Daily News Roundup - Dec 14 2010

The Munjal family is set to acquire Honda Motors’ 26% stake in their joint venture Hero Honda Motors for around US$1bn or half the current value of the stake in the stock market. (ET)

ONGC is in talks with Russia's Bashneft to help the oil firm develop the giant Arctic Trebs and Titov oil fields. (ET)



International Coal Ventures (ICV), floated by SAIL, NMDC, NTPC, RINL and Coal India, may bid for Australia’s Riversdale Mining. (BS)

Vedanta Resources has received the approval from shareholders for the proposed acquisition of a 51-60% interest in Cairn India from Cairn Energy. (BS)

NTPC plans to set up two more power stations in Bengal, at Katwa and Bandel, with a total capacity of 2,980MW. (BL)

Reckitt Benckiser of the UK bought Paras Pharmaceuticals for Rs32.6bn, in a deal that values the maker of brands such as D’Cold, Krack and Moov at eight times its sales of Rs4bn. (BS)

Aventis Pharma will sell its 49% stake in vaccine manufacturing unit, Chiron Behring Vaccines, to its joint venture partner Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics for US$22.4mn. (BS)

ICICI Bank is looking to raise US$545mn through US commercial paper, which will have a maximum tenor of 360 days. (BL)

Sun Pharma is looking at acquire a US based company valued at US$300mn. (ET)

Ashok Leyland has bagged an order for 600 vehicles worth Rs1.25bn from Hubli-based VRL Logistics. (BL)

JSW Steel will issue global depository receipts (GDR) worth Rs4.6bn to Japanese steel major JFE Steel Corporation. (BL)

The Tamil Nadu Electricity Board has paid the first instalment of Rs1bn to GMR Infrastructure as part of the Rs4.8bn settlement relating to a power purchase agreement. (BL)

Everonn Education Ltd has transferred more than 3.9mn shares to SKIL Infrastructure Ltd to raise ~Rs2bn. (BS)

The Supreme Court adjourned hearing of a special leave petition against the Madras High Court order to close down the Sterlite’s copper smelting plant in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, on alleged environment pollution to January. (BS)

Hindalco will receive a dividend (return of capital) of US$1.7bn from its Canadian subsidiary Novelis Inc which recently announced plans to raise US$4bn through debt. (BL)

Rcom become the first telecom operator to launch third-generation (3G) services in the metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. (BS)

Steel Strips Wheels (SSWL) issued and allotted 0.377mn equity shares of Rs10 each to South Korean company GS Global Corp. (BL)

GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to buy protein drinks firm Maxinutrition for US$256mn from its private-equity owners to complement its Lucozade sports drinks franchise. (ET)

Confidence Petroleum India has received two orders worth Rs366.4mn from HPCL for supply of LPG cylinders. (ET)

IDBI Bank to raise base rate by 50bps to 9% and benchmark prime lending rate by 25bps to 13.75%, effective Jan. 1 (ET)

The RBI has advised all scheduled banks to ensure opening of 'no frills' accounts of students from minority communities or other disadvantaged groups when they approach them, Government said today. (ET)

An Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) headed by Finance Minister may meet on December 22 to decide on raising diesel prices by Rs1-2 a litre. (ET)

The government has delayed approval for US-based Qualcomm’s India operations, extending the chipmaker’s wait for airwaves it won in a keenly-contested auction earlier this year. (ET)

The government has formed a working group comprising airlines and passenger associations to look into air fares. (ET)

SEBI is considering a proposal under which fund management fees charged by mutual funds will be linked to the performance of a scheme. (ET)