1 & 2 August, 2013

Neyveli share sale fully subscribed, govt gets about Rs 350cr

The government's 3.56 per cent stake sale offer in Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) got fully subscribed to fetch around Rs 350 crore to the exchequer within an hour of opening of trade.

The Centre was selling over 5.97 crore shares, or 3.56 per cent stake, in NLC through an Institutional Placement Programme (IPP) at a price band of Rs 58-60 a share.

Sources said mostly the Tamil Nadu-based state PSUs bid for the share sale and preference would be given to them while allotment as per exemption received from Sebi. The issue received bids for over 6.12 crore shares as against 5.97 crore on offer as of 1100 hrs, as per data available on the BSE.

USL buys Pawar-led group’s 49% in joint venture

United Spirits (USL), recently acquired by Diageo Plc, has bought back minority shareholders headed by the Sharad Pawar family in a winery joint venture, Four Seasons Wines, struck six years ago.

The Pawar family had led the wine growers of Baramati, the home turf of Maratha strongman Sharad Pawar, to buy a 49% in the JV. Pawar's elder brother Prataprao Pawar, nephew Ranjit Pawar and son-in-law Sadanand Sule were represented on the board at the time of deal.

Rupee off lows as RBI tightens hedging rules for foreign investors

Rupee fell on Thursday, but staged a strong rebound from intra-day lows as the Reserve Bank of India continued to bolster its currency defence by tightening rules for curbing speculation by foreign investors, and on rumoured central bank intervention.

The RBI stipulated on Thursday that foreign institutional investors would require a mandate from participatory note holders to hedge on their behalf.

Participatory notes are by far the most popular derivative instrument by which offshore investors can invest in the domestic stock market without revealing their identity.

BCCI calls of working committee meeting, Dalmiya to continue as interim president

N Srinivasan's desperate bid to return as BCCI president was thwarted with the under-fire board deciding to call off its working committee meeting here on Friday fearing legal trouble after the Bombay High Court declared its IPL spot-fixing probe "illegal and unconstitutional".

Jagmohan Dalmiya, who was named the interim chief after Srinivasan had stepped aside pending an internal inquiry into the IPL spot-fixing scandal, will continue in the position for the time being.