Google

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Rcom may further dilute ~5% of Reliance Infratel in pre-IPO placement

Rcom may further dilute ~5% of Reliance Infratel through its subsidiary Reliance telecommunications infrastructure Ltd or Reliance telecom infrastructure holdings Ltd. in pre-IPO placement to a clutch of American and European investors, a deal that values the company at nearly Rs 50,000 crore, according to sources. The earlier 5% stake dilution that Reliance Infratel had made, valued the company at nearly Rs 28,000 crore. Earlier last week, Sebi cleared the initial public offering of Reliance Infratel.

Reliance Infratel, the telecom infrastructure division of Reliance Communications, would offer 10% equity to the public valued at Rs 5,000-6,000 crore. The issue proceeds are proposed to be utilised towards funding development of passive infrastructure and general corporate purposes. The re-rating in the valuation of Reliance Infratel should get reflected in the valuation of Reliance Communications going forward.

Read More...

Bartronics India bags order from Rajasthan government

In what is seen as one of the most significant milestones in its history, Bartronics India Ltd, a leading provider of solutions based on ATDC technologies in India, has emerged as the lowest bidder in the Bhamashah Financial Empowerment Scheme of Rajasthan Government. The bids for which were opened on May 16.

Under the scheme, the government intends covering about 50 lakh families through biometrically identifiable smart cards, and provides them financial relief. The project valued at about Rs 150 crore is one in a series of financial inclusion initiatives announced by the Finance Minister during his recent budget speech. Similar initiatives are underway in West Bengal, Bihar and some other states across the country.

While the confirmation of this order is awaited, this is seen as a major breakthrough as far as government projects are concerned. Apart from the financial inclusion project, we expect the demand to pick up further with smart cards expected to be used for variety of other applications namely driving licenses; transport application cards e.g. railway cards, PDS cards (Ration cards), MNIC (multi-purpose national ID Cards) & banking cards. With the company having garnered a major market share in the smart cards segment, BIL stands the biggest beneficiary in terms of awarding of these contracts.

Read More...

Mercator will mine coal in Indonesia

Shipping companies world over are looking to diversify to hedge against the cyclicality of their core business. But Mercator Lines has taken a deeper path into coal mining. The country’s second-largest private sector shipping company has entered the business through its second subsidiary in Singapore. It has secured mining licences for two coal blocks in Indonesia and one in Mozambique.

Mercator has secured 50% rights in two coal blocks in Indonesia, which have reserves of 15 million tonnes of decent to good quality coal. The company would start production of coal in July this year and expects the two mines to contribute one million tonne of coal in the first year. However, the coal block in Mozambique where Mercator Lines has 85% rights is still under development. The coal reserves there have been estimated to be around three billion tonnes and the company anticipates a wait of another two to three years before they can start production.

The operating cost of producing one tonne of coal is $25. This also includes production tax and 9% royalty that the company needs to pay the Indonesian government. Thermal coal, on the other hand is currently sold at $45-50 per tonne. While, doing a forward calculation, one million tonne of coal for Mercator would translate into $50 million of revenue and a $25 million profit. Having 50% rights in the Indonesian mines, Mercator is set to draw a profit of $11-12 per tonne of coal that they produce or about $12 million profit.

Read More...

Google