Wipro announced after market hours on Monday, 2 December 2013, that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Opus CMC (Opus Capital Markets Consultants LLC), one of the leading US-based providers of mortgage due diligence and risk management services for a purchase consideration of $75 million that includes a deferred earn-out component. The acquisition will strengthen Wipro's mortgage solutions and outsourcing business and complement its existing offerings in mortgage origination, servicing and secondary market.
Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Lincolnshire, Illinois, Opus CMC provides comprehensive risk management solutions to the mortgage industry in the United States. It has over 490 employees, including over 315 loan underwriters, spread across 5 centers in the US, Wipro said in a statement.
Opus CMC offers operational and loan level due diligence, valuation support, forensic analysis, and advisory services on all classes of mortgage products, residential and commercial, ranging from re-underwriting whole loans to collateral reviews of securitized pools. Its customers include several of the top global banks, mortgage conduits, mortgage investors, and independent mortgage originators, the company added.
"We welcome Opus CMC's employees to the Wipro family," said Manoj Punja, Senior Vice President and Head - BPO, Wipro. "This acquisition will help us expand in the high end Mortgage BPO segment, and brings differentiated capability with a platform-based risk management offering. Opus CMC has an experienced management team with a deep understanding of the emerging needs of this business. We believe Opus CMC will continue to lead with their innovative offerings and extend these capabilities to Wipro's banking and financial services customers as well. Our vision is to leverage Wipro's offerings with Opus CMC's capabilities and knowledge base to create an end-to-end offering for all mortgage players, with a greater degree of automation and application of analytics."
Opus CMC has been very successful in building a talented team that can address a wide range of quality management needs for mortgage product sellers, intermediaries and investors. Its proprietary due diligence platform, encapsulates nearly a decade of business intelligence in loan reviews, and the latest in regulatory requirements.
"We are excited about the opportunity to join hands with Wipro and continue to be a dominant player in the industry with increased range and scale of offerings for our clients. Our industry is at a pivotal point with the introduction of new mortgage regulations driven by the CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) and government agencies. Wipro and Opus CMC will jointly assist our clients in navigating this challenging and changing business environment and help build reliable outcomes in mortgage origination and secondary market operations", said Joseph Andrea and Jennifer LaBud, Co-founders and Principals, Opus CMC.
The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals and will be completed in Q4 March 2014, Wipro said.
Hero MotoCorp (HMCL) after market hours on Monday, 2 December 2013 said that riding on overwhelming market demand for its range of popular motorcycles and scooters during the festive season, the company reported its highest-ever record retail sales for any festive period (October-November).
HMCL's total sales rose 9% to 12 lakh units in October-November this year over the corresponding period in the previous year.
Further strengthening its market leadership, HMCL's despatches rose 5.62% to 5.30 lakh units in November 2013 over November 2012.
Commenting on the development, Mr. Anil Dua, Sr. Vice President (Marketing & Sales), HMCL said, "We have grown from strength to strength this financial year. Coming close on heels of 7% retail growth in the first half of this fiscal, we have retailed a record 12 lakh units plus of two-wheelers in the two festive months of October and November. This is our highest-ever retail sales for this period, and has come along with another record that we created within this period - the 1.10 lakh two-wheeler retail sales in a single day on Dhanteras. Despite a sluggish market environment, we have been able to achieve such robust volumes due to a slew of strategic initiatives that we rolled out. The path-breaking 5-year warranty on our entire range of motorcycles and scooters has received an overwhelming response from our customers, as have our several brand and corporate campaigns. The best-in-class fuel efficiency of our two-wheelers across categories, the easy availability of our genuine spare parts, the large network of over 5,500 touch points and our strong rural presence have all contributed to this strong performance".
Mr. Dua added, "We now plan to build further on this momentum as we complete the phase-wise launch of the 15 new offerings that we had announced ahead of the festival. With all this action, we are confident of further strengthening on our leadership in the Indian market".
The follow-on public offer (FPO) of state-run Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) opens for bidding today, 3 December 2013. The FPO closes on Thursday, 5 December 2013, for institutional investors and on Friday, 6 December 2013, for retail category of investors and employees of the company. The price band for the FPO has been set at Rs 85 to Rs 90 per share. A discount of Rs 4.50 per share on the final issue price discovered through the book-building route will be available to retail investors and eligible employees of the company. PGCIL shares dropped 1.74% to settle at Rs 93.40 on BSE on Monday, 2 December 2013.
PGCIL is issuing a total of 78.70 crore shares through the FPO, which includes 60.18 crore fresh equity shares and disinvestment by the Government of India (GoI) of 18.51 crore equity shares held by the President of India, acting through the Ministry of Power. After the successful divestment, GoI's holding in PGCIL will come down to 57.89% from the present level of 69.42%.
Ashok Leyland's total sales fell 27% to 5,375 units in November 2013 over November 2012. Total sales of medium and heavy commercial vehicles (M&HCV) declined 39% to 2,715 units in November 2013 over November 2012. Total sales of light commercial vehicles (LCV) products, such as DOST & STILE, declined 8% to 2,660 units in November 2013 over November 2012.
Alstom T&D India announced after market hours on Monday, 2 December 2013, that it won an order worth approximately Rs 79 crore from Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) to provide 14 shunt reactors for the 765 kilovolt (kV) electrical substations at Kanpur and Jhatikara in Uttar Pradesh. The projects are due for delivery in 2015.
All 765 kV equipment for these projects will be manufactured in Alstom's transformer and reactor manufacturing facility at Vadodara in India.
Commenting on the order, Mr. Rathin Basu, Managing Director, Aistom T&D India said, "This contract further reinforces the confidence that Powergrid has in Alstom's capability to deliver 765 kV products and solutions from its state of the art manufacturing facilities".
Shipping Corporation of India said it took physical delivery of its new building Kamsarmax Bulk Carrier - "m.v. Vishva Uday" of 81,696 deadweight tonnage (DWT) capacity on 27 November 2013.
Shoppers Stop said that a 'Crossword' store at Chennai was closed by the company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Crossword Bookstores. With the closing of this store, there are now 84 Crossword stores.
Dena Bank said that the Issue Committee of the Board at its meeting held on 29 November 2013 has fixed the issue price of Rs 59.03 per equity share (including premium of Rs. 49.03 per equity share) for preferential allotment of 11.85 crore equity shares to the Government of India (GoI).
Royal Orchid Hotels said that the company has transferred its Hyderabad Business by executing the Business Transfer Agreement (BTA) and has also completed the required documentations subsequent to obtaining of the approval from the shareholders in this regard through Postal Ballot.
Ramkrishna Forgings said that the company's CNC Division which was closed on 29 and 30 November 2013 has become operational from Monday, 2 December 2013.
Steel Strips Wheels after market hours on Monday, 2 December 2013 said its total wheel rim sales rose 12% to 8.69 lakh units in November 2013 over November 2012.
Indiabulls Securities said its board of directors have issued and allotted an aggregate of 5.82 crore warrants of the company, convertible into equivalent number of equity shares of face value Rs 2 each, to the promoters, promoter group entities and one of the whole time directors of the company.
Kovai Medical Center & Hospital said that a meeting of its board of directors will be held on 12 December 2013, to consider the expansion project of the Hospital among other items.
Shrey Chemicals said its board of directors at a meeting held on Monday, 2 December 2013, has subject to the approval of the shareholders of the company at their extraordinary general meeting scheduled on 30 December 2013, approved a 2:1 bonus issue of shares.
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