bank data released on Friday.
Amongst the most aggressive of India's hopeful new Lockheed Martins is the Rs 1,30,000-crore Tata Group, which has launched a carefully crafted bid to become a major player in India's defence industry.
After last Monday's massive fall in the Indian markets, a lot of quality stocks have fallen significantly.
India only has 3.5 million workers undergoing skills courses a year, compared with 90 million in China
Shares of ITC, Axis Bank and Larsen & Toubro are likely to stay with the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India, which was to be wound up in June.Legal opinion received by the government suggests that SUUTI can exist as long as all investors in one of the schemes floated by the erstwhile Unit Trust of India have not redeemed their investment, sources close to the development said. The value of the shares of the three blue chips was estimated at over Rs 15,000 cr.
Hinting towards a possible takeover of Satyam Computer, engineering major Larsen & Toubro on Friday raised its stake in the beleaguered IT firm to 12 per cent through open market share purchases.
French cement major Lafarge SA, the world's second-largest cement maker, has emerged the frontrunner in the race to acquire the ready-mix concrete business of engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro.
Coming from a family that has a 140-year history of growing coffee, Siddhartha, 59, initially dabbled in stock trading and wanted to work as an investment banker in Mumbai after completing his Master's in Economics from Mangalore University.
The progress of the GST Bill in Parliament is also likely to remain in focus
Indian companies led by Anil Ambani's Reliance Power (RPower), Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) and Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) plan to invest over Rs 100,000 crore in the next five years to expand their presence in the nuclear energy sector after the country signs the nuclear agreement with the US, paving the way for import of fuel and transfer of technology.
Grasim Industries Ltd said it that since Larsen & Toubro Limited is contemplating consideration of the existing proposal before it to demerge its cement business, Grasim should also submit an alternate proposal.
L&T is planning a foray in PE fund in the real estate market with a Rs 4500 crore fund.
Private players are increasingly looking at the defence market which is a promising multi billion-dollar arena.
Old economy companies such as Hero, M&M (Tech Mahindra), Aditya Birla, Essar, Hindujas and Larsen & Toubro have sprung into action with large acquisitions and major deals.
Larsen & Toubro will sell its 11.49 per cent stake in the Aditya Birla Group-owned UltraTech Cement in the open market, after the latter waived its first right of refusal to buy the stake.
The Anchor and Panasonic connection is a blend of legacy and quality and there really is no question of substituting one for the other. Panasonic is banking on Anchor's familiarity and widespread recall, to push its way ahead in the premium, automation-aided home appliances and accessories market.
Lockheed Martin is in talks with Infosys Technologies, Wipro, Reliance Industries, the Tata group, Larsen & Toubro and Hindustan Aeronautics to source software services, components and systems.
The L&T stock, which fell by over 5 per cent in intra-day trades on Monday bounced back towards the end of the session though it was still in the red. The stock has been badly de-rated since the engineering major made it clear that it was a contender for Satyam, picking up a 12 per cent stake in the tech firm. Had L&T won control at the winning bid of Rs 58 per share, the stock may have lost further ground. As it stands, not too much damage has been done.
Two former directors on the Larsen & Toubro board have returned the employee stock option shares to the company following an out-of-court settlement reached this week with two government-owned financial institutions.