RIL out of race for Value Creation

Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) is out of the race for Value Creation after the Canadian firm sold a majority stake in an oil sands property to BP Plc. Earlier this year, RIL had made a US$2bn takeover bid for majority stake in Value Creation to rival BP's US$1.2bn bid. Value Creations subsidiary Technoeconomics is the owner of a technology that helps produce oil from sand and upgrade bitumen - a major feed stock for petroleum - at a relatively lower cost. Value Creation's largest block of leases, Terre de Grace, covers about 290 square miles in the Athabasca region of Alberta.

Separately, RIL plans to buy three shale gas assets in the US, according to reports. The company may acquire a 40% to 50% stake in the US based company and the deal size is likely to be between US$1bn and US$2bn, added reports. RIL is nearing a deal for the US shale gas assets in a joint venture with Atlas Energy, which controls part of a huge gas field in the northeast of the US, according to reports. While RIL is the prime player in the discussions, other parties such as San Diego-based Sempra Energy are also negotiating to be part of the deal. Recently RIL failed in its attempt to buy bankrupt petrochemical major LyondellBassell.

QTIL-WTTIL acquires tower business of TTML

QTIL (Quippo Telecom Infrastructure Ltd.) & WTTIL (Wireless TT Info Services Ltd.) and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd. (TTML) announced a share purchase agreement for the sale by TTML of its 100% stake in 21st Century Infra Tele Ltd. (TFCITL) to Quippo-WTTIL. As part of this deal, TFCITLs entire portfolio of 2535 towers in Mumbai, Maharashtra and Goa will be acquired by QUIPPO-WTTIL at an enterprise value of Rs13.18bn. The transaction will provide strategic advantage to QUIPPO-WTTIL as it will complement the tower portfolio of the company in Mumbai, Maharashtra and Goa, where QUIPPO-WTTIL does not have a significant presence currently.
 
The TFCITL portfolio, with a high tenancy ratio of 2.15, will further strengthen QUIPPO-WTTILs current tenancy ratio. This transaction will take the overall portfolio of QUIPPO-WTTIL to over 38000 towers nationally, further consolidating its leadership position in the industry - both from a portfolio and tenancy perspective.

Godrej Consumer Products to acquire Africas Tura
Godrej Consumer Products Ltd. (GCPL) has entered into an agreement to acquire Tura from the Tura Group. Tura, a household name in many African markets, is a market leading personal care company that manufactures and distributes a range of products including soaps, moisturising lotions and skin-toning creams. Its medicated bar soap is amongst the top three in its category in Nigeria. The acquisition will serve as a strong platform for introducing GCPLs portfolio into Nigeria and other Western African countries. Commenting on the acquisition, Adi Godrej, Chairman, GCPL, said: Tura helps us leapfrog in our endeavor to build a pan-African presence for our core categories such as personal wash and hair care. Tura is one of the strongest Nigerian beauty brands with a successful and passionate management team with a proven track record over the last two decades. We expect the transaction to provide a tremendous platform for value creation in West Africa.