2011 M& A

• All high-value merger and acquisitions with combined turnover of Rs. 4,500 crore or more will require approval of competition watchdog CCI from 1 June 2011, with an object to safeguard interest of consumers and promote industrial growth.

1 - Singapore-based drugmaker Invida Holdings said on Wednesday, it has acquired personal care and formulations brands made by New Delhi-based unlisted firm Shalaks Pharmaceuticals for an undisclosed sum.

2 - India’s second largest hospital chain, Fortis Healthcare (India) Ltd, will buy Singapore-based Fortis Healthcare International Pte Ltd owned by its promoters for $665 million (Rs. 3,265.15 crore).

3 - Sahara Group chairman Subrata Roy acquired a 42.5% stake in Force India, the Formula One team owned by liquor baron Vijay Mallya, for $100 million.

4 - British security firm G4S will buy ISS in a £5.2 billion ($8.2 billion) deal pulled off by the Danish company’s private equity owners after a failed IPO and against the backdrop of a slump in global takeover activity.

G4S, already the world’s biggest security company,

5 - Mobile value added services (VAS) firm, Comviva on Monday said it has entered into a strategic partnership with Airtel Bangladesh to provide messaging solutions.

6 - Nasdaq-listed iGate Corp. announced that it, along with its partner, would acquire a majority stake in Mumbai-headquartered information technology (IT) services company Patni Computer Systems Ltd for around $1.22 billion (around Rs. 5,540 crore) in a deal that gives the former scale in the IT services business and ends uncertainty about the future of the latter, one of India’s oldest IT services companies

7 -  Reliance Life Insurance on Monday said Japan’s Nippon Life Insurance Company is buying a 26% stake in it for $680 million.

8 -  Tata Chemicals Ltd (TCL) on Monday announced that it has acquired a little over 25% stake in the ammonia-urea fertiliser complex at Gabon in Africa for $290 million (nearly Rs. 1,300 crore).

9 - Private sector lender IndusInd Bank Ltd on Monday said it had agreed to buy the local credit card business of Germany based Deutsche Bank AG for an undisclosed sum.

10 - Debt-laden Kingfisher Airlines said on Thursday private lender ICICI Bank has acquired 28.26 million shares, or 5.68% stake, in the carrier on the conversio.n of compulsorily convertible preference shares.

11 - US-based International Paper is set to acquire Andhra Pradesh Paper Mills or APPM for as much as $423 million in an all-cash deal

12 - US giant conglomerate GE said Tuesday it was acquiring French group Converteam, which specialises in electrification and automation equipment, for $3.2 billion

13 - Essar Energy has agreed to buy Royal Dutch Shell’s Stanlow refinery in northwest England for $350 million, in the latest Asian push into European refining, as western oil majors withdraw.

14 - Microsoft Corp is close to buying Web video conferencing service Skype Technologies for $8.5 billion including debt,

15 - Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone Ltd (MPSEZ), the company that manages and operates India’s biggest private port, has acquired the rights to develop and operate the Abbot Point Coal Terminal in Queensland in Australia on long-term lease in an all-cash deal worth Australian dollar (A$) 1.83 billion

16 - The Madras high court on Thursday cleared the merger of Essar Telecommunications Holdings Pvt. Ltd, which owns an 11% stake in Vodafone Essar Ltd, with India Securities Ltd (ISL), a listed Essar Group company.

17 - Microblogging site Twitter is in talks to buy Tweetdeck, the add-on application that allows heavy users of the site to track multiple conversations, for about $50 million, says a media report.

18 - The diversified Aditya Birla Group has acquired Swedish speciality pulp maker and bio-refiner Domsjö Fabriker AB in a bid to gain control over inputs for its viscose staple fibre (VSF) business at a time when prices of pulp have rocketed amid a global rally in resources.

19 - Britain’s Serco is to buy Indian outsourcing company Intelenet for up to £385 million ($634 million) as part of a drive into higher-growth overseas markets.

20 - Kokuyo Co. Ltd will buy about one-third of Camlin Ltd for around Rs. 186 crore as the $3.2 billion (Rs. 14,430 crore) Japanese stationery and furniture maker gets set to take a majority stake in the Indian company.

21 - Tata Chemicals said on Friday its overseas unit had acquired ownership and control of US-based postash miner EPM Mining Ventures for an undisclosed sum.

22 - The country’s largest insurer, LIC, has hiked its stake in state-run Andhra Bank to 10% through stock market purchase.

23 -  France’s Schneider Electric SA will buy 74% of privately held Indian inverter manufacturer Luminous Power Technologies Pvt. Ltd for around €215 million to boost revenue and market share in Asia’s third largest economy.

 24 - Godrej Consumer Products on Tuesday said it has completed the acquisition of a 51% stake in African hair care company Darling Group Holdings.

-Raj Padhiyar