The Mint Report for 22 June 2010
The Mint Report for 22 June 2010
Rabobank is a big step closer to setting up shop in India. On Tuesday the Netherlands-based bank sold an 11% stake in Yes Bank. The sale involved 37.3 million shares and was worth about $213 million. That’s at a share price of about Rs263.
News of the sale did Yes’s stock no good. Its shares fell 9.90 on the BSE to 271.80.
After Tuesday’s deal Rabobank now holds a stake of just 4.9% in Yes Bank. That makes it eligible to either open its own branches here in India or to invest in another Indian bank. Currently, RBI rules don’t allow foreign lenders to open branches here if they already own more than 5% of a local bank.
Reliance Industries could expand its American shale gas business sooner than expected. The newspaper Financial Times says RIL is close to a $1.35 billion deal for a stake in a south Texas field. The field in question is controlled by Pioneer Natural Resources. Back in April RIL bought a forty percent stake in an Atlas Energy field in the US.
Dow Chemical is distancing itself from the Bhopal gas tragedy. On Tuesday the company called efforts to connect it to the 1984 gas leak “misdirected". Dow bought Union Carbide back in 1999 and says it’s not responsible for the UC factory in Bhopal where deadly gases leaked, killing thousands. Dow’s statement came after reports that the Indian government was planning to demand victims’ compensation from the company.
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