New Delhi, May 27
Country’s largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel today said it was seeking funds from its bankers to pay for the acquisition of Zain's African operations, the deal for which was negotiated by the company earlier in the year.

Reflecting that Bharti was closer to concluding the $10.7-billion deal, it said in a statement issued late in the evening, "Further to our announcement on March 30, 2010 regarding the proposed acquisition of Zain Africa BV, Bharti Airtel is pleased to report that it has initiated the funds drawdown for the completion of the said transaction".

According to reports, the company’s management has asked its bankers to be ready for the funds transfer as and when the acquisition takes place.

In March, Bharti Airtel tied up $8.3 billion with a clutch of foreign banks and State Bank of India to fund the acquisition of Zain telecom's African assets.

On completion, Bharti would be required to pay another $700 million to the seller after a year, while taking a load of $1.7 billion debt associated with the African assets.

Bharti is also in the process of raising funds for the 3G spectrum allocation, which it won in the recent auction. Bharti has won spectrum rights in 16 circles and would be looking to arrange for over Rs 12,000 crore to fund the spectrum buyout.

For the Zain deal it has Standard Chartered Bank, Barclays, SBI Group, ANZ, BNP, Bank of America-Merril Lynch, Credit Agricole CIB, DBF, HSBC, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp as the lead-arrangers.

Bharti's lead arranger and lead adviser Standard Chartered Bank has committed the highest amount of $1.3 billion, followed by $0.9 billion by Barclays.

Bharti had earlier said the approval process is progressing well and the company expects the deal closure to happen soon.

Mumbai, May 27
The Reserve Bank yesterday allowed banks to draw additional funds from it by opening a second window, to meet the expected cash crunch in the system on account of Rs 1 lakh-crore demand of corporates to meet their 3G fee and advance tax payment requirement.

At present, the RBI offers only one window - the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) - to banks between 9.30 am and 10.30 am everyday to lend or borrow from it against government securities. RBI manages daily money supply in the system through LAF.

Starting from May 28, the apex bank will allow banks to avail of the second such measure for half an hour between 4 pm and 4.30 pm.

The facility will allow banks to borrow more from the central bank to the tune of 0.5 per cent of their deposits.

In the first LAF of the morning hours, banks can borrow or lend as much as their requirements. However, RBI sees money supply in the system before accepting or rejecting their demands.

The second window may inject up to Rs 25,000 crore - 0.5 per cent of the total bank deposits of Rs 50 lakh crore at present.

"Scheduled commercial banks may avail of additional liquidity support under the LAF to the extent of up to 0.5 per cent of their net demand and time liabilities," the RBI said.

Banks towards the close of the day would know exactly how much is their actual demand for cash after taking money from each other in the call money market.

The central bank also allowed banks to seek waiver of the penal interest if they have less government securities when they borrow more from the RBI. At present, banks are required to have 25 per cent of their deposits in government securities, cash and gold (statutory liquidity ratio or SLR).

"For any shortfall in maintenance of SLR arising out of availment of this facility, banks may seek waiver of penal interest," the RBI said. Terming the measure as temporary, RBI said the facility would be available till July 2 this year.

Earlier, RBI had announced second LAF after funds dried up due to deepening global financial crisis in 2008. This time, it announced it due to pressure on money supply due to expected Rs one lakh crore payment for 3G auction and advance tax outgo. — PTI

New York, May 27
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc's estate has filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase, alleging that the Wall Street major siphoned billions of dollars just days before the demise of the company.

The estate oversees the bankruptcy procedure of Lehman Brothers, which collapsed in the wake of the ravaging financial crisis in September 2008.

"In the last four business days before LBHI's Chapter 11 filing, JPMorgan seized $8.6 billion in cash collateral, including over $5 billion in cash in the final business day," the lawsuit said.

Lehman Brothers, then the fourth-largest US investment bank, filed for bankruptcy on September 15, 2008. The move had rattled markets and worsened the global financial turmoil.

JPMorgan was Lehman Brothers' primary clearing bank - acting as an intermediary between the entity and its investors, among others.

"JPMorgan not only took billions of dollars more than it needed from LBHI, but also accelerated LBHI's free fall into bankruptcy by denying it an opportunity for a more orderly wind-down, costing the LBHI estate tens of billions of dollars in lost value," the lawsuit pointed out.

It said that JPMorgan even forced LBHI into a series of one-sided agreements "to siphon billions of dollars in critically-needed assets".

A lawsuit has been filed with the US Bankruptcy Court in the southern district of New York. — PTI

Mumbai, May 27
Tata Sons, the promoters of all key Tata Group companies, would enhance its stake in Tata Steel as its board today approved issuance of 1.5 crore equity shares to the holding firm on preferential basis.

The preferential issue would be made at a price to be determined as per the applicable SEBI regulations, it said.

The committee of the board of directors of the steel major took a decision to this effect at its meeting on Thursday, Tata Steel said in a filing to the BSE.

Besides, the committee also approved issuing up to 1.20 crore warrants with a right exercisable by the warrant holder to subscribe for one ordinary share per warrant to Tata Sons on preferential basis, it added.

The preferential allotment would be made on such other terms and conditions as the board/committee may in its absolute discretion decide, it said.

Tata Sons owns 29.13 per cent stake in Tata Steel as on March 31, 2010, according to the data available with the bourses. The preferential allotment approval is subject to final permission to be accorded by the shareholders at its next meeting, it said. — PTI

Mumbai, May 27
A day after the officers gave a strike call, the employees of the troubled private sector lender Bank of Rajasthan, which is set to be taken over by ICICI Bank, today threatened to go on a token strike on June 4 and 5 to protest against the move.

Three major employee unions of BoR- the All-India Bank of Rajasthan Employees Federation, All-India Bank of Rajasthan Officers' Association and Akhil Bhartiya Bank of Rajasthan Karmchari Sangh - have called the strike, demanding immediate termination of the merger proposal.

"We have decided to strike work on June 4 and 5. If the authorities do not heed to our demand, we will again go on a three-day strike beginning June 17. All branches of BoR and over 4,000 employees will participate in the strike," All-India Bank of Rajasthan Employees Federation president Dharmendra Rao told PTI over phone.

The unions fear that the merger would result in job losses as the work culture of the both banks are very different. This would also destroy the identity of one of the oldest private sector banks in the country, Rao said, adding there is no guarantee that our jobs will be protected.

The unions have also written to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and the RBI demanding their intervention in the matter and has scheduled a meeting with the regional labour commissioner to discuss the matter.

The move assumes significance as the shareholders of both banks are set to meet on June 21 in an extraordinary general meeting to approve the merger proposal0. — PTI

New Delhi, May 27
Cairn India today reported a massive 12-fold rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 245.19 crore in the quarter ended March 31, 2010, on the back of rising oil production from its Rajasthan fields.

Cairn had reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 18.68 crore in the same period a year ago, the company said in a press statement here.

Cairn is currently producing about 60,000 barrels per day of crude oil from the Mangala oilfield, the largest among 24 oil and gas finds it has made in the Barmer district in Rajasthan.

BRIEFLY

Aditya Birla Retail plan
New Delhi: Aditya Birla Retail on Thursday said it will increase focus on its private labels business and is looking to introduce its own branded consumer durables and electronics products by 2012. The company, which is the retail arm of Aditya Birla Group, said it aims to increase the share of private labels in its total sales to 30 per cent within 2-3 years from around 20 per cent currently. — PTI

SBI scheme for SMEs
Chandigarh: The State Bank of India has come out with a scheme for one-time settlement (OTS) of NPAs of SMEs. The scheme covers those SME accounts which became non-performing before March 2009, with an outstanding of up to Rs 1 crore. The bank is also offering discounts for early payment ranging from 15 to 75 per cent of the outstanding, depending upon the age of the account and the period within which the full eligible amount under the OTS scheme is offered to be paid by the borrowers. — TNS

RCom offer for HP
Shimla: Reliance Communications on Thursday launched “Unlimited pack 149” scheme for its pre-paid GSM subscribers in Himachal Pradesh. Using the new pack, a subscriber can make unlimited local calls to Reliance GSM and CDMA mobiles, while all other calls, including STD, will be charged at 50 paise per minute. The pack carries a validity of 30 days. — TNS