Soros buys into Comverse and SKS Microfinance
http://www.israel21c.org/201007218176/briefs/george-soros-gambles-on-comverse
American investor George Soros has purchased 5.1 percent of Comverse’s shares over the past few days, in a reported $80 million gamble on the company. He is now an interested shareholder.
Soros made the purchase through his family investment fund, Soros Fund Management. The fund also owns shares of the Chinese Internet company Alibaba, Bank of America, Pfizer, Ford, CitiBank, seed company Monsanto, Brazilian gas giant Petrobras and AT&T.
Soros bought 10.4 million shares of Comverse. The precise date of purchase wasn’t made public, but the shares are currently worth $7.55 each at Comverse’s closing price yesterday.
Comverse’s shares are being sold over the counter, as opposed to on the regular market. This situation has obtained ever since a backdating scandal that came to light in 2006, and the company hasn’t published full financial statements since then. It is expected to do so only in August.
Yesterday, Comverse filed a request with the SEC to sell 10% of the 28 million shares it holds in Verint Systems. Even after a sale, Comverse will remain Verint’s controlling shareholder, with a stake of around 60%.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comverse_Technology
Comverse Technology, Inc. (Pink Sheets: CMVT), originally founded in Israel, is a technology company located in Woodbury, Nassau County, New York, which develops and markets telecommunications software. Founded in 1982, the company focuses on providing value added services to telecommunication service providers, in particular to mobile network operators.
http://www.vccircle.com/500/news/george-soros-quantum-picks-up-stake-in-ipo-bound-sks-for-rs-19cr
SKS IPO opens from July 28-30 for institutional buyers and on August 2 for others.
SKS Microfinance, India’s largest microfinance entity, has roped in another blue-chip investor as its IPO debut date draws near. The latest to invest in the firm is Quantum (M) Ltd, the billionaire investor George Soros’ hedge fund.
Quantum has picked up around 3 lakh shares in the company from existing shareholder Yatish Trading Company Pvt Ltd. Quantum will hold a 0.4% stake post the issue while Mumbai-based securities firm Yatish will have a 2.2% holding.
The other investors in SKS include Sequoia Capital India, Infosys chief mentor N R Narayana Murthy and Vinod Khosla, among others. The shares were acquired by Quantum for a total sum of Rs 19.08 crore, translating into Rs 636 per share. The share price is equal to the price paid by hedge fund Tree Line Asia, which picked up 2.3% stake in SKS through slew of secondary transactions earlier this year.
Various reports have pegged the price band of the issue between Rs 650 and Rs 700 per share. This may put the mopup at anywhere between Rs 1,090 crore and Rs 1,175 crore. The Red Herring Prospectus of Hyderabad-based SKS says the MFI is looking sell around 16.8 million shares. Various reports have also said that the issue may give a discount to retail investors.
SKS IPO opens on July 28 and closes on July 30, 2010 for qualified institutional buyers and on August 2 for others.
Murthy’s recently launched $129 million venture capital fund Catamaran invested Rs 28.12 crore in January this year. The investment has been made through Catamaran Management Services Pvt Ltd and the firm will hold a 1.3% stake in SKS post-issue.
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nice 5 pointed star in the logo..might be a good idea to buy some of these..george dont make many mistakes.as we have shown many times..
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