by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance, Investing
Thiruvananthapuram : To speed up investments in Kerala, state Industries Minister A.C. Moideen on Friday said that it had been decided if the various committees that inspect investment proposals do give a clearance in 30 days, the project can be deemed cleared.
“Officials who do not do their job cleanly and put up roadblocks in front of these investors would be strongly proceeded against, likewise a Rs 5 lakh would be levied on those investors who furnish false affidavit for approvals and each license issued would be valid for five years,” he told reporters here.
Moideen also pointed out that the government is open to investment proposals which will work out to the good of the state, but they should be environment-friendly.
To help the officials in giving clearance, an online system – Kerala Single Window Interface for Fast and Transparent Clearance (K-SWIFT) – would go live in September, he said, adding that the state government would support import of granite and sand for those engaged in the construction sector.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Buzz, Corporate finance, Investing
New Delhi : Fortis Healthcare on Friday said its board has unanimously accepted a binding offer from IHH Healthcare Berhad of Malaysia to invest Rs 4,000 crore in it by way of preferential allotment at Rs 170 per share.
Last week, Fortis said that its board has received binding bids from IHH and TPG-Manipal consortium under the new transaction process.
“The Board of Directors of Fortis Healthcare unanimously decided to recommend the binding investment proposal from IHH Healthcare Berhad to invest Rs 4,000 crore by way of preferential allotment at a price per share of Rs 170,” a company statement said here.
“The proposal provides for refinance of debt to the extent of Rs 2,500 crore.”
The funds infused would be used towards completing the acquisition of assets of the Singapore-listed RHT Health Trust, SRL private equity minority shareholders and short term liquidity needs, the statement added.
IHH will make “a mandatory open offer to the public shareholders of Fortis as per the SAST regulations at price which is higher than Rs 170 per share or price determined under SAST regulations for 26 per cent of the outstanding shares post issuance”.
According to Fortis, in approving the IHH offer, its board considered the merits of both the binding bids and took into account the recommendation of its financial advisors, Standard Chartered Bank and Arpwood Capital and legal advice.
Providing the rationale for the decision, the company said the offer from IHH was chosen after considering all key parameters.
The offer is at 20 per cent premium to the current market price.
“(IHH) offers significant deal certainty given a simpler transaction structure and requirement for fewer approvals and a shorter time-frame and exit opportunity for shareholders given the open offer, in case they desire,” Fortis said.
It also “offers potential to achieve scale driven synergies on operational and financing front and integrates Fortis into a large global healthcare platform with potential synergies”.
Fortis Healthcare Chairman Ravi Rajagopal said: “The IHH proposal offers a more strategically and financially compelling proposition along with simplicity and certainty.
“The process was relaunched on May 29 and has been conducted in a fair, time-bound and transparent manner.”
Following the launch of the new transaction process, Fortis had received bids of four suitors — Hero Enterprise Investment Office and Burman Family Office, IHH Healthcare Berhand, Radiant Life Care and TPG Asia and Manipal Health Enterprises.
However, the Hero Enterprise-Burman Family combine, which had earlier become the preferred bidder, and Radiant Life Care withdrew their bid offers.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Commodity Market, Investing, Medium Enterprise, SMEs
Bhubaneswar : The government of Odisha’s Single Window for Investor Facilitation and Tracking (GO-SWIFT) has received 300 proposals from investors across the country, an official said on Friday.
Launched in November 2017, the portal received the 300th proposal from Kerala-based Kitex Garments Ltd, which has committed to invest Rs 177 crore at Gopalpur in Ganjam district of the state to set up an apparel manufacturing unit.
The project will create employment opportunities for over 5,000 people, with a majority of them being women, the official said.
The project proposals submitted on GO-SWIFT to set up manufacturing units envisage a cumulative investment commitment of Rs 18,208 crore with an employment potential of over 29,000.
The investment proposals relate to a variety of sectors ranging from food processing, seafood, aluminium downstream, apparel, cement, tourism, etc.
Compared to the eight-month period prior to the launch of GO-SWIFT, the number of investment proposals received post-launch has gone up by 20 per cent.
“We are committed to ensuring investor delight and it is highly encouraging to note that within a short span of eight months, GO-SWIFT has received over 300 proposals from investors across the country,” said Industries Secretary Sanjeev Chopra.
“Due to the significant ease of application and expeditious approval process, there has been a considerable increase in the number of investors wanting to set up their businesses in the state. We will continue to raise the bar for ease of doing business and are focused on speedy implementation of investment proposals on the ground,” he added.
Some of the leading companies whose proposals were received and approved by the State Level Single Window Clearance Authority in the last eight months include Manpasand Beverages, ITC Foods, Apar Industries Ltd, Sri Malani Foams (a company from the house of Century brand of mattresses), Vedanta, Lalchand Resorts, JSW Cement, Gokul Agro and Jindal Aluminium, among others.
GO-SWIFT has been able to integrate all existing technological applications. As a result, an industrial unit can get customised information regarding incentives and requisite approvals about the proposed investment, select land, apply for single-window clearance, obtain land and other services.
Over 3,890 industries have registered themselves on GO-SWIFT so far to avail various kinds of services.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Investing, Property
New Delhi : Private equity investors invested around $4.9 billion or Rs 33,700 crore in the Indian real estate market during the January-June period of 2018, a Knight Frank report said here on Wednesday.
Factors such as implementation of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act and the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, infrastructure status to affordable housing projects, relaxation of norms to encourage Real Estate Investment Trust listings among other encouraged investments into the sector, the report said.
“In the first six months of 2018, $4.9 billion (Rs 33,700 crore) has been invested across 31 deals with an average investment per deal of $158 million (Rs 1,080 crore),” it said.
In 2017, private equity investment in the Indian real estate sector reached $8.6 billion, it added.
The report also said that in the coming years, there is a “greater probability that we may witness a blip in the annual PE (private equity) investments” as the assets that were transacted between January, 2016 and March, 2018 in the big ticket deals have a long gestation period and would take more than a decade to mature and become operationally efficient.
In the office space market, private equity investment was $2,784 million during the first six months of 2018, it said.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Investing, Markets, Networking, Social Media, Technology
San Francisco : Video sharing platform YouTube has announced that it will invest $25 million to fight against fake news, especially for the urgent coverage of breaking news.
YouTube, which is owned by Google, said on Monday that this investment will be part of the Google News Initiative (GNI), first introduced in March by the tech giant to help the media and to deal with fake news, reports Efe news.
In addition, YouTube presented a series of new features on its website to help users avoid hoaxes.
Beginning in the coming weeks, when YouTube users in the US search for videos on breaking news, they will see short excerpts of the news as well as the links to different media.
In addition, YouTube will provide links to Wikipedia or the Encyclopedia Britannica with controversial videos or conspiratorial issues, such as the Moon landing.
“We remain committed to working with the journalism community to build a more sustainable video ecosystem for news organizations,” said YouTube Chief Product Officer Neal Mohan and YouTube’s Chief Business Officer, Robert Kyncl.
The two admitted that “there is a lot of work to do”, but underlined that they will try to “provide a better experience to users who come to YouTube every day to learn more about what is happening in the world from a diversity of sources”.
—IANS
