Reliance Industries is looking to buy more than 25% stake each in cable TV and broadband service providers Hathway Cable & Datacom and DEN Networks, The Economic Times reported, citing people aware of the development.
Reliance’s purchase may result in a drop in the stakes held by promoters and could spark an open offer, the report said.
The deal is expected to be announced in a few days, according to the report.
Reliance is looking at the acquisitions to speed up the commercial launch of its GigaFiber, a fibre-based broadband service.
Hathway Cable & Datacom and DEN Networks, two of India’s largest cable TV and broadband service providers, have called for board meetings on Wednesday to consider and approve proposals for fundraising through shares, according to stock-exchange disclosures.
In another piece of news, billionaire Ajay Piramal-led Piramal Enterprises Ltd is weighing the sale of its contract pharmaceutical operations, Bloomberg reported.
Piramal Pharma Solutions is the contract development and manufacturing arm of Piramal Enterprises. It offers services from drug discovery to development to commercial manufacturing, according to its website. It has operations across North America, Europe and Asia.
Citing people aware of the development, the report said Piramal Pharma Solutions has received interest from private equity firms and US companies.
The business is valued at around $1 billion, according to the report.
Separately, Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company (ARC), US-based Oaktree Capital and other American investors like Bank of America-Merrill Lynch have bought 90% or Rs 4,000 crore of tower company GTL Infrastructure’s debt, The Economic Times reported.
The debt was purchased for Rs 2,400 crore in cash, with Edelweiss ARC doling out Rs 360 crore and the US investors led by Oaktree Capital investing Rs 2,040 crore, the report said.
As on 31 March, GTL Infrastructure had around 27,700 towers, according to its annual report.
In another piece of news, a creditor of dairy firm Kwality Ltd is set to file a default case in the National Company Law Tribunal on Tuesday, The Hindu Business Line reported, citing people aware of the development.
The loan default could be over Rs 1,200 crore, the report said.
In 1994, the owners of Kwality sold the ice-cream brand to Hindustan Unilever.
Kwailty’s debt is around Rs 2,000 crore, according to the report.
