The Grim Side Of Foreign M&As
September 17, 2014 Leave a comment
Yes, there is the successful take-over of JLR by Tata Motors, but most of India Inc’s big-ticket overseas acquisitions in the past five to seven years have,eroded wealth. The reasons for this range from high leverage taken to acquire a company , adverse changes in business cycle, or simply , failure to turn around a loss-making unit.
Tata Steel-Corus
Tata Steel acquired Corus, four times its size, for $12.04 billion in 2006. The valuation was more than one and-a half times its initial offer and was paid mainly through debt. Eight years down the line, Corus hasn’t contributed much to Tata Steel’s earnings. The European business was loss-making till FY13 and has not yet shown strong signs of a turn around.
Hindalco- Novelis
Hindalco acquired Canadian company Novelis for $6 billion in 2007, making the combined entity the world’s largest rolled-aluminium producer. However, the high leverage, resulting from the acquisition and the slowdown in aluminium demand, post acquisition, have led to the company’s stock stagnating at the same level, adding nothing to its value. Read more of this post
The news that Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India has recently surpassed banks as the largest personal loan lender in India has turned the focus on insurance policies as collateral. Apart from LIC, other life insurers like ICICI Prudential Life and Edelweiss Tokio Life, and several banks, including the State Bank of India (SBI), ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank, offer loans against life insurance policies.
The 
I love how the web has democratized the media and entertainment industry. So when I heard of the Shemaroo IPO and how an old hand in the industry has decided to leverage new technology, I was immediately interested. Here is a list of the rights they own:
wealthymatters 