Gitanjali scouts for acquisitions After acquiring US-based gems and jewellery brand Samuels for US$ 100 million (about Rs 400 crore), Gitanjali Gems is on the look out for another acquisition of the similar size. “We had acquired Samuels a few months back and now we are looking for acquiring a domestic or international company, engaged in areas similar to us,” Gitanjali Gems Managing Director Gautam Marya told PTI on Sunday in New Delhi. Marya said the acquisition could be in the range of the previous buyout and many options are available to the company. “In the next three months you would hear more on our acquisition spree,” Marya said. The company is in talks with many global luxury brands to increase its portfolio.
Bourses give investors $125 b The country’s top two stock exchanges — BSE and NSE — have a strong case to get listed as publicly traded entities going by the experience of 18 other bourses around the world like Nasdaq and NYSE Euronext. The 18 leading publicly traded bourses worldwide have collectively created a wealth of over $125 billion for investors since their listings, according to an analysis of market cap figures of various exchanges by PTI Research. This accounts for more than half of their combined market value currently, the analysis showed on Sunday in Mumbai. While BSE and NSE are yet to take a call on their listings, the recent strategic stake sales by the two bourses put their market value at about $one billion and $2.5 billion, respectively. The market cap of all the listed exchanges worldwide has surged by more than 60 per cent on average since their listings.
SBI to enter one lakh villages
State Bank of India (SBI) will expand its footprints in one lakh more villages in the next two years, mounting a further challenge to its competitors. “We are not facing any competition from the private or MNC banks. In fact, they are facing competition from us,” SBI Chairman O P Bhatt told reporters on Saturday in Indore after launching the new online trading platform ‘ez-trade’ for its customers. He said the SBI will connect more villages in the next two years to tap the growing rural economy.
UTI MF targets small investors UTI MF, plans a massive rural thrust and to tap small investors by cashing in on its extensive network to take on competitors and boosting its business.“Our strategy is to tap Tier II and Tier III towns and small villages,” UTI MF CMD U K Sinha told PTI on Sunday in Mumbai. He aaded that 80 per cent of assets of other mutual funds were obtained from just 8 cities whereas in the case of UTI MF, it is around 40 pc.
