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Technology Stocks : Satyam Infoway Ltd-(Nasdaq:SIFY) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (1129)	3/12/2000 11:33:00 AM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1471

OT Wipro seeks blanket OK for overseas buy-outs up to $10 billion wipro.com Bangalore: India's Wipro Ltd. has sought a blanket approval from the finance ministry of the Federal Government for overseas acquisitions up to a value limit of $10 billion, ministry sources said. The proposal submitted to the ministry envisages Wipro issuing fresh equity in the form of American Depository receipts to fund overseas acquisitions. Wipro has diversified interests which include information technology, consumer care, lighting and hydraulics. When contacted by Bridge News, Suresh Senapaty, executive vice-president (finance) of Wipro Corporation, declined to comment. There has been market talk that Wipro will soon announce an American Depository Receipts issue of approximately $200 million with Morgan Stanley as the lead manager. However, Wipro has maintained that it is yet to decide the size or the time frame for the proposed issue. Sources said Wipro has submitted an application with the special composite committee of the Finance Ministry for a hike in the value limit for overseas buy-outs up to $10 billion. The committee has representations from various government departments apart from the Reserve Bank of India. Last month, another software major, Infosys Technologies, also sought a blanket nod from the finance ministry for overseas buy-outs up to $10 billion. The current norms allow software companies to make overseas acquisitions through the automatic approval route up to a value limit of only $100 million. Finance minister Yashwant Sinha during his Budget speech on Feb 29 had indicated that the government would further liberalize the rules for overseas buy-outs by software firms. Both Infosys and Wipro have sought the blanket approval as they feel that it would help in closing the deals quicker. Further, this will also eliminate the possibility of information leakage which would affect the stock swap ratio. Moreover, with valuations of software companies shooting up, these companies feel that the current limit of $100 million is not sufficient. For the first nine months of 1999-00 (Apr-Mar), Wipro's net profit was up 118% from a year earlier at Rs 2.03 billion, while sales were up 28% at Rs 15.45 billion. -Bridge News Feb 12,2000