Stocks to watch: Bharti Airtel, Solvay Pharma, Golden Tobacco, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Adani Enterprises

MUMBAI: Sunil Mittal, the boss of Bharti Airtel, on Tuesday stoutly defended the acquisition of the African assets of Kuwait’s Zain, terming the criticism of analysts as “fairy tales”. Mr Mittal, who spoke exclusively to ET , said broking houses which have lashed out at the deal in their reports, had not been able to understand the long-term thinking behind it. The company is likely to seal the deal by March 25.

Bharti Airtel is exploring the option of a rights issue to raise $5 billion to part finance its proposed acquisition of Kuwait-based Zain's African assets.

Solvay Pharma India has informed that Abbott has completed its acquisition of Solvay Pharmaceuticals Global Business for EUR 5.2 Billion.

Golden Tobacco board has approved an agreement with a builder to jointly develop its Vile Parle property in Mumbai. The property is estimated to be valued at over Rs 800 crore.

The government has demanded another $2.7 million from Reliance Industries towards royalty and profit petroleum payments on gas produced from the Krishna-Godavari (KG) D6 for the six-month period from April-September 2009, arguing that the company did not take into account the marketing margin it levies while calculating the dues.

Shares of Adani Enterprises, Apollo Tyres, Areva T&D India, Bgr Energy Systems, Fortis Healthcare, Godrej Industries, Jain Irrigation Systems, Mcleod Russel India, Mundra Port & Sez, Onmobile Global And Videocon Industries are likely to spike up after being included in the F&O segment with effect from February 19.

Tata Steel’s consolidated net profit for the December quarter, which includes its UK unit Corus, fell 42%, although higher prices and increased volumes led to a rise in its operating profit margins. Tata Steel, which is also the world’s eighth largest steelmaker, said its consolidated net profit in the October-December period fell to Rs 473 crore from Rs 814 crore last year. Its revenue in the same period fell 20% to Rs 26,069 crore.

Tata Motors it will hike commercial vehicle prices by up to 2% on account of new emission norms. The company also announced plans of bidding for a Rs 350 crore defence contract to supply light bullet-proof vehicles.

The company is also looking to offload stake in its finance arm, Tata Motors Finance amid report that the SBI may be buying into it.