Warren Buffett’s Dairy Queen, RIL In Talks For JV - Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway-owned Dairy Queen (DQ), an international softserve ice cream and frozen food retailer, is holding talks with Reliance Retail for joint venture in India. A potential deal could also see the Mukesh Ambani firm making a big move into the quick service restaurant business, as DQ operates close to 6,000 outlets worldwide selling grilled products like burgers and hot dogs. The Mukesh Ambani firm has reasonable presence in the domestic dairy market processing half a million litres of milk everyday, with 3,000 collection points nationwide. (Times of India)
GAIL Offers To Buy ADB's Stake In Petronet - GAIL has once again set the cat among the pigeons by offering to buy the Asian Development Bank's entire 5.2% stake in Petronet LNG Ltd, a private company promoted by state-run oil companies for importing gas in ships. GAIL, ONGC, BPCL and IOC have 12.5% stake each in Petronet . French major Gaz de France holds 10%. The shareholders agreement gives all five of them the first right of refusal in case the ADB sells its stake. (Times of India)
GVK Eyes More Stake In Mumbai, Bangalore Airports - GVK Power & Infrastructure Ltd, part of the diversified GVK group, which has management control of both the Mumbai and Bangalore international airport projects, is keen to further increase its stake in both these projects. The GVK management has the first right of refusal for additional stake in both these projects. The company will exercise that right to consolidate the holding further. The company already has a controlling stake in Mumbai International Airport Ltd (with 51 per cent) and management control of the Bangalore International Airport Ltd projects, which together logged a passenger traffic of over 41 million last financial year. (Business Line)
Sahara Group Forays Into Oil & Gas With EnSearch Buy - The Sahara group, which is involved in a range of businesses, including entertainment, media and real estate, has entered the oil and gas sector with the purchase of EnSearch Petroleum Pvt. Ltd from Vinay Maloo-promoted Enso Group. EnSearch Petroleum has 13 assets in its portfolio with a net combined acreage of around 33,207 sq. km. It is the operator in four blocks, and apart from having one block in India is present in countries such as Australia, Jordan, Nigeria and Georgia. (Mint)
Indiareit To Start Roadshows For $225M Fund - Indiareit Fund Advisors, a property fund backed by UK private-equity firm 3i Group, will start marketing its $225 million commercial rental yield fund to overseas investors by the end of this month. Indiareit, which is controlled by industrialist Ajay Piramal and manages assets worth about $1 billion through various funds, is planning to raise half of the total corpus from overseas investors, mainly from the Middle East and Singapore. (Express India)
Chakkilam Infotech Buys US-based Cigniti - Hyderabad-based Chakkilam Infotech, a software testing services company, today announced acquisition of Cigniti Inc of the US, for an undisclosed amount. Based in Irving, Texas, Cigniti offers consulting and testing services mainly to clients in the US, and had a revenue of $18 million last year. (Business Standard)
Diageo May Buy Radico Khaitan In JV - Premium spirits maker Diageo is looking to acquire half the stake of its Indian partner Radico Khaitan in its five-year-old joint venture (JV) Diageo Radico Distilleries. The JV distributes and markets premium whisky brand Masterstroke. Diageo has been developing its own marketing and distribution machinery to strengthen its presence in the country. (Business Standard)
FT Seeks Extension For MCX Sale - Financial Technologies India (FTIL) has approached the Consumer Affairs Ministry seeking extension by six months to dilute its stake in the commodity exchange MCX to 26 per cent. The deadline for dilution of the stake expired on September 30. FTIL, the promoter of MCX, holds 31% in the commodity exchange. The company has to dilute its stake to 26% in MCX to conform to the new guidelines prescribed by the commodity markets regulator FMC on the equity structure for the national commodity exchange. (Business Line)
