Institutions may be allowed to short-sell in capital markets
Mumbai: Sebi chief M Damodaran has Sebi is considering allowing institutions to short sell in the capital markets and expects to see it through in the current calendar year.

Short selling allows sale of securities that is not owned by the holder. However, the seller re-purchases the securities later at a lower price and returns it to the holder.

He also said Sebi had started work on the implementation of the R H Patil Committee recommendations on strengthening the corporate bond market and results would be out soon.

On a separate exchange for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), Sebi chief said the market watchdog was working on devising a model, which would facilitate smaller companies to tap the capital markets without lowering the bar for regulations.
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Fortis Healthcare raises Rs56 crore from UK firms
New Delhi: Fortis Healthcare (FHL) has signed agreements (pre-IPO) with UK-based Metdist group of Companies and Trinigy Capital for investment worth an aggregate amount of Rs56 crore in the equity shares of FHL.

The first two pre-IPO agreements are for allotment of 10 lakh equity shares each to Raj Kumar Bagri, and Apurv Bagri both of Metdist group.

The third pre-IPO agreement is for allotment of 20 lakh shares to Trinity Capital. The equity shares issued pursuant to the pre-IPO agreements shall be subject to lock-in after the completion of the IPO, as per the Sebi regulations.

Metdist group is into metals trading firm and is based in London. It has a presence in Malaysia, Thailand, China, the UAE and India. Trinity was formed in 2006 to invest in real estate and real estate-related entities in India.

According to the Draft Red Herring Prospectus filed with the Sebi, the company has left a provision of a maximum of 17,884,614 equity shares for a pre-IPO placement.

Last month, FHL had signed signed pre-IPO agreements worth $33.33 million (Rs150 crore) for issue ofr 119.2 lakh equity shares with two US-based companies - Quantum (M) Limited and Blue Ridge Limited Partnership. With the current agreement, almost all of them have been picked up by investors.
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Nestle to pay Rs86.32 crore to shareholders
Mumbai: Nestle India's board of directors has approved a proposal to pay Rs43.23 crore lying in the share premium account to shareholders after paying the applicable taxes.

The board approved a scheme formulated under Sections 391 to 394 read with Sections 100 to 102 of the Companies Act, 1956 for utilisation of the share premium account and part of the general reserve for distribution to the shareholders.

"An amount of Rs43.09 crore, that was voluntarily transferred by the company to its General Reserve Account between 1981 and 1997, in excess of the prescribed 10 per cent of the profits of the company under the provisions of the Companies (Transfer of Profits to Reserves) Rules, 1975, would be reclassified and credited to the Profit and Loss Account for distribution to shareholders as special dividend after paying applicable taxes," a release said.
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Actis asked to hike Phoenix price by 25 per cent
Mumbai: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has asked buyout fund Actis to increase the price of open offer for the minority shareholders of Phoenix Lamps by 25 per cent to Rs190 a share.

The open offer was made after Actis bought the entire 37 per cent stake in Phoenix Lamps from its promoters, the Gupta family.

Priced at Rs152 a share, the mandatory 20 per cent public offer was supposed to open on August 31 and close on September 19.
The capital market regulator Sebi has asked Actis to pay the same price it offered to the promoters.

Actis had agreed to pay Rs190 a share to the promoters of the company, 25 per cent higher than the price of the open offer on account of non-compete fees, an agreement the market regulator did not find merit in.

In a two-pronged deal, Phoenix Lamps had announced in July that Actis would buy 8.73 million shares, representing 37 per cent stake, from the promoters of Pheonix Lamps.

It also announced to allot 4.1 million convertible warrants to Actis at Rs102 apiece. The warrants will be converted into equal number of equity shares after 18 months.

Payment of non-compete fees is not uncommon in mergers and acquisitions in India.
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