Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Made for each other

As recession hits Bollywood, SRK comes to the rescue

First things first! After a lull, when theatre managements were forced to call off shows due to lack of audiences, it was back to good old days thing ‘Ghajini’ and ‘Chandni Chowk To China’, has succeeded in luring audiences back to movie halls.

Another observation! SRK's star power came to the rescue of ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’. A majority of those who watched the film were unanimous that the script was faulty, with loopholes aplenty. But SRK swept everyone off their feet!

Now let's talk business!

Sanjeev Prasad, Head - Research, Kotak Securities ,

Sanjeev Prasad, Head - Research, Kotak Securities

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termed Satyam’s deciding to pick up stake in Maytas and the subsequent about-turn a combination of a business call that went horribly wrong and an event that raises concerns about the its corporate governance, First of all, I can’t understand the synergy between a software services company and a real estate infrastructure business; the two are completely unrelated businesses,” he said, adding, “So, I can’t understand any benefits, which could have come out of this particular acquisition. The second thing is the manner in which it was done it also raises a fair amount of issues.” “It will take a lot of efforts from the management now to get the faith of the shareholders back,” Prasad added.

Experts decry Satyam-Maytas deal; call it unethical

On Tuesday, Satyam announced its decision to pick up 51% in Maytas Infrastructure and 100% in Maytas Properties. However, as soon as the USD 1.6-billion deal was announced, it met with stiff market resistance. Investors were angry on the company’s acquisition of the infrastructure company — especially when the realty business is highly cash-consuming now. The Satyam ADR fell by as much as 55% on news of the acquisition.Institutions hold over 50% in the IT major. Templeton, an institutional shareholder, said it would go to any length to stop the deal. In the face of rising investor discontent, Satyam called off the deal.

 
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