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ONGC issue oversubscribed within minutes Mumbai, March 5 The government’s mega offer to sell its 10 per cent stake in the ONGC was oversubscribed by 1.07 times today within 45 minutes of opening of the bidding process. According to the latest data available with the BSE, investors have placed cumulative bids for 15.3 crore shares as against 14.27 crore shares available for subscription. FDI
ceiling in pvt banks hiked Voltas launches
ACs below 10,000 SMS on landline
phones in Punjab |
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Reliance to offer
global roaming IMF chief Koehler
resigns Michael Dell
gives up title of CEO Chautala in Oman to woo
investors
L&T to acquire firm in US
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ONGC issue oversubscribed within minutes
Mumbai, March 5 According to the latest data available with the BSE, investors have placed cumulative bids for 15.3 crore shares as against 14.27 crore shares available for subscription. The investors have placed bids for 7.82 crore shares at Rs 680 per share, the lower end of the price band while the tally of shares bid for stood at 7.47 crore at Rs 750, the upper end of the price band. Most of the interest has come from institutional investors, investment banking sources said. The government has targeted to raise about Rs 10,000 crore. The government has fixed a price band of Rs 680 to Rs 750 per share for divesting the equity through a public offer of 14.26 crore shares of Rs 10 face value, while retail investors would get a 5 per cent discount on the pricing. The government also reserved 10 per cent of the public offer each for employees/wholetime directors and shareholders of ONGC/ MRPL. Sebi has also permitted lead managers and book-runners to issue participatory notes for attracting foreign investment in the ONGC issue. The issue closes for bidding on March 13. Enthused by the overwhelming response to ONGC public offer, which was oversubscribed 2.12 times on the first day, lead manager Uday Kotak today said the issue had created history. ‘Biggest ever issue’, ‘biggest ever response for biggest Indian company’, was how the response to the public offer for sale of 10 per cent equity, oversubscribed 2.5 times, was described by Kotak, one of the three lead managers to the issue. Kotak said it was a landmark transaction in the Indian capital market. “From Maruti to ONGC, we have come a long way”, he said and described the response as high quality one. Meanwhile, the ONGC has introduced a new VRS to shed at least 10 per cent of its 40,000 strong workforce. The previous VRS in 2003 had evoked a lukewarm response. VRS 2004 is available to all employees who are on the rolls of the corporation as on Feb 29, 2004, and who have attained the age of 40 years or above, with minimum 15 years of continuous service, sources in the ONGC said. The scheme will be open from March 1, 2004, to April 30, 2004. Under the new VRS, an ex-gratia equal to 60-day salary for each completed year of service or salary at the time of voluntary retirement multiplied by the balance months of service left before normal date of retirement, whichever is less, will be paid. Besides,
balance of provident fund, gratuity, cash equivalent to earned leave,
encashment of half-pay leave will also be available. — Agencies |
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Buffett invests $1 b Warren Buffett, billionaire stock market investor
and Berkshire Hathway Inc chief executive officer, is said to have
invested $1 billion in the public issue of the ONGC, according to lead
managers, reported the Crisil Market Wire on Friday. “Warren Buffett
has put $1 billon or roughly Rs 4,530 crore (Rs 45.30 billon) in the
ONGC public offer and this also happens to be his first investment in
India.” “The investment is almost half the size of the issue,” reported
Crisil. |
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Great milestone, says Shourie Taking a dig at sceptics, Disinvestment
Minister Arun Shourie today termed the IPO process in six PSUs as a
“great milestone for the Indian equity market” and said the government
is expected to mop up at least Rs 13,100 crore from the issues. “Even
if Gail and the ONGC issues are given at the lowest price band, the
mop-up will be in excess of Rs 13,100 crore,” a beaming Disinvestment
Minister said at a press conference here. |
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FDI ceiling in pvt banks hiked
New Delhi, March 5 A government notification
said the overall foreign holding of 74 per cent will include foreign
direct investment (FDI), foreign institutional investments (FII), NRI
investments, initial public offers, private placements and ADRs/ GDRs.
Individual FII holding cannot exceed 10 per cent while the aggregate
FII limit will be restricted to 26 per cent, which can go up to 49 per
cent through the approval of the bank’s board. The government also
allowed foreign banks to open subsidiary in the country or operate
through branches or a private bank with a maximum holding of 74 per cent
stake. This assumes importance for foreign banks like HSBC, ABN AMRO
Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Nova Scotia which are eyeing
subsidiaries in India following the relaxation of FDI norms. A foreign
bank can set up a subsidiary either through conversion of existing
branches into a subsidiary or through a fresh licence from RBI. The
FDI hike in banking sector was first suggested by the N K Singh panel
but the Finance Ministry and the RBI have added a slew of stringent
conditionalities to prevent ownership of banks going into wrong hands.
The FDI ceiling will not be applicable for PSU banks while the limit
remains at 26 per cent for insurance companies. The RBI will
separately issue the guidelines for foreign banks to set up wholly-owned
subsidiary and such a subsidiary will be subjected to licensing
requirements broadly consistent with those for the new private sector
banks. Foreign banks have to intimate the RBI when they hike stake in
a private bank by over 5.0 per cent of paid-up capital. Applications
for foreign investments in private banks having joint ventures in
insurance sector will be addressed to the RBI for consideration in
consultation with the IRDA. This was necessary to ensure that the 26
per cent equity cap in insurance sector was not being breached.
Wholly-owned subsidiaries of banking companies regulated by a
financial regulator in the host country will be permitted to hold 100
per cent equity. Although the FDI limit has been hiked, FIPB approval
will be required for transfer of shares from residents to NRIs under
Foreign Exchange Management Act. FIPB will continue to scrutinise
cases where the foreign investor has a financial or technical or
trademark collaboration in the same or allied field where transfer of
share of an existing Indian company are proposed to be acquired. —
PTI
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Voltas launches ACs below 10,000 New Delhi, March 5 The ACs, available in two
variants of 0.8 tonne and 0.6 tonne, are targeted at cooling smaller
places which were hitherto being cooled by over-capacity machines or
doing without ACs. Voltas Ltd vice-president (Operations) K.J. Jawa
told newspersons here that the range will be available at 1100 retail
outlets of the company from today. The company has also tied up with
an Italian company Uniflair which is a major player in the precision air
conditioning market and is present in over 60 countries. “Voltas will
be marketing and maintaining Uniflair systems which are precision air
conditioners in the premium segment used by telecom companies for Main
Switch Stations,’’ Mr Jawa said. — UNI |
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SMS on landline phones in Punjab Sangrur, March
5 Mr Labh Singh, General Manager (GM), BSNL, Sangrur, said here today
SMS would be sent from landline phones by dialing 1256. The code 1256
would not be metered for this service, though the subscribers would have
to pay either per message or on monthly basis. Mr Labh Singh also
stated that BSNL had installed a centralised server at Kolkata for this
service. He said BSNL would commission 13 new sites in Barnala, Dhaula,
Mehal Kalan, Bhadaur, Dhanaula, Tapa, Bhawanigarh, Longowal,
Harkishanpura, Malerkotla, Amargarh, Shergarh Cheema and Moonak by
March-end for better coverage of mobile services.
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Reliance to offer global roaming Mumbai, March 5 With this, Reliance Infocomm will come on a par with GSM in
every aspect. Out of four features required for international roaming,
CDMA handsets are compatible for three aspects like forwarding a call
from another network, detailed bill specifying received calls, and
dialed minutes of usage and with fourth feature coming in the CDMA
handsets will be used across the world. — PTI |
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Berlin/Washington, March 5 His deputy, Anne
Krueger, will replace him until member nations agree on a successor.
Germany’s opposition parties — which selected Koehler for the post —
control the special assembly that elects the president, so he is almost
certain to be elected on May 23. “I am deeply honored to be nominated
for the office of the federal president of Germany,’’ he told a
Washington news conference. “I accept this nomination today and
according to the rules of the IMF, I have to resign immediately.’’
Clearly taken aback by the speed of events, Koehler said he had mixed
feelings about going. “I am leaving the fund with a laughing and
crying eye. I am laughing because it is an honor, it is a new challenge
but I am crying also because I like this institution,’’ he said. He will
leave Washington for Germany today The fund, with 184 member states,
has in the past 20 years, waded into crises in nations ranging from
Argentina to Indonesia offering billions of dollars in emergency loans.
Koehler’s departure launches a search to fill a job that has gone to a
European since the IMF’s inception in 1945. Sister lender, the World
Bank is typically headed by an American, shutting out Japan and the
developing world. The resignation of former IMF Managing Director
Michel Camdessus in 2000 triggered an ugly debate between Europe, which
wanted the job in European hands, and nations that saw the tradition as
outdated. Washington-based fund watchers hope this time for a more
dignified search for the best-qualified candidate, irrespective of
nationality. — Reuters
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Michael Dell gives up title of CEO
Houston, March 5 According
to a statement Rollins will officially become CEO at the company’s July
16 annual meeting of shareholders. The company said Michael Dell will
“remain deeply involved in the company’s day-to-day business as chairman
of the board.” Rollins, 55, is a former Bain & Co. consultant who became
head of Dell’s US operations in 1996, later rising to his current
titles. He developed the market-segmentation plan that led to the
computer maker’s sizzling growth in the 1990s. The firm said the
change in titles is consistent with the main roles played by the two
men: Dell has overseen trends in customer preference and research and
development, while Rollins has focused on the company’s strategy and
operations. Dell spokesman T.R. Reid said the move does not reflect
any dissatisfaction with the performance of Michael Dell, who created
the company 20 years ago from his dormitory room while an undergraduate
at the University of Texas. “This shouldn’t be perceived as some sort
of sea change,” Reid said. “Michael’s more into our opportunities and
where technology is going, and Kevin likes running the day-to-day
operations. This change allows them to catch up to their predilections.”
— PTI
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Chautala in Oman to woo investors Chandigarh, March 5 |
bb
Inflation up 5.94 pc
SBI travel
card Dredging Corp
SBI
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JCT
worker
Centurion
stock PNB bonds Bamrah Conveno |
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