BOI Loans Air India $200 Mn To Buy Three Dreamliners

Bank of India (BoI) is evincing interest in extending a loan of $200 million to Air India to finance the acquisition of three Dreamliners, according to sources. The national carrier would use the amount to acquire these Boeing 787s before offering the aircraft to leasing companies for sale and leaseback arrangement, under which one sells an asset and leases it back, thereby continuing to use the asset but no longer owning it. BoI has given a stand-alone loan of $200 million for three of these airplanes, the sources said, Almost 70 per cent of an airline’s costs are dollar-related since most of the acquisition is carried out from foreign suppliers. Air India, which had issued a tender for 12 Airbus A-320s, would soon conclude the lease of five of these aircraft, which would be in an all-economy configuration, the sources said. The national carrier’s capacity is expected to grow by 9.2 per cent with the addition of six more Dreamliners to the fleet. As of February this year, the airline has 13 Dreamliners in its fleet out of a total order of 27.

Nilgiris To Be Acquired By Future Group

According to media reports, Future Group is set to take over southern supermarket chain Nilgiris for Rs 150-175 crore. It has in principle agreed to acquire the stake of private equity firm Actis Capital along with the minority shareholding of the promoters in a transaction that could give Kishore Biyani-led Future the extensive footprint in southern India he’s been looking for. The deal will be structured such that Future Group gains control of the 65 per cent held by Actis and the holding of the Mudaliar family. In return, Actis will get a minority stake in Future Consumer Enterprise or FCEL, which runs the group’s private brands business and grocery stores such as KB’s Fair Price, Big Apple and Aadhaar, which will eventually put the total deal size at Rs 275-300 crore, according to media reports.

Micromax Plans To Buy South Korea’s Pantech

High-end smartphone maker Micromax Informatics Ltd has shown interest in buying a stake in South Korean company Pantech Co Ltd as part of its drive to expand overseas and go upmarket, as per market sources. Pantech, South Korea’s No.3 smartphone maker, has been under a debt-restructuring programme after suffering six consecutive quarters of losses due to fierce competition. “Micromax told Pantech that it was interested in a stake in the company,” one of the sources said, declining to elaborate on the size of a potential deal and other details. Nine creditor banks own a combined 37 per cent of Pantech, while Qualcomm Inc has a 12 per cent stake and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd holds 10 per cent. “Micromax is among those who are interested in Pantech,” another source said. Pantech has struggled against competition from giant rivals Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics Inc in South Korea, where nearly 70 per cent of mobile users have smartphones. Pantech also sells phones in such markets as the United States and Japan.

Tata Motors’ Global Wholesales Plunge 16% IN FY14

Tata Motors Group global wholesale numbers continued their year-on-year fall in March 2014 even as they showed signs of improvement sequentially. Global wholesales, including those of Jaguar Land Rover, declined 17.9 per cent year-on-year to 95,668 vehicles while cumulative wholesales for the fiscal were down to 10,09,776 vehicles, a decline of 15.6% for the said period. Month-on-month global wholesales, including those of Jaguar Land Rover, were up 19.5 per cent. Commercial vehicle sales took the biggest hit, falling 35.4 per cent to 39,248 units. Cumulative CV wholesales for the fiscal stood at 434,621 units, a fall of 27 per cent. Month-on-month CV sales were up 34.3 per cent. Global wholesales of all passenger vehicles in March 2014 were 56,420 units, a rise of 1.2 per cent compared with the year-ago period.

Maruti’s Passenger Vehicle Market Share Rises To 42% In FY14

Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) strengthened its position in the passenger vehicles segment by increasing its share to 42 per cent in a declining market during 2013-14. Its closest rival remained Hyundai Motors India Ltd with a 15.18 per cent share, while Mahindra & Mahindra (10.15 per cent) overtook Tata Motors (7.94 per cent) to the third spot, and Honda was in fifth place with a market share of 5.36 per cent, just ahead of Toyota (5.14 per cent). Domestic sales of passenger vehicles, which include cars, utility vehicles and vans, declined 6.05 per cent to 25,03,685 units in the previous financial year from 26,65,015 units in 2012-13, according to data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). Maruti’s market share increased from 39.43 per cent in 2012-13, when Hyundai’s was 14.39 per cent, Mahindra’s was 11.65 per cent and Tata Motors’ 11.79 per cent. During FY14, Maruti’s passenger vehicle sales grew marginally to 10,53,689 units from 10,51,046 units in 2012-13. Hyundai sold 3,80,253 units in FY14 as against 3,83,611 units in FY13. Mahindra’s passenger vehicle sales were down 18.14 per cent to 2,54,344 units from 3,10,706 units.

Flipkart To Acquire Myntra

Flipkart is on a spree to buy rival Myntra as the two sides are engaged in last-minute haggling over valuation before concluding what will be the biggest transaction in India’s online retail industry. Sources say that fashion portal Myntra is aiming for a valuation of $400 million (Rs 2,400 crore). The company, based in Bengaluru, is founded by Mukesh Bansal, 38, an IIT-Kanpur graduate. But Flipkart, also based in Bengaluru and co-founded by 32-year-old IIT-Delhi alumnus Sachin Bansal, may not be willing to concede that much. Negotiators are considering a “target valuation” of $350 million, and may push the offer to $370 million, but there is “no possibility” of valuing Myntra at $400 million, according to a source with direct knowledge of talks. Representatives of Flipkart and Myntra declined to comment. The deal is being stitched during a period of frenetic activity in the ecommerce space.