JFE Steel Corporation, Japan's second largest steelmaker, is planning to increase its stake in JSW Steel by another five per cent. Market sources said that the deal was expected to be struck at over Rs 1,600 a share - a premium of 35 per cent over its Friday closing of Rs 1,177. In 2010, JFE had bought 14.9 per cent in the company for Rs 4,800 crore. It had acquired an additional 1.18 per cent in the first quarter of 2013. Promotor Sajjan Jindal and group own 38 per cent in the company. A number of Japanese steel companies such as Daido Steel, Nippon Steel and Sumimoto Metal Corporation have interest in Indian steel firms.
Rs 39,000-cr festive bonanza for CFI?
The five-day holiday may well mark a windfall for the consolidated fund of India (CFI), as the deadline for Sahara investors to apply for refund expires on September 30. Before the deadline was announced in August, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) identified genuine investors whose total repayments came to Rs 1.08 crore. A Sebi spokesperson did not reply to a query on how many investors have come forward but the figure isn't expected to rise significantly over the last one month. This would mean the CFI could get Rs 39,000 crore (Rs 24,000 crore plus interest). In the absence of finding genuine investors, the full proceeds of the fund are to go the CFI - not a bad gift in the festive season.
IEX stake sale gathers steam
Financial Technologies (FTIL)'s 25 per cent stake sale in Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) has attracted two private equity companies - Multiples Alternate Asset Management, a private equity fund launched by Renuka Ramnath, and Aditya Birla Private Equity Fund. IEX is a leading exchange for power trading set up by FTIL, which has been asked to exit by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission. This was followed by the commodity regulator Forward Market Commission's ruling that FTIL is not fit-and-proper. FTIL was given an extension to sell its stake by October 31. The exchange's investment advisor, Axis Bank, is expected to soon announce the name of the final bidders and valuation.
