SE IN ALLIANCE WITH TCS
The Indian Express
Inter-connected Stock Exchange of India Ltd (ISE) has appointed Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to provide software solutions for its planned trading platform. ISE, promoted by 13 regional stock exchanges will be offering cost-effective trading, clearing and settlement, risk management and surveillance support to over 800 trading members across 79 cities.
AIRTEL PARTNERS WITH NOVATIUM TO EXPAND BROADBAND BUSINESS
Chennai
Financial Chronicle Mail Today
Telecom service provider Bharti Airtel today entered into a partnership with cloud computing service provider Novatium to expand its broadband business in India.
Under the tie-up, Novatium would offer cloud computing - internet-based computing services - Airtel Net PC, for Airtel broadband customers in India, Bharti Airtel Telemedia Services-CMO Vikas Singh told reporters here. Singh said they would launch the service in 11 cities (starting from Chennai) over the next six months.
INDIAN COMPANIES M&A DEALS TOUCH $1.7 BN IN APRIL
New Delhi
Financial Chronicle
Indian companies’ merger and acquisition deal activity stood at $1.74 billion in April taking the total M&A kitty so far this year to $21 billion. According to the monthly deal report of VCCEdge, the financial research platform of VCCircle.com, the M&A deal value during April stood at $1.74 billion rose 57% over the same period last year. The deal count also witnessed an upward trend and increased to 49 in April compared to 28 in the year-ago period.
The month of April saw as many as 25 domestic deals worth $815 million, compared to 13 deals worth $603 million in the year-ago period, the report said. Besides, the number of outbound deals more than doubled from eight in April 2009 to 18 this year, the number of inbound deals although remained almost unchanged with five deals in April this year as against seven deals witnessed last year during the same time.
In terms of deal volume, the most active sector was information technology, which cornered 10 deals followed by consumer goods maker and manufacturing with eight deals each in April 2010.
HCL TECH TIES UP WITH STELLAR ASIA
New Delhi
Business Standard The Telegraph
HCL Tech and Stellar Asia Pacific on Wednesday announced a strategic partnership to expand business in Australia and Asia-Pacific markets. The alliance — aimed at providing customers with business services outsourcing proposition — will leverage HCL's back-office and technology product capabilities and Stellar's customer relationship management services, a company release said.
With a focus on managing customer relationships, Stellar's current offerings range from front office services (such as customer service support and directory assistance) to automated back-office support services and solutions. As part of the alliance, the two would target specific industry segments such as banking and financial services, telecommunications, manufacturing, utilities services, retail and media.
INVENSYS ACQUIRES BANGALORE COMPANY
Bangalore
The Times of India (Bangalore edition)
Skelta Software, a Bangalore-based software product development company, has been acquired by Invensys Operations Management (IOM), a US-based provider of technology systems, software solutions and consulting services to the manufacturing and infrastructure operations industries. The value of the deal was not disclosed.
Skelta, founded in 2003 and which has 130 employees, provides enterprise-wide business process management (BPM) and advanced workflow software solutions. "This acquisition further extends our enterprise control system strategy," Sudipta Bhattacharya, CEO of IOM, was quoted as saying in a release. Sanjay Shah, CEO of Skelta Software, said that being acquired by an "industry-leading multinational company recognizes that our technology is leading edge".
54% OF INDIAN FIRMS KEEN TO ACQUIRE COMPANIES IN 12 MONTHS
Deepti Chaudhary, Bangalore
Mint
After lying low for nearly two years, Indian companies are once again hunting for acquisitions, a new study shows. Audit firm Ernst and Young’s (E&Y) April study measuring confidence in the global economy shows that in India, 54% of the companies surveyed have said they are likely or highly likely to acquire other companies in the next 12 months. That’s nearly double the number of firms that were considering acquisitions six months ago. E&Y surveyed 58 mid- to top-tier companies in India for its study.
Confidence is growing in the Indian mergers and acquisitions (M&As) space, with the focus shifting away from divestments, says E&Y’s latest Capital Confidence Barometer. M&As by Indian companies fell sharply during the downturn and are still to recover. The E&Y study points to a return of confidence among local firms as the business environment improves.
However, Indian firms say they cannot afford to avoid overseas buys. Sasken’s Mody, for instance, says Europe contributes 30-35% to revenue and the firm needed a foothold there. “Nokia is a key customer and it would not have been with us if we had not acquired the Finnish firm.”
JINDALS PICK UP 10% IN DESCON
Sambit Saha, Calcutta
The Telegraph
JSW Group has bought into city-based IT firm Descon by scooping up a 10 percent stake held by DPSC Ltd in back-to-back deals that turned one-time fierce competitors into close collaborators. The $3.7-billion group, having interests in steel, power and infrastructure, is also in talks with three other shareholders of Descon to take management control.
