With the world’s financial situation tightening and inflation hitting the roof due to rise of oil and commodity prices,..there is a definite slowdown in US and European markets. What are the BRIC countries business doing ? They are preparing for more M&As for sure.

Financial Express reports
 The current turbulence in world financial Markets notwithstanding, there exists a positive attitude among private business owners in emerging economies, particularly in India and China, toward mergers and acquisitions, says a global survey.

“Privately held businesses (PHBs) in the fast growing economies such as mainland China and India see international M&A as one means of progressing up the value chain through acquisition of brands and distribution channels in North America and Europe,” Grant Thornton India M&A partner Pankaj Karna said. Read the rest of this entry »

The Worlds top 25 innovative companies lists the best of the best. This year the Tata’s and Reliance have managed to be in the this elite list. Tata’s are only behind Apple, Google, Toyota, GE and Microsoft.

Timesofindia reports 

India’s two leading conglomerates, Tatas and Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Group, have made it to the league of the world’s 25 most innovative companies, riding on the cheapest commercial car Nano and an aggressive growth path, respectively.

In the list of world’s 25 most innovative companies released here on Friday, Tata group is ranked at the sixth position, while Reliance Industries is at 19th spot.

The list, published in the April 28 edition of BusinessWeek magazine that hit the newsstands on Friday, has been compiled by the US financial publication in collaboration with Boston Consulting Group.

Both Tata and RIL have made it for the first time to the annual list which is topped by Apple Computer, the maker of iPod music players and Mac personal computers.

Apple is followed by Internet search giant Google, Japanese auto major Toyota, industrial conglomerate General Electric (GE) and software behemoth Microsoft in the top five.

About Tata group , BusinessWeek said that “Mumbai-based conglomerate jumps onto our list for the first time, fuelled by its paradigm-busting 2,500 dollar ‘Nano’ car for the masses”.

“The car, from its Tata Motors unit, is the world’s cheapest, thanks partly to a distribution model that sells the auto in kits to entrepreneurs who assemble them for buyers.”

About RIL, it noted that “the Indian petrochemicals giant made it onto our list this year thanks to fans of its aggressive growth.

“But its ambitious plans to reach into grocery retailing, which is dominated in India by small shopkeepers who have rebelled against corporate entrants, have faltered,” it added.

Another casualty of Subprime mess, UBS bank reports over 12B loss for the first quarter.

Associated Press news in Yahoo

ZURICH, Switzerland - UBS AG’s chairman abruptly resigned Tuesday as the Swiss bank reported a first-quarter loss of $12.1 billion and said it would seek $15.1 billion in new capital.

UBS revealed more serious damage from exposure to the U.S. subprime crisis and said it expects write-downs of approximately $19 billion.

As UBS Chairman Marcel Ospel stepped down, Deutsche Bank AG, Germany’s largest bank, announced similar write-downs of about $4 billion.

It was the latest indication of how far the severe plunge in U.S. housing prices and a credit crisis triggered by rising mortgage defaults has reached.

UBS write-downs for the past nine months have reached $37.4 billion, the largest reported by any bank to date.

Standard & Poor’s cut the bank’s credit rating one notch to AA-, citing “risk management lapses, earnings volatility and need for new capital.” Read the rest of this entry »