PSU Bonus

The government reportedly plans to ask blue-chip public sector units (PSUs) including NTPC, Bharat Electricals, Steel Authority of India, ONGC, Indian Oil Corporation, BPCL, HPCL and Gail to issue bonus shares, as their reserves and surplus have increased to several times their paid-up capital. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) may issue a directive to PSUs having paid-up capital over Rs 100 crore to consider issuance of bonus shares, the report added.

Madras high court has reportedly suspended an interim order restraining TVS Motor Company from booking or selling its recently launched 125-cc bike 'Flame'. The bench posted the case to 4 January and 5 January 2008, for further hearing of all the petitions.

Apollo Tyres is reportedly close to acquiring a south east Asian tyre maker. The acquisition would be finalised early next year. The target firm or likely deal value were not disclosed.

DLF has REPORTEDLY received regulatory approval to launch the initial public offer of DLF Offices Trust in Singapore for raising about $1.5 billion. The IPO of DLF Offices Trust, a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) of K P Singh-promoted DLF Assets, is expected to come in January next year, the reports added.

IFCI has reportedly invited bids from merchant bankers to value and buy its shares in 100 unlisted firms to enable the company to sell them.

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani promoted Zapak.com, an online gaming portal, is all set to acquire Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) for around $300 million (Rs 1,200 crore). The deal, which has been brewing for the past two weeks or so, will be finalized in the next few days. Possibly by next week, Zapak will have full rights to all content owned and published by SOE, the reports added.

Bharti Enterprises may reportedly acquire Big Apple, the Delhi-based supermarket chain with 65 stores.

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani (ADA) group is on course to dilute 5% stake in the privately held Reliance Entertainment, the holding company for the group's entire entertainment business. The stake sale is planned to be a purely financial one, to a clutch of institutional investors, and not to strategic partners like any global major in the entertainment or movie business, the reports suggest.

Wipro is reportedly expected to place a bid to acquire French consulting firm Capgemini by January-end next year, according to investment banking sources. The bid could be close to Euro 48 per share, valuing Capgemini at $6.4-7 billion.

MRF reportedly expects to get possession of 500 acres at Tamil Nadu, by next month where it plans to invest Rs 1,000 crore to set up a new facility.