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Bharti Airtel acquires stake in Qualcomm's BWA unit

Bharti Airtel Ltd, a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa, and Qualcomm Incorporated , the world leader in 3G and next-generation mobile technologies, has announced that they have signed an agreement for Bharti to acquire an interest in Qualcomm Asia Pacific’s (Qualcomm AP) Indian BWA entities.

Under the agreement, Bharti has made an initial investment of approximately US$ 165 mn to acquire 49 percent interest in Qualcomm AP’s India entities that hold BWA licenses in Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana and Kerala - partly by way of acquisition of 26 percent equity interest equally held by Global Holding Corporation Private Limited and Tulip Telecom Limited, and the balance by way of subscription of fresh
equity in those entities.

The agreement contemplates that once commercial operations are launched, subject to certain terms and conditions, Bharti would assume complete ownership and financialresponsibility for the BWA entities by the end of 2014.

Bharti already has BWA licenses in four circles - Kolkata, Karnataka, Punjab and Maharashtra - and 3G licenses in thirteen circles in India. With this agreement, Bharti has secured a nation-wide broadbandleadership through a combination of 4G and 3G, with its own networks in 18 circles. Bharti has already taken the lead in LTE TDD space by launching 4G services in Kolkata and Karnataka Circles.

Fairfax Financial buys Thomas Cook India stake

Canada's Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd is planning to acquire Thomas Cook Group Plc's 77% stake in its India operations for about $150 mn, according to reports.

Reports stated that Property and casualty insurer Fairfax's unit Fairbridge Capital will pay Rs50 per share of Thomas Cook (India) Ltd for a total of Rs8,174 mn.

The offer represents an 18% discount to Thomas Cook India's closing price of Rs61.05 on the National Stock Exchange.

In Focus Stories

Asia Pacific M&A slows Down: Thomson Reuters

DAILY DEALS INSIGHT:HIGHLIGHTS

Asia Pacific-involvement announced mergers & acquisition so far this year slowed down with deals reaching US$180.9 billion from 3,481 transactions, down 24.2% in value and 23.3% in number of deals.

This is the lowest year-to-date volume since 2009 when the value of M&A transactions reached US$88.4 billion.

Announced deal making worldwide decelerated as M&A value across regions declined from the comparable period last year.

Global M&A value was down 30.1% to US$791.7 billion, while overall announced deal making in the US declined 44.3% (US$333.7 billion). Europe is down 19.8% (US$335.5 billion), and Japan – despite the 6.7% in case number of deals – dropped 16.8% (US$64.3 billion).

Withdrawn deals involving Asia Pacific companies amounted to US$5.0 billion from 111 deals, an 86% decline from the same period last year.

China accounted for 54.5% of withdrawn M&A deals targeting Asia Pacific this year with US$2.3 billion, a 56.4% increase from the comparative period in 2011 and the highest year-to-date withdrawn value for the nation since 2009 (US$4.2 billion).

Globally, the level of withdrawn deals to date stands at US$65.6 billion, down 60% from year-to-date M&A value in 2011.

United States-targeted deals accounted for 84.4% of the worldwide withdrawn transactions with US$55.3 billion, a 3% increase from the comparative period in 2011.

Thomson Reuters

Domestic News

Tulip sells 13% stake in Qualcomm BWA venture to Bharti Airtel

Tulip Telecom Ltd (Tulip), India’s leading Enterprise Data Services provider announced it has divested its 13% equity stake in Qualcomm Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) venture to Bharti Airtel.

Qualcomm had acquired BWA spectrum in the four circles of Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana and Kerala. Tulip had made a financial investment in this venture by taking a 13% equity stake. The company will utilise the proceeds to strengthen its balance sheet and drive growth.

Goldman Sachs to lease 1.6mn sft office space in Bangalore

Lumis Partners enhances its stake in KarROX

Global News

Yahoo to sell half its stake in Alibaba group

Yahoo Inc. said that it has struck a deal with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. to sell up to half of its current holdings in the Chinese Internet major, with plans to eventually divest the balance shares.
Under the deal, Alibaba would repurchase up to half of Yahoo's stake - about 20% of the company - at the minimum price allowed in the agreement. Yahoo is expected to receive US$7.1bn, consisting of US$6.3bn cash and US$800mn in new Alibaba preferred shares.

Yahoo would then be able to sell another 10% of the company if and when Alibaba lists publicly. In the event of an Alibaba initial public offering (IPO), Yahoo would be able to sell of the final 10% of the company after a lock-up period.

Wanda Group to acquire AMC Entertainment for US$2.6bn

Dalian Wanda Group Co., Ltd. ("Wanda"), a leading Chinese private conglomerate and China's largest investor in cultural and entertainment activities, and AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. ("AMC"), a preeminent U.S. movie exhibitor, announced that they have signed an agreement under which Wanda will acquire AMC, creating the world's largest cinema owner. The transaction is valued at approximately US$2.6 billion.

Wang Jianlin, Chairman and President of Wanda, said, "This acquisition will help make Wanda a truly global cinema owner, with theatres and technology that enhance the movie-going experience for audiences in the world's two largest movie markets.

Wanda has a deep commitment to investing in the entertainment business and is already the largest in this sector in China, with more than US$1.6 billion invested in cultural and entertainment activities since 2005. We share with AMC a passion for the growth of the worldwide movie industry. We look forward to partnering with AMC's management team and employees to build on the many strengths of the company."

Google completes acquisition of Motorola Mobility

Google Inc. announced that the acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc.has closed, with Google acquiring MMI for $40.00 per share in cash.

The acquisition will enable Google to supercharge the Android ecosystem and will enhance competition in mobile computing. Motorola Mobility will remain a licensee of Android and Android will remain open. Google will run Motorola Mobility as a separate business.

Sanjay Jha, who revived Motorola’s Mobile devices business and led the company through this acquisition, has stepped down as CEO, although he will continue to work with Google to help ensure a smooth transition.

Monsanto to acquire Precision Planting for US$250mn

Monsanto Company announced it reached an agreement to purchase planting technology developer Precision Planting, Inc., a proven leader in improving yields through on-farm planting performance.
The Precision Planting team will become part of Monsanto's Integrated Farming Systems unit, which utilizes advanced agronomic practices, seed genetics and innovative on-farm technology to deliver optimal yield to farmers while using fewer resources.

Precision Planting has a long history of innovations that optimize planter performance and increase yield potential, including the new FieldView technology, which offers an application designed to monitor all critical aspects of planter performance and crop data analysis. That will complement Monsanto's planned Integrated Farming Systems offering of science-based agronomic seed prescriptions combined with next-generation precision equipment to help farmers boost yields and reduce risk.

SAP to expand cloud presence with acquisition of Ariba

General Mills to acquire Brazilian food maker Yoki Alimentos

General Cable plans to acquire Rio Tinto's cable business: reports

Healthkart acquires fitness community portal MadeInHealth

DaVita to acquire HealthCare Partners for US$4.4bn

Cove Energy agrees to PTT Exploration & Production's GBP1.22 bn bid: reports