Real Estate
Suncity To Seek PE Funding: Real estate firm Suncity Projects is planning to raise up to Rs 500 crore through private equity for development of its IT SEZ project at Gurgaon. The company has acquired 4,000 acres of land in different cities where it would be developing over 10 projects in all verticals such as housing, commercial, shopping mall, hotels, SEZs and townships. Delhi-based Suncity Projects, which is being promoted by Zee Group, Action Shoes and Odeon Builders, is developing six townships at Rohtak, Jaipur, Kaithal, Rewari and Indore of various size ranging between 100-500 acre.
Developers Press For A Regulator Not Withstanding The Slump In Real Estate: Real Estate prices have dropped 10-15% in the past six months and are likely to correct further, according to a FICCI-Ernst & Young report on real estate. The report also says developers are not too keen on acquiring land from the government as a government auction leads to an unjustified escalation of prices. The land prices too have fallen 10-15% and the brunt of it is being borne by developers. The report also states that the developers are pressing for a regulator in the space.
Capital Markets
UCO Bank To Tap Capital Markets: UCO Bank, a public sector bank, is looking to tap the capital market with follow-on public offering (FPO) during the December quarter this year, its Chairman and Managing Director, Mr S.K. Goel, told the reporters. The public sector bank has plans are afoot to restructure the bank’s Rs 800-crore paid-up equity capital ahead of the FPO to enable it to get premium price for the offering.
ONGC To List Itself In 2009: State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) is planning to list its wholly-owned overseas exploration subsidiary ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) sometime in 2009.Money from the listing will be used to repay some of the bridge loans OVL needs to raise to finance the $2.8-billion Imperial Energy acquisition and create “acquisition currency†for the future, sources close to the company said.
M&A
Japan's Uniqlo To Acquire Retail Brands In India: Japan's Fast Retailing Co Ltd said it plans to open Uniqlo casual clothing stores in Russia and India and rivals as it aims to boost sales by 70 per cent over the next two years. Uniqlo would look at acquiring its competing brands in India and wants to add about 200-300 billion yen to its group revenues, this way. The company aims to expand its overseas network by about 2.5 times to 125 stores by 2010, allowing it to triple the sales generated by Uniqlo outside Japan to 100 billion yen. The Wall Street Journal adds that the clothier has already done its market research in India and is actively looking at the caual clothing segment particularly for women.
Luxury Phone Brand Vertu In Talks With DLF For Its Stores: The world’s largest luxury phone brand Vertu is talking to the leading real estate players, DLF for opening up its exclusive store in India. In India, Shah Rukh khan, Vijay Mallya and Karan Johar are known to be Vertu owners.
Arcelor Mittal Invests In Kalagadi Managanese: ArcelorMittal has invested $432.5 million to buy a 50 per cent stake in South Africa-based Kalagadi Manganese to develop the deposits jointly with Kalahari Resources and Industrial Development Corporation Ltd.
