Indian M&A Moves

--The UB group says it's earmarking anywhere upto $1 billion for foreign acquisition. A Business Standard report says that the UB group may complete a $500 million acquisition in Scotland next year. The idea is to become a significantly large player in the "premium whisky and scotch" segment in the world. The group was reportedly in talks with Scottish firm Whyte & Mackay for acquisition.

--3i Infotech (formerly ICICI Infotech) is looking at acquiring companies with software products in life insurance or trade finance space. It may also look at acquiring domestic BPO firms that offer expertise in cheque trunkation, credit verification, soft recovery and soft collections. 3i Infotech already has 19 acquisitions under its belt.

--Indian telcos have decided to demerge their tower businesses. Reliance Communications will hold an extraordinary general meeting on January 27, 2007, to seek shareholders’ approval for the separation of its tower assets.

Bharti Airtel is also demerging its tower assets. The company has some 40,000 telecom towers. It's likely some private equity funds would pick up stake in the tower businesses of these telcos. Besides, American Towers, the US-based company, has also declared its intention to invest in the towers business in India.

--The grapevine is that more and more diamond and jewellery companies will look at acquiring front-end stores in the US. Gitanjali Gems recently acquired Samuels for $40 million recently. There is buzz that Shrenuj and Co is looking at acquiring a retail jewellery chain in US. The deal size is likely to be around Rs 100-150 crore, says media reports. The board of the company has approved plans to raise upto Rs 130 crore ($29 million) via GDR/ADR/FCCB. The other name heard is Rajesh Exports.

Source: VCCircle