The IPO comeback kids

Earlier this month, Lavasa Corporation filed its initial public offering (IPO) document with Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), reviving its four-year-old plan to tap the capital market. It might not be the only real estate company to rethink an IPO. According to market buzz, Raheja Universal, which had to shelve an IPO plan four years ago, could again attempt to list. Those in the sector said investor sentiment towards real estate has seen a drastic improvement compared to 2010, when almost Rs 13,000 crore worth of IPOs had to be shelved.

Taking a toll on brokers

Stockbrokers have been demanding that stamp duties be rationalised across states for many years, but without success. Their misery is compounded by the fact that state governments seem to be actually swinging the other way.Stamp duty has been on the rise in Tamil Nadu. Rajasthan has joined the party. It recently raised it from Rs 200 per Rs 1 crore of transactions to Rs 1,000-a fivefold increase.

UTI to go public?

Rumours of an Initial Public Offering by India's oldest mutual fund are getting louder. UTI had moved towards coming out with one in 2007. This was shelved following the global financial crises. The plan seems to have come out of cold storage, presumably egged by U K Sinha's comments at its 50th anniversary celebrations. He had said UTI can't continue to have shareholders which also have their own mutual funds. State Bank of India, Life Insurance Corporation, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank all have their own MFs. A spokesperson could not be contacted for comment.