Traders short Apollo in anticipation of healthcare IPOs

The initial public offering (IPO) of a number of companies is prompting smart investors to go short on Apollo Hospitals. Traders say companies such as Narayana Health, Medanta Medicity, Healthcare Global and Aster DM Healthcare are in talks with investment bankers to launch their IPOs. The four companies are expected to raise Rs 3,000-4,000 crore. Traders also say in the past five years, smart money was chasing Apollo Hospitals and its valuation has gone up to a price-to-earnings multiple (trailing) of 52x. With more companies in the sector planning to hit the primary market, smart money is looking to chase these.

India beats Pakistan after 2 years

It seems India and Pakistan don't only compete on the cricket and hockey fields but also on stock benchmarks. For the first time in three years, India's benchmark Sensex delivered higher returns than Pakistan's the KSE 100. The match went down to the wire, with the Sensex gaining 29.9 per cent and KSE 100 returning 27.2 per cent.

Multiples exits South Indian Bank

Multiples Alternate Asset Management, the private equity fund launched by Renuka Ramnath, has exited South Indian Bank. On Friday, it sold 3.6 per cent of its remaining stocks, valued at Rs 200 crore, to various schemes of ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund. The private equity (PE) fund had picked up 5.6 per cent of the bank at Rs 22.13 a share in 2012, during a qualified institutional placement. At that time, it had invested Rs 165 crore. The PE fund is in the process of raising another fund of $500 million. The South Indian Bank stock closed at Rs 30.90 on Friday.