News Roundup: Genpact in Fray For WNS

Genpact in Fray For WNS - India’s largest pure-play BPO firm Genpact has joined the race for acquiring Warburg Pincus’ 50% stake in WNS Global Services. Others in the race for the BPO include private equity (PE) investors such as Blackstone and Bain Capital. Merrill Lynch is said to be advising Warburg and is selectively approaching IT and BPO firms and PE players. (Economic Times) United Spirits in Talks For $300 Mn Fundraising - Vijay Mallya's United Spirits Ltd (USL) has started talks with more than half-a-dozen PE players to raise over $300 million to deleverage its balance sheet. Private equity majors like Texas Pacific Group (TPG), Temasek Holdings, Blackstone, KKR, Capital International are said to be in the race. USL has debt of around Rs 6,500 crore. (DNA) SUUTI To Sell Arsec Stake - Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India (SUUTI) is considering a stake sale in Asset Reconstruction Company (Arsec) since its other existing shareholders have showed interest in increasing their stake. SUUTI holds around 37% stake in Arsec, while other shareholders include Bank of India, Allahabad Bank, Indian Bank, Andhra Bank, Life Insurance Corporation of India, Deutsche Bank and IL&FS. (ET) Sequoia Capital Does A Google - Silicon Valley's top venture capital investor Sequoia has redesigned its website to a simple search engine. Sequoia has backed companies like Google, Apple, Cisco, Oracle etc. The firm has an active India arm which manages around $1.8 billion across various funds. The earlier Sequoia website homepage showed the successful entrepreneurs that the VC firm had backed. (VentureBeat) Unitech Wireless Raises Rs 5000 Cr From SBI - Unitech Wireless has secured a Rs 5,000-crore loan from State Bank of India (SBI). The company will use the loan to finance the rollout of its operations in the country. The company had earlier secured a loan from a consortium of banks comprising Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Bank of India, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Central Bank of India and Vijaya Bank. Norway based Telenor Group, which holds a 49% stake in Unitech Wireless and had already invested Rs 2,620 crore, is also planning to make an additional payment of Rs 6,120 crore to increase its stake in the company to 67.25%. (BS) Regulators Suggest IAG To Avoid Mauritius Route - The government and financial sector regulators have prevailed on Insurance Australia Group (IAG) to route its investment in a general insurance venture with State Bank of India through Singapore, instead of the original proposal to bring the money through a Mauritian subsidiary. The investment through Singapore would make IAG eligible for tax benefits, under India’s Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) with the city-state. IAG’s investment in the joint venture, in which it would hold 26% stake, is estimated at Rs 540 crore, including an entry premium. The JV can take the advantage of more than 15,000 SBI branches across the country to distribute its non-life products. (BS) Satyam To Sack Chunk Of Seniors - Fraud-hit Satyam Computer Services turned Mahindra Satyam has planned to sack around 900 senior employees in the rank of general managers, senior managers, assistant vice-presidents and vice-presidents in the company. As part of the plan, the company initially offered four months basic and an experience certificate for those who are ready to quit voluntarily. Mahindra Satyam currently has about 1,500 officials in these categories, of which about 600 have been given new roles as part of organisational restructuring. (DNA)  

IBM bets on Brazilian innovation

Big Blue's new initiative to stimulate development of Brazil's nascent tech industry is the latest sign of the country's rising power.

Sequoia Capital reduces its web site …

Sequoia Capital reduces its web site . . . to a search barVentureBeatAnd just last week, we wrote about Sequoia's increasing activities in China and India and remarked on how its site mainly still celebrated the entrepreneurs ...and more »

Sequoia Capital reduces its web site . . . to a search bar

Sequoia Capital reduces its web site . . . to a search barVentureBeatAnd just last week, we wrote about Sequoia's increasing activities in China and India and remarked on how its site mainly still celebrated the entrepreneurs ...and more »

Travelocity Global buys Travelguru

Travelocity Global buys TravelguruDaily News & AnalysisIt raised $25 million in 2006 -- $10 million from Sequoia Capital India, which the latter followed up with a $15 million co-investment with Battery Venture. ...and more »

The Hindu 2.0

Web edition of the “The Hindu“,  which is one of the oldest and a leading English Indian daily newspaper got itself a new look with all the Web2.0 jazz included. The newly designed website which is still in beta phase has been launched on 15th of August, the day India celebrated its independence. While all [...]Benefit from the Indian startup community. Join us at the Indian startup portal The Hindu 2.0 is a post from: News, Views, Reviews & Interviews of Indian startups Related Posts No related posts were found, so here's a random one: Centilian.com – Enabling Mobile Monetization.

Katrina Kaif Is Actually Katrina Turquotte?

Here is something new about Katrina Kaif. Even though Katrina Kaif is the hottest actress being searched in Google, now you will see the name Katrina Turquotte (Katrina Tucuotte) being searched in Google. Why?? Well apparently, Ayesha Shroff (Jackie Shroff's ex wife) launched Katrina Turquotte in her first film BOOM back in 2003. According to Ayesha, when Katrina was choosen for the BOOM movie, her lastname (surname) was Turquotte and it was hard to pronounce the name so they all agreed (including Katrina) to change her last name from Turquotte to "Kaif".

IBM Drills Into Brazil’s Tech Scene

International Business Machines is on a mission to expand its partnerships in Brazil in response to the country’s growing information-technology market. The Armonk, N.Y.-based computer giant is announcing today the formation of its Sao Paulo ...

Travelocity.com eyes India market, buys out Travelguru

Travelocity.com eyes India market, buys out TravelguruLivemintTravelguru.com, which was funded by venture capital firms, such as Sequoia Capital India and Battery Ventures, distributes a portfolio of at least 4000 ...and more »

Free SkypIn With Gizmo5 And Google Voice

Google Voice has changed the way VoIP application works. Ever since Google introduced Google Voice, people found ways to maximise their use of Google voice whether its with Gizmo5 or Mobile phones or Skype. You can even use Google Voice for BlackBerry, Nokia, Android, Palm Pre or Windows Mobile phones. You can even make free calls using Google Voice. But today what I am going to show you is how you can integrate Google Voice with your Skype account and actually get free SkypeIn number. Things you need for this: Skype Account Gizmo5 Account And Google Voice Account.. So here is how you can get Free SkypeIn with Gizmo5 + Google Voice.