Heard on the Street: Investors queue up for Indian Overseas Bank

Investors queue up for Indian Overseas Bank

Informed investors are said to be accumulating shares of Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) on speculation that recovery of bad loans worth around Rs 500 crore — which the bank had already provided for — will add to the bank’s bottomline. The buzz on the Street is that the bank will make an announcement to this effect soon. IOB shares have risen around 11% so far this month. The stock closed at Rs 97.15 on Wednesday, down almost 2% over its previous close.

Argonaut increases BSE stake via off-market deals

One of the existing shareholders of the Bombay Stock Exchange, or BSE, is learnt to be keen on raising its stake in the exchange even while many others, particularly member brokers, have been in the exit mode amid concerns over delay in listing of the shares.

Private equity and venture capital firm Argonaut Ventures is believed to be accumulating the shares through off-market deals to increase it stake from 1.6% as on March 31 ‘10 to 5%, according to people familiar with the fund. The shares are available at Rs 340-345, a substantial discount to the ex-bonus price of Rs 400 per share.

While there have been concerns over the prospects of the exchange due to lack of a meaningful presence in the derivatives segment, and also due to loss of cash market share to rival NSE, some of the shareholders continue to be hopeful that the BSE may narrow the market share gap with its rival.

US hedge fund stocks up on Tata Steel

US-based hedge fund ‘All-Lions Burns Teen’ has been accumulating shares of Tata Steel in big chunks. The hedge fund has been covering its short positions over the past one week after it sold shares of the Indian company in March, when prices touched Rs 650. Another institutional investor that is gung-ho on Tata Steel is ‘Icy Icy Mutual Fund’. The fund has been buying shares of Tata Steel at every dip in prices. Tata Steel ended 1% lower at Rs 485.50 on the BSE on Wednesday.

(Contributed by Deeptha Rajkumar, Vijay Gurav & Shailesh Menon)