New Delhi, April 23
In a hostile takeover bid, Deepak Fertilisers today increased its stake in Vijay Mallya-promoted Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd (MCFL) to over 25% and made an open offer to buy another 26% for Rs 190 crore.

If the open offer to shareholders succeeds, Deepak Fertilisers will wrest control of the firm, which belongs to the debt-ridden UB Group and owns and operates urea and chemical plants at New Mangalore port in Karnataka.

Deepak Fertilisers and Saroj Poddar-led Zuari Fertilisers have been engaged in a tug-of-war for about a year for control of MCFL, which had sales of Rs 2,779.59 crore in 2012-13.

Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation, the largest shareholder of MCFL, today bought 10,00,034 shares of the company at Rs 62.5 apiece on the BSE through subsidiary SCM Soilfert Ltd, according to stock market data.

After this transaction, its stake in MCFL has increased from 24.46 per cent to more than 25%, the threshold for making an open offer in line with regulator SEBI's norms.

Earlier in the day, Deepak Fertilisers informed the BSE it had placed an order to buy up to 20 lakh shares, equivalent to a 1.7 per cent of stake in MCFL, at Rs 63 a share.

If the company is able to buy the entire 20 lakh shares, its stake in MCFL would rise to 26.1%.

Deepak Fertilisers today also announced an open offer to acquire up to 3.08 crore MCFL shares, comprising 26% of the Mallya firm's equity, at Rs 61.75 a share, aggregating Rs 190.27 crore.

When contacted, a UB spokesperson said: "We will study the offer, review our options and respond accordingly." MCFL shares ended the day 6.62% higher at Rs 66.05 on the BSE, retreating from gains of as much as 16.78 per cent during the day to Rs 72.35. — PTI

New Delhi, April 23
Industry body Assocham has asked the Election Commission to raise the cash movement limit to Rs 5 lakh as traders and businessmen are facing harassment by the police in a long drawn out election with the present limit of Rs 50,000.

"It is not only the traders but also ordinary households who have become wary of this rule. Many people are not aware of this EC guideline because of which common people and small traders carrying cash worth Rs 50,000 or more are harassed and sometimes the cash is confiscated," Assocham secretary- general DS Rawat said. "Therefore, the limit of free cash movement during elections should be raised to Rs 5 lakh," he added.

As per the Election Commission guidelines, any private individual who may or may not be a business person needs to carry documentary proofs when he travels with more than Rs 50,000 in cash. He or she needs to explain the legal source and end use of money. Frequent travellers who are hopping in and out of big and metro cities day in and day out are facing the problems even more since they are under a special scanner at the airports.

Sales at jewellery stores, especially in the unbranded outlets, have also been affected due to the cash movement restrictions, Assocham said.

"We have a long way to go before we completely move away from the cash economy to cheques and plastic money. Credit penetration and acceptance at the merchandise level is low in India and retailers do not accept cheques happily, fearing harassment by taxmen," Rawat said.

As the rule applies to private individuals as well, one needs to explain the legal source and end use of money. As a result, frequent travellers are facing problems since they have to undergo security checks at the airports. Similarly, wedding shoppers are also facing problems, the industry chamber said.

Citing examples, Assocham said an ordinary household getting repairs done in his home or even for new construction underway would need cash. Similar is the case for buying household goods - LCD TVs, refrigerators, air-conditioners for which cash is required.

Sales at jewellery stores, especially in the unbranded outlets, have also been affected due the cash movement restrictions, the reports from the Assocham constituent trade bodies have shown.

Mumbai, April 23
The BSE benchmark index Sensex today rose by 118 points to a record closing high of 22,876.54 points on buying by funds mainly in capital goods and banking stocks amid monthly expiry in derivatives.

Similarly, the broader Nifty of the National Stock Exchange too gained 25.45 points, or 0.37% to settle at record 6,840.80 after touching an all-time intra-day high of 6,861.60 points.

Buying activity further gathered momentum as investors covered their pending short positions on monthly settlement in the derivatives segment, brokers said.

Market remained in a record setting spree on sustained capital inflows, they added.

The 30-share Sensex touched record intra-day high of 22,912.52 points on rise in Larsen & Toubro, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank.

Later, it pared some of the gains to settle at 22,876.54, up 118.17 points, or 0.52%.

"Nifty is showing continued strength on the upsides and is able to hold well above 6,800 level for the past three trading sessions. Technically, markets are showing optimism and buying is likely to continue in coming sessions," Nidhi Saraswat, senior research analyst, Bonanza Portfolio Ltd, said.

In 30-BSE index components, 18 stocks gained and 10 declined, while Hindalco and Bajaj Auto held unchanged.

Larsen & Toubro was the biggest gainer among Sensex scrips rising by 2.48% after positive recommendations by brokerages.

HDFC Bank, which posted strong Q4 results, ICICI Bank, ITC and GAIL rose up to 1.48%. BHEL, Axis Bank, Tata Steel and Mahindra & Mahindra were also among major gainers. — PTI

New Delhi, April 23
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) today said it has raised $550 million loan for part-funding expansion of its petrochemical plant and new gasification unit from Japanese banks.

"In continuation of the fund raising programme initiated in 2012-13, RIL has tied up Export Credit Agency (ECA) facility of up to $550 million co-financed by JBIC (Japan International Bank for Cooperation) and a group of other Japanese banks backed by NEXI," it said.

The 12-year loan will part finance the proposed expansion of RIL's petrochemical plants and setting up of new gasification unit and refinery off-gas cracker over the next 2-3 years.

"This is RIL’s eighth ECA facility for the largest capital expenditure programme it has undertaken," it said. This is the first time that JBIC is extending credit to RIL.

JBIC will provide direct financing of up to $330 million and Japanese banks, supported by a 95% Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI) insurance cover, will finance up to $220 million. — PTI

New Delhi, April 23
Fair trade regulator CCI has rejected allegations of abuse of dominant market position against Ansal Township and Land Development with regard to the realty company's commercial project in Jalandhar, Punjab.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) held that no prima facie case was made out against Ansal for causing a probe by the Director General (investigations) as the company did not appear to be in a dominant position in the relevant market.

The complaint filed by an individual was against Ansal Township and Land Development, its managing director Pranav Ansal and joint managing director & CEO Anil Kumar.

It was alleged that Ansal had abused its dominant position with regard to allotment of commercial space in its project 'Ansal Highway Plaza' which is a shopping mall in Jalandhar.

As per the complainant, among other things, Ansal without giving any prior notice to the allottees and proper reason had illegally shut down the shopping mall in March, 2011.

In an order dated April 15, the watchdog said the "presence of large number of players in the relevant market itself indicates that the consumers have choice and are not solely dependent on opposite party no 1 (Ansal)".

"Since the opposite party no 1 does not appear to be in a dominant position in the relevant market, the question of abuse of dominant position by it does not arise," the CCI added. — PTI

New Delhi, April 23
Instant messaging app WhatsApp has crossed the half-a-billion (50 crore) user mark on the back of strong growth in emerging markets like India and Brazil.

The company, which was acquired by social networking giant Facebook in February this year for $19 billion, was founded in 2009 by Ukrainian Jan Koum and American Brian Acton.

"Thanks to all of you, half a billion people around the world are now regular, active WhatsApp users," WhatsApp said in a blog post.

It has grown fastest in countries like Brazil, India, Mexico and Russian in the past few months, WhatsApp said.

"Our users are also sharing more than 700 million photos and 100 million videos every single day," it said. — PTI

New Delhi, April 23
Cairn India today reported an 18% rise in its March quarter net profit as crude oil production from its showpiece Rajasthan fields soared.

Net profit in the January-March quarter rose to Rs 3,035 crore, or Rs 15.85 per share, from Rs 2,564 crore, or Rs 13.41 a share, a year ago, the company said. Sales climbed 16% to Rs 5,049 crore.

Cairn declared a final dividend of Rs 6.50 per share for the year ended March 31, 2014.

For the full 2013-14 fiscal, net profit rose 4.3% to Rs 12,431.79 crore. Sales increased to Rs 18,761.70 crore from Rs 17,524.15 crore in 2012-13.

YES Bank net up 19% at Rs430 crore

YES Bank today posted a 18.8% jump in net profit at Rs 430.21 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2014. Total income of the bank rose to Rs 3,013.57 crore in January-March quarter as compared to Rs 2,667.03 crore in the same period previous fiscal, YES Bank said.

The bank proposed a dividend of 80%, or Rs 8 per share, for 2013-2014.

The Board has also approved a proposal to raise funds by way of issuance of equity up to $500 million in one or more tranches.

For the entire fiscal ended March, 2014, the bank's net profit grew by 24.4% at Rs 1,617.78 crore, compared to Rs 1,300.7 crore in the corresponding fiscal.

Total income increased to Rs 11,702.93 crore during the year, compared to Rs 9,551.43 crore in the earlier fiscal. — PTI 

BRIEFLY

M&M’s agri arm signs JV pact with Holland firm
New Delhi: The Agri division of Mahindra & Mahindra on Wednesday signed a joint venture agreement with HZPC, Holland, for potato breeding, seed potato growing and seed potato trading to offer the best quality seed potatoes to farmers within and outside India. The JV will have Mahindra and HZPC holding 60 and 40% equity, respectively, in the company, subject to the parties receiving all applicable approvals. — TNS

CCI imposes Rs 6.75 crore fine on ITPO
New Delhi: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed a Rs 6.75-crore penalty on the Indian Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), a central government agency, for indulging in unfair business practices. Besides penalising ITPO for abusing its dominant market position in holding trade shows and exhibitions, the CCI asked it to "cease and desist" from anti-competitive practices. — PTI

India, Bhutan ink MoU for exchange of audit info
New Delhi: India and Bhutan have signed an MoU for improving cooperation and exchange of information in the field of audit of public finances. The MoU was signed by the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India Shashi Kant Sharma and Auditor-General of Bhutan Dasho Ugen Chewang in Bhutan. It will be in force for a period of six years 
from April 22. — TNS