• Foreign funds may get direct public offer invite; Review on realty & aviation too
• High Court hauls up DRI in Vodafone case
• Baring acquires Merill’s stake in MphasiS
• Sodexo set to gobble up RKHS in Rs 520-cr deal
• According to sources, companies in sectors with FDI limits could soon be exempted from taking prior approvals for participation by foreign funds in their share issues, as per new rules being considered by the govt to attract more overseas investments. A committee of top government officials will soon consider a proposal that seeks to explicitly do away with the FIPB approval for investments by FIIs in public offers of companies that operate in sectors with such FDI limits. The proposal, mooted by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, is likely to be taken up by the committee of secretaries shortly. The committee of secretaries will also consider proposals for easing various restrictions for foreign investment in the real estate and aviation sectors such as- reducing the minimum area criteria to 10,000 square meters for commercial developments and 10 acres for residential projects. (ET)
• Bombay High Court has rapped the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence for seeking differential tax dues from Vodafone Essar by threatening the company’s directors with arrest. The court condemned DRI for “terrorising” Vodafone and “totally flouting the norms” of law for the agency’s role in a case relating to Vodafone’s import of optic fibre cables, the appropriate duty on which is still being debated by tax tribunals. (FE)
• Baring India Pvt Equity Fund, a subsidiary of Baring Pvt Equity Partners Group, has bought close to 3.6% stake for over Rs 129 crore in mid-rung BPO & software solutions firm MphasiS. In 2006, Baring had off-loaded 34.73% stake in MphasiS for Rs 1,150 crore to Electronic Data Systems via an open offer. With this, the equity holding of Baring and its associates in MphasiS has gone up to 12.21%. (FE)
• French food services giant Sodexo is acquiring Mumbai-headquartered Radhakrishna Hospitality Services Group (RKHS), India’s pioneer in the food and facilities management sector, in a transaction valued at over $100 million, or roughly Rs 520 crore. Sodexo has informed the Paris stock exchange about a binding agreement to buy out the Indian rival. Radhakrisha Hospitality is the leader in India’s food services and facilities management sector and employs over 20,000 people across 22 states. (ET)
