Gold slips as traders book profits
Gold fell yet again as traders booked profits. As the NYMEX October crude traded down to around $67 in electronic trading, the COMEX December Gold slipped to $620.9, down $4, leading to a heavy sell of in India as well.

The MCX October Gold slipped to as low as Rs9292 before recovering marginally to trade at Rs9321, down about Rs100.
December Silver also dipped sharply by Rs400 to Rs19311.
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AAI likely to raise Rs4,000-cr for modernisation
Kolkata: The Airport Authority of India (AAI), which has received an AAA rating from Crisil, likely to raise Rs4,000 crore from the debt market for the modernisation projects it expects to take up in the near future. The AAI is now preparing its cost involvement for the proposed modernisation of 35 non-metro airports.

According to Praful Patel, union civil aviation minister, apart from the airport other facilities such as hotels and roads would be developed in partnership with private organizations for which the AAI would resort to borrowings.

Patel said, "If needed it would have to float bonds. We have already short-listed merchant bankers for this purpose," he said.

At present, AAI has a cash reserve of Rs2,000 crore and, on an average, registers an annual internal accrual of Rs400-500 crore.
If AAI undertakes the modernisation of the Kolkata airport on its own, as recommended by the West Bengal Government, then its total fund requirement would be Rs2,000 crore, Patel said. Officials said Rs4,000 crore is the upper limit for the fund raising capability of AAI.

AAI has also prepared a report for the Sikkim greenfield airport the upgradation of which would would cost Rs340 crore. The Sikkim State Government has assured to provide Rs100 crore and also the land.

During the Tenth Plan period AAI would be spending Rs125 crore on the modernisation, upgradation and improvement of airport facilities in the North-East.
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Nava Bharat Ventures fixes FCCB conversion price
Hyderabad: Nava Bharat Ventures (NBVL), which is planning a Rs800-crore expansion-cum-diversification programme, has fixed the conversion price for its proposed issue of zero coupon foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) at Rs136.50 a share. The company, has launched its FCCB issue worth 525 crore yen (with an option to purchase an additional 75 crore yen) carrying zero coupon with maturity in 2011.

Edelweiss Capital and Lehman Brothers International (Europe) acted as the joint lead managers, while Lehman Brothers International (Europe) acted as the sole book runner and underwriter and Edelweiss Capital Ltd acted as Advisors to the FCCB issue, the company told the stock exchanges. The bonds would be listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange and are convertible over a five-year period.

The proceeds of the FCCB offering would be used in fuelling the expansion plans in power and sugar.

The company's plans include setting up a 64 MW greenfield power plant at Orissa and expanding capacity at its power plant in Andhra Pradesh by 32 MW; setting up a 2,500 tonnes crushing per day (tcd) - expandable to 5,000 tcd - integrated sugar facility with a 45 kl per day distillery and a multi-fuel power plant with a capacity of 20 MW.

These investments towards expansion, estimated to cost about Rs 438 crore, would increase the company's power generation capacity from 121 MW to 237 MW and sugar manufacturing capacity from 3,500 tcd to about 7,000 tcd over 18-24 months.
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Tata Sons ups stake in VSNL
Mumbai: Tata Sons has upped its stake in Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) through open market purchases. Tata Sons acquired 2 per cent stake in VSNL between August 9 and September 8, and its stake now stands at 7.64 per cent.

Panatone Finvest, another Tata Group company, holds over 40 per cent stake in VSNL, while Tata Power holds less than one per cent, as of June.

The Government holds over 26 per cent stake in VSNL. This is in keeping with the Tata Group's decision to increase holding in the key individual companies in its fold, said analysts. The shares of VSNL closed at Rs395.20 on the BSE, losing Rs27.90 from the previous close.
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Aditya Birla Nuvo to raise Rs780-cr thru rights issue
Mumbai: Aditya Birla Nuvo plans to raise up to Rs780 crore through issue of equity shares on a rights basis and would announce the share ratio and price per share for the rights issue later. The funds raised through the issue would be utilised for repayment of existing debt and general corporate purposes. The company has made substantial investments in Idea Cellular, TransWorks and Birla Sun Life Insurance besides for its ongoing capital expenditure.

According to a statement from the company the proposed capital issue will strengthen the capital structure of the company.

Aditya Birla Nuvo was earlier Indian Rayon & Industries Ltd into which were merged Indo Gulf Fertiliser and Birla Global Finance.
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Baring Asia raises $490-m PE fund
New Delhi: Baring Private Equity Asia Group has said that it raised $490 million for a new Asian private equity fund, the `Baring Asia Private Equity Fund III', to target mid-sized companies in China, India, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan that need equity for expansion or management buy-outs.

The fund received a strong investor response and was nearly twice the size of its predecessor, Fund II. Following the closing, Baring Asia's funds under advisory now total over $1 billion in assets, a Baring release said.

The fund attracted investment from a wide range of institutional investors including Invesco, Deutsche Bank, Pantheon, SEDCO, Dow Employees' Pension Plan, Singapore's TIF Ventures, United Overseas Bank, Pennsylvania PSERS and the Kuwait Investment Office, it said.
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Sangam shareholders approve merger
Mumbai: The shareholders and creditors of Sangam (India) have approved a scheme of amalgamation with Sangam Processors Bhilwara Ltd (SPBL), in Bhilwara, Rajasthan on September 10. The board of directors of Sangam approved the swap ratio of 1:4 - one share of Sangam (India) for every four shares of SPBL held. Post-merger, Sangam's issued and paid-up equity share would increase from Rs34.40 crore to Rs39.42 crore.
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India Inc may head for Dubai
Mumbai: Indian companies have now started looking at Dubai instead of Singapore and Luxembourg, for foreign listings as Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX) is fast becoming very attractive with quite a few Indian companies eyeing to list instruments issued by them like Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) and foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs).

At present nearly 6-7 companies are already mulling a listing on DIFX by way of GDRs.

Experts say that by gaining a presence in the oil-rich region, a large number of rich investors can be tapped who still do not have much exposure to the Indian markets.

DIFX is also said to be reviewing its listing norms to make them more appropriate for potential issuers, including those from India.
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BSE broker suspended
Mumbai: SEBI has suspended the certificate of registration of Jayantilal Khandwala and Sons Pvt Ltd, a member of the Bombay Stock Exchange, for indulging in synchronised trading while dealing in the scrip of DSQ Software Ltd.

Registration certificate of the brokerage would be suspended for a period of one month commencing September 28, said a SEBI order.
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