Pallavi jaikishan family dollar

True Lies
According to corporate insiders, the gloves are off in the final stages of what is being viewed as the end game in one of the strongly-contested takeover battles the country has seen. “It’s been two years since the National Company Law Tribunal initiated insolvency proceedings against a dozen of the country’s biggest loan defaulters and the battle to own this over five billion dollar company has been in the headlines ever since. The twists at every step, including a surprise multi-crore bid by its original owners at the last minute, even as creditors had approved of the one submitted by an international candidate who is seen as being exceptionally suitable, has only upped the ante,” says a source. Apparently, what has got Dalal Street, Nariman Point and India Inc agog with excitement, is the shadow-boxing taking place in the last stretch of the firm’s acquisition and how two Indian tycoons have entered the fray to settle their own scores. It is known that the London-based contender for the firm has harboured a long-standing dream to be a player on his home turf, and he is being mentored for this by a powerful corporate statesman who he is close to and who is said to have a legacy battle with the original owners of the firm, who are fighting to not lose the jewel in their crown. Meanwhile, they are being championed towards this by another corporate statesman, whose agenda is to keep what he views as his competition out of the country,” said the insider. What the addition of such larger- than-life personalities and agendas has resulted in is one of the most fascinating corporate kurukshetras of modern times, as two large Indian conglomerates go mano a mano in their bid to out-trump each other. “But the result is a foregone conclusion,” says the insider, adding, “Looks like the original owners are up against too powerful a rival.”

Tweet Talk
“In some ways, the worst part about the hate we’ve seen on Twitter in recent years is that it’s not even real hate, just opportunism.”
- Tweeted by journalist Priya Ramani

City’s A Melting Pot

After a hiatus that lasted more than a year, SoBo’s much-loved chef Alex Sanchez is back in action. This week will see the launch of his new restaurant Americano, an Italian-American-inspired eatery that will be located at Kala Ghoda. Sanchez, who is said to have popularised Colaba’s The Table (the restaurant lost many of their regulars as a consequence of his departure, it is believed), has now teamed up with his partner Mallyeka Watsa (grand-daughter of India’s erstwhile recipe queen Premila Lala) as co-owners of the new restaurant which will serve a large selection of authentic hand-rolled pizzas and pastas. A little further away from SoBo, another notable entrant to Mumbai’s booming restaurant scene is Town Hall, which also opened this week and made the move from Delhi’s Khan market to a residential tower in Lower Parel. Led by the Filipino chef Augusto, who was once with the Oberoi group, the Asian restaurant takes over a large space that is said to accommodate over 150 people. What’s more is that it neighbours the much-awaited upcoming Mediterranean restaurant by Rahul Akerkar.
As we say, knives and forks to the ready!

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