The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Maruti recalls 13,157 diesel cars in 3 models
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 6
The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India has announced that it will recall 13,157 units of its three popular diesel models - Dzire, Swift and Ritz, to rectify a faulty engine part.

“Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) will inspect the 'connecting rod bolt' in 13,157 units of Swift Dzire, Swift and Ritz diesel cars with engines manufactured between November 13, 2010, and December 4, 2010,” the company said.

Of the total recalls, 4,505 units will be of Swift Dzire, 6,841 units of Swift and 1,811units of Ritz diesel cars.

"If the connecting rod bolt is found defective, the company will replace the component free," it added.

MSI, however, said no other vehicle in the range or the exported cars are impacted. The dealers will contact owners of the cars and the new part has already been dispatched to the workshops.

Meanwhile, the company's stock fell 2.12 per cent to Rs 1,285.15 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. It later settled at Rs 1,294.65 a piece, down 1.40 per cent over previous close.

Last February, in the largest-ever recall exercise in the Indian automotive industry to date, MSI announced to call back one lakh units of its flagship export model A-Star to replace a faulty fuel pump gasket.

In February, Honda Siel Cars India (HSCI) announced recall of 57,853 units of its mid-sized sedan City to replace a faulty engine part, as part of a global exercise.

—With Agency inputs

Maserati forays into India
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 6
Italian luxury sports car maker Maserati today announced its foray into the Indian market with its complete range of cars. The price ranges from Rs. 1.20 crore and Rs. 1.43 crore (ex-showroom, New Delhi).

“The growth in luxury car market last year made us confident to enter here in 2011. Today we are very excited to enter India. We will offer the full product range to Indian customers,” Maserati Asia Pacific MD Simone Niccolai told reporters here.

The luxury car market in India grew about 70 per cent and is estimated to be around 15,000 units in 2010, he said.

The company has appointed Shreyans Group as the official importer of its cars into India. The delivery of the cars would start from July-August, he added.

“We will open our first showroom in Mumbai later this year. The second showroom will be started in New Delhi early next year. We will have presence in seven locations by 2015,” Niccolai said.

The company, which sold 5,675 cars globally in 2010, expects to sell 100 units in India in the next three years.

“I am confident that the Indian function will play a significant role in building Maserati brand here,” he added. — PTI

PE firms invested $3.2 bn last quarter
Highest inflow since 2008
Sanjeev Sharma
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 6
Private Equity firms invested about $3.2 billion - the highest amount since 2008 - across 83 deals in India during the quarter ended March 2011, a study by Venture Intelligence has said.

The amount invested during the quarter was higher than that during the same period last year (which witnessed $2.1 billion invested across 81 deals) and over twice that of the immediate previous quarter ($1.5 billion across 83 deals).

The largest PE investment during Q4 2011 fiscal was Rs 4,500 crore (about $1 billion) commitment by Bain Capital and Singapore’s GIC to Hero Investments, the Hero group holding firm which is to buyout Honda Motors’ 26% stake in listed two-wheeler maker Hero Honda.

“PE firms’ investment in Q4 11-12 was the highest since Q4 2008. This combined with the rising number of exits, successful raising of new PE funds (like the $500 million second fund by Everstone) and the accelerated pace of investments in the manufacturing and infrastructure sectors, indicates strong revival in confidence for deploying long-term PE capital in the country,” said Arun Natarajan, MD & CEO of Venture Intelligence.

Private Equity firms obtained exit routes for their investments in 14 Indian companies during Q4 11-12, including one IPO (that of PTC Financial Services).

“While the correction in the public markets forced a slowdown in the overall pace of exits in Q4 ’11 compared to the immediate previous quarter, the number of IPO filings by PE-backed companies in Q4 suggests a potentially healthier figure in the months ahead provided the public markets are conducive,” Natarajan remarked.

* The largest PE investment during Q4 11-12 was Rs 4,500 crore (about $1 billion) commitment by Bain Capital and Singapore’s GIC to Hero Investments.
* The IT & ITeS industry received the largest investment in Q4 11-12 at $577 million

Indo, Pak trade secretaries to meet on Apr 27

New Delhi, April 6
Commerce Secretaries of India and Pakistan will meet in Islamabad on April 27 and 28, the second structured high-level interaction following resumption of Indo-Pak dialogue on all comprehensive bilateral issues. The meeting comes on the heels of talks between the home secretaries of the two countries here last month followed by an informal meeting between the Prime Ministers of the two countries on the sidelines of India-Pakistan cricket World Cup semi-final match in Mohali.

"By the end of April in Islamabad," Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said when asked about the meeting between Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar and his Pakistani counterpart Zafar Mehmood. She was talking to reporters on the sidelines of a Commerce Ministry and Exim Bank function here.

An official said while there is no specific agenda, the commerce secretaries would try to iron out outstanding issues affecting bilateral trade and the talks are expected to give boost to trade across the borders. "Besides, it depends on what they (Pakistan) want," the official said.

India-Pakistan trade is just about $2 billion in the absence of right political atmosphere. India's total global trade is over $500 billion. — PTI

Former MindTree chief launches Happiest Minds
Shubhadeep Choudhury
Tribune News Service

Bangalore, April 6
Ashok Soota, the ousted chairman of the Bangalore-based software major MindTree, seems to have hit back at his critics.

The name of his new company certainly suggests that.

“Ashok Soota celebrates his mother’s 94th birthday by announcing his new business venture. The name of the company is Happiest Minds Technologies Private Ltd.”, announced a press statement issued from a PR firm.

The mission of Soota’s new venture is, “Creating the happiest customers and the happiest team”.

Since MindTree describes its employees as “MindTree minds”, the “Happiest Minds Ltd” is considered a reply to Soota’s unceremonious ouster from the company soon after the last quarterly results in December.

“I envision Happiest Minds to become the fastest IT services firm from India to achieve $100 million in revenue. We aim to be a full services firm with global presence. The company will have six lines of businesses, namely IT Services, R&D Services, Product Engineering Services, Remote Infrastructure Management, Testing and Consulting, he said.

He added Happiest Minds would focus on new emerging technologies such as Cloud, Social CRM, Unified Communications, Mobility, Business Intelligence & Analytics.

The company, funded by Soota himself and venture capitalists, intends to have the “highest standard of corporate governance”.

Genpact to acquire
Headstrong for $550 mn

New Delhi, Apr 6
Outsourcing giant Genpact today said it would acquire consulting and IT services firm Headstrong Corporation for a cash consideration of $550 million.

The transaction is being funded by a combination of existing cash and acquisition financing, and is expected to close by May 31, 2011, subject to customary regulatory and other conditions, Genpact said.

Genpact expects the transaction to be accretive to earnings per share on a GAAP basis in 2011.

"Headstrong is a complementary high-growth business, built by talented leaders, that is an excellent fit strategically, financially, operationally and culturally. With this acquisition, we are gaining critical domain and technology expertise in the complex, but highly attractive, capital markets industry vertical," Genpact President and Chief Executive Officer Pramod Bhasin said.

This expertise - combined with capabilities in business process management (BPM) and Smart Decision Services that encompass analytics and reengineering — will create a uniquely powerful value proposition for clients, he added.

Headstrong has domain expertise in several segments of the capital markets vertical like asset management, derivatives, wealth management, prime brokerage, reference data, compliance and mortgages.

With a strong mix of onsite and offshore expertise, Headstrong counts nine of the world's top 10 investment banks and three of the top five asset managers as clients. — PTI

GoM to decide on Cairn-Vedanta agreement

New Delhi, April 6
In a possible spoiler to the $9.6 billion deal, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today referred the issue of acquisition of Cairn India by UK-based Vedanta Resources to a group of ministers.

The move followed differences in the Cabinet panel on whether Vedanta should be given unconditional approvals for the nation's biggest buyout in the energy sector or with conditions attached.

"It has been decided in the meeting of CCEA that the issue of clearance of sale of Cairn's share to Vedanta should be reffred to GoM and the GoM will be headed by Parnab Mukherjee," Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy told reporters here. The Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy Plc, which is selling majority of its stake in its Indian unit, and Vedanta have set April 15 as the deadline for the conclusion of the transaction. However, it is unlikely that the GoM will be able to deliberate on the issues and give its report to the Cabinet by April 15.

"I cannot comment on the deal. GoM will look into it. Our effort will be to produce a very fit report. However, I cannot indicate a time frame," Reddy said.

Finance Minster Pranab Mukherjee, who will head the GoM, said, "it (deal) has lot of implications. So from various angles it will be examined...Shortly it will be done".

The decision could jeopardise the proposal of Vedanta Group firm Sesa Goa to come out with an open offer to buy 20 per cent stake. — PTI

Cannot find replacement for Ratan Tata, says search panel

New Delhi, April 6
Eight months after it was set up to find a successor to Tata Sons Chairman Ratan Tata, the search panel has concluded that it cannot find a "replacement" for the group chief.

"Our committee has come to the conclusion that we cannot find a replacement for (Ratan) Tata!", said Tata Sons Director and one of the members of the committee R K Krishna Kumar in an interview published on the company's website.

Group holding company Tata Sons in August last year had set up a five-member panel to find a successor to Tata, who is due to retire in December 2012 when he turns 75.

Apart from Kumar, other panel members are Tata Sons former vice chairman N A Soonawala, group director Cyrus Mistry, group adviser and lawyer Shirin Bharucha and influential British businessman Lord Bhattacharya. — PTI

SBI, ICICI Bank take 11% stake in Kingfisher

Mumbai, April 6
State Bank of India and ICICI Bank have together picked up close to 11 per cent stake in debt- trapped Kingfisher Airlines as part of debt recast process.

SBI was alloted 2.8 crore equity shares on preferential basis on account of conversion of compulsorily convertible preference shares under corporate debt restructuring, the bank informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.

By virtue of the allotment of shares, the SBI stake in the airline was 5.67 per cent and the value of the holding was Rs 182.25 crore.

At the same time, another lender ICICI Bank was also allotted 2.6 crore shares against the loan it had given to the airline.

With the allotment the bank's equity holding in the airline stands at 5.3 per cent worth Rs 169.9 crore. — PTI