DealZone

(UPDATE: Reliance Industries has gained an overseas foothold by agreeing to pay $1.7 billion to form a joint venture with U.S.-based Atlas Energy. India's largest-listed firm will pick up a 40 percent stake in Atlas's operations in the booming Marcellus Shale)

The ruthless efficiency and smooth execution that marked Reliance Industries' development of the world’s largest refining complex in western India and its vast gas fields off the country's east coast has eluded the top-listed Indian firm during its recent attempts at overseas takeovers.

Nevertheless, Mukesh Ambani, the world’s fourth-wealthiest man and the chairman of Reliance, is known for his doggedness and is unlikely to backpedal on his overseas ambitions after being rebuffed by two overseas firms -- bankrupt petrochemicals maker LyondellBasell and oil sands firm Value Creation.

A source tells us that Ambani now has his eyes set on the booming Marcellus Shale in the eastern United States, and wants to form a joint venture with Atlas Energy to develop the independent U.S. oil and gas firm’s operations in the gas project.

A deal could bring in more than $1 billion for Atlas, which will be a much smaller price than what Reliance was willing to pay for LyondellBasell, which was valued at about $14.5 billion by the Indian firm’s final offer. Lyondell rejected it saying the price was not high enough.

Initial public offerings (IPOs) of companies from the so-called BRIC nations — Brazil, Russia, India and China — enjoyed their best-ever start to the year, according to Thomson Reuters data:

• BRIC IPO volumes for the beginning of 2010 are at their largest level, in terms of both value and number of issues, for any January on record.

• Asian IPO issuance for January 2010 to date has reached a similar record, in terms of value, being the largest January on record.

Ranked by Forbes as India’s richest man with a net worth of $32 billion, Mukesh Ambani is no stranger to taking risks.

The move by conglomerate Reliance Industries, controlled by Ambani, to bid for bankrupt LyondellBasell is a calculated one. Markets seem to think this is a bargain and investors pushed up Reliance’s stock nearly 4 percent on Monday.

If the deal, which sources say may be worth $12 billion,  goes through, it would catapult Reliance into the ranks of top petrochemical makers such as Saudi Arabia’s SABIC, Germany’s BASF and Dow Chemical Co.

If they don’t have bread, will they eat chocolates?

Cadbury’s hold on emerging markets such as India is part of the reason why Kraft wants the company so much, the Wall Street Journal said. 

The paper points out that Cadbury estimates more than half of India’s more than 1 billion people have never tasted chocolate, providing an opportunity for growth.

That’s a big number, but not necessarily a huge market. 

India measures poverty line in terms of daily calorie intake — 2,400 calories for folks living in rural areas and 2,100 for those living in cities. On that basis, the government estimates 27.5 percent of Indians lived below the poverty line in 2004-05. The measure might be conservative. As this New York Times report points out some say the number is at least 50 percent, and the actual caloric intake of the poorest 25 percent just 1,624 calories. 

After falling off a cliff at the start of this year as the global financial crisis gripped, mergers and acquisitions by Japanese companies overseas are likely to pick up again in the second half of this year, according to boutique Japanese M&A advisory firm Recof Corp.

There won't be a flood of deals, Recof President Hikari Imai says, but the ones there are, are likely to be chunky as Japanese companies expand their frontiers beyond domestic markets where growth prospects are limited.

Geographically the focus is likely to be Asia -- China, India in particular and possibly the Philippines or Australia. And the types of companies looking abroad will broaden as well, Imai told the Reuters Japan Investment Summit.

As dealmakers everywhere struggle to get deals done, the healthcare industry seals yet another one.

Express Scripts has agreed to buy health insurer WellPoint’s prescription business for $4.68 billion in a significant expansion for the U.S. pharmacy beenfit manager. The deal will be a concoction of cash and up to $1.4 billion in common stock, and will generate more than $1 billion of incremental EBITDA.

This comes on the heels of Pfizer’s $68 billion acquisition of Wyeth, Merck’s $41.1 billion takeover of Schering Plough and Roche Holding’s $46.8 billion buyout of Genentech. Granted, this isn’t a pharma deal, but it still falls under the umbrella of the healthcare sector.

If a stock dives 55 percent, is it time to go bargain hunting?

Absolutely not! At least that was the case with India's Satyam Computer Services after it shocked investors on Wednesday by disclosing most of its profits were cooked up.

The disclosure came after the company's botched attempt last month to buy two construction firms partly owned by its founders, which sent its shares diving 55 percent in one session by angry investors.

Chairman Ramalinga Raju said: "It was like riding a tiger, not knowing how to get off without being eaten."

Tata Motors, which bought Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford earlier this year, may now have to pump at least $1 billion into the brands to keep them alive. That’s bad news for U.S. automakers trying to sell brands.

While auto assets up for sale by U.S. automakers were expected to linger for a while, Tata’s rough road with Jag and Land Rover are likely to keep those assets on the block for much longer.

Tata has agreed to inject “tens of millions” of pounds into the company to tide it over while the government mulls a bailout,  media reports have said. This is in addition to “hundreds of millions” of working capital provided since Tata bought Jaguar Land Rover from Ford in March.

Hold on to cash and don't jump in to help family-owned firms.

Satyam Computer Services got this stern message this week when it was forced to dump a plan to spend $1.6 billion to buy two builders, part-owned by Satyam's chairman and other insiders.

Ramalinga Raju, chairman, Satyam Computer Services is seen in his office in Hyderabad in this undated handout photograph. REUTERS/Handout

The move sent shockwaves across a country known for its trailblazing software industry, and triggered a cloud over corporate governance in India.