E*Trade Fin acquires controlling stake in IL&FS Investsmart
Mumbai: A leading US-based retail stock broking company, E*Trade Financial Corporation, is acquiring a controlling stake in Indian securities and commodities broking firm, IL&FS Investsmart Ltd.

At present, E*Trade Financial Corporation and Softbank Asia Infrastructure Fund, through their respective Mauritius-based subsidiaries, hold 29 per cent stake in IL&FS Investsmart. After a block deal for about 4.5 per cent stake on Monday by foreign brokerage CLSA Mauritius, apparently on behalf of E*Trade, the stake held by two entities have gone above the promoter Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd's 30 per cent stake.

E*Trade may also, enhance its share in the company's equity holding over a period of time," said a press release issued by the company after approving its first quarter results.

On Tuesday, IL&FS Investsmart shares ended flat at Rs110.40, compared to the previous close of Rs110.30.
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IL&FS reports 81 pc rise in net profit
IL&FS Investsmart's net profit for the first quarter of 2006-07 grew 81 per cent to Rs17.7 crore, compared to Rs9.8 crore in the same period last fiscal. The total income rose 71 per cent to Rs60.9 crore from Rs35.6 crore.
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Raheja, Unitech to raise $1bn from LSE
Mumbai: Real estate companies, K Raheja and Unitech, are trying to raise at least $1 billion from the alternative investment market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange.

Real estate sources said the two groups would raise $500 million each from the AIM in three-four months. Sources close to the Raheja group said the company would float a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for a particular project that would get listed with the AIM in three months.

K Raheja has appointed Enam Financial Consultants for the purpose while Unitech would be advised by J M Morgan Stanley.

Sources said the primary advantage of listing with AIM was that it did not require a minimum public shareholding, prior trading record and minimum market capitalisation.

Admission documents are not pre-vetted by the exchange or by the UK Listing Authority in most circumstances.

With these advantages, AIM is fast becoming the Nasdaq for old economy companies.

In addition, listing with AIM enhances the profile of companies as it would mean increase in status and credibility.

An AIM listing also provides tax benefits, including capital gains tax.
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DSP Merrill plans small, mid-cap fund
Kolkata: DSP Merrill Lynch MF is planning to launch an equity fund that will invest chiefly in small- and mid-cap stocks. The proposed DSP ML Small and Mid-Cap Fund will try to generate capital growth from a portfolio substantially formed with equity and equity-related securities that are not part of top-100 stocks in terms of market capitalisation.

At least 65 per cent of the assets will be invested in equity and equity-related securities that are not in the top-100 bracket. This can be scaled up to 100 per cent. Up to 10 per cent may be invested in debt and money market instruments.

The fund, to be benchmarked against the CNX Midcap index, will be managed by S.N. Lahiri, the offer document filed with SEBI has mentioned.

A stock may enjoy super-normal growth due to a new product, a new process, growing market share, stronger brand equity, technological breakthrough and unique position in a market, among other factors. In this context, the fund will try to select stocks that could become potential leaders in their respective fields.
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Cairn Energy to float IPO by March
New Delhi: Cairn Energy Plc which is based in Edinburgh, will float an initial public offering for its Indian subsidiary by March-April 2007.

Sir Bill Gammell, chief executive officer of Cairn Energy, said the company plans to repay $1-billion debt raised for its oilfields by 2010, within 18 months of starting oil commercial production in Rajasthan. The loan repayment is based on earning $40-50 a barrel. Cairn plans to spend a few $100 million more on developing the four fields in Rajasthan. It plans to spend a total of $4 billion of which it would spend about $2 billion on field development and $2 billion on operations.

Cairn has already announced plans to spend $1 billion to help drive exploration plans for its Rajasthan block, which has 3.5 billion barrels of oil in place as per latest estimates. Cairn holds 70 per cent share in the Mangala, Aishwariya, Saraswati and Raageshwari fields and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) holds 30 per cent stake.

Of the $1 billion, about $150 million was provided by World Bank's International Finance Corp in the form of a nine-year loan, while the remaining $850 million came from other commercial banks, including ICICI Bank UK Ltd. The loan would be used to develop Mangala, Aishwariya, Saraswati and Raageshwari fields at Block RJ-ON-90/1 in Rajasthan.
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WNS ADSs to trade on NYSE
Mumbai: WNS (Holdings) Ltd, the parent company of WNS Global Services, a provider of offshore business process outsourcing (BPO) services, has priced its initial public offering of 11,202,708 American Depositary Shares (ADSs) at $20.00 per ADS.

The company's ADSs will begin public trading on the New York Stock Exchange on July 26, 2006 under the symbol 'WNS'.
Of the total offering of 11,202,708 ADSs (with each representing the right to receive one ordinary share of WNS (Holdings) Limited), 4,473,684 ADSs were sold by the company, while another 6,729,024 ADSs were sold by some shareholders, including British Airways.

WNS says it would use net proceeds from the sale of the ADSs by the company for general corporate purposes, including capital expenditures and working capital, and for possible acquisitions of businesses and delivery platforms. WNS will not receive any proceeds from the sale of ADSs by the selling shareholders.

Morgan Stanley & Co. International Limited, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated were the joint book runners of the offering. Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and UBS Securities LLC served as co-managers.
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