M&A
Vodafone heads huddle with Pranab over ‘retro’ tax; but no luck yet
02 May 2012
The move to amend tax laws with retrospective effect is seen as mainly aimed at extracting over Rs11,000 crore from Vodafone over its 2007 buy-out of Hutchinson Whampoa’s majority stake in what was then Hutchinson Essar
Aditya Birla Nuvo to acquire 50% stake in Pantaloon for Rs1,600 crore
30 Apr 2012
Pantaloons owner, the Future Group, is currently negotiating to raise funds, both in retail and non-retail businesses, to reduce debt of over Rs 7,000 crore, out of which Rs 4,800 crore is in core retail business
Watson Pharmaceuticals to buy Swiss rival Actavis for $5.60 billion
26 Apr 2012
The proposed acquisition will catapult Watson, the fifth-largest US pharma company, into the world’s third-biggest generic drugmaker with expected 2012 revenue of $8 billion.
Facebook buys AOL patents from Microsoft for $550 mn
25 Apr 2012
Earlier this month, Microsoft paid over $1 billion for around 925 AOL patents and patent applications plus a license to AOL’s remaining portfolio of approximately 300 additional patents
Shell to buy UK’s Cove Energy for $1.8 billion
24 Apr 2012
The acquisition will help Shell secure a stake in one of the world’s largest gas fields off the Mozambique coast in Africa
Thomson Reuters Corp sells health-care unit to Veritas Capital
24 Apr 2012
The sale allows Thomson Reuters to buy assets related to its tax and legal businesses, rather than spend resources on a unit unit that is not its highest-margin business