News Capsules 27- May

• Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Communications (RCom) said its shareholders have approved the demerger of its optic fibre division to its infrastructure division Reliance Infratel. In a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange RCom said the equity shareholders have approved the scheme of
arrangement between the company and its infrastructure division Reliance Infratel.
• The proposed partnership deal of Bharti Airtel and South African telecom giant MTN will be the first telecom company that will test the new norms for foreign investment announced under Press Notes 2, 3 and 4 in February 2009. Since the effective foreign ownership in Bharti Airtel (including the proportionate foreign ownership through the parent company), is set to cross the threshold limit of 74 per cent after consummation of this transaction, it is expected to approach the government for approval under the new norms, said a leading investment banker on condition of anonymity.
• The Mittal-promoted Bharti group — with interests in telecom, insurance, realty and retail — has ventured into the food and beverage (F&B) segment in partnership with Singapore-based Del Monte Pacific. The joint venture, called Field Fresh Foods Pvt Ltd, plans to invest Rs 100 crore to set up a greenfield manufacturing facility in India for processed food products at Hosur in Tamil Nadu, which will be operational by 2010.
• Tata Communications posted an over five-fold rise in its net profit at Rs 302.37 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2009, over the same period last year.
• Nalco has cut prices of its products by up to Rs 5,000 a tonne, a step aimed to discourage imports from China which have got a boost after the domestic currency turned stronger against the US dollar.
• Foreign fund house Morgan Stanley has acquired 7.68 per cent stake in Indiabulls Real Estate for about Rs 570.18 crore, through qualified institutional placement (QIP) route.
• Top three steel PSUs SAIL, NMDC and RINL will infuse Rs 13,000 crore this fiscal as part of their programme to expand production capacities to about 35 million tonnes in the next two-three years.
• Just over a week after the Madras High Court granted the Chennai-based two-wheeler company TVS Motor the permission to use twin-spark plugs in its motorcycles, Bajaj Auto has decided to move the Supreme Court against the ruling.
• Bata India is looking at expediting the completion of the company’s ambitious Batanagar Township project, worth around Rs 1,300 crore.
• Foreign exchange losses of Rs 22 crore in the quarter ate into the profits of Delhi-based NIIT Technologies, which posted a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 26.3 crore for the fourth quarter ended 31 March, 2009, down 15 per cent from Rs 31 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.