Sensex, Nifty volatile; OBC tanks 6%, telecom stocks fall

Moneycontrol Bureau

12:30pm Info Edge in focus

Online restaurant guide Zomato has acquired Turkey's popular restaurant research service firm Mekanist in an all cash deal for an undisclosed sum.

Post this acquisition, Zomato's restaurant coverage will increase from about 27,500 restaurants in Istanbul and Ankara to more than 50,000 restaurants across Turkey.

Commenting on the development, Zomato Founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal, said, "Mekanist has established itself as one of the heavyweights in the online restaurant search and discovery space in Turkey. We're excited to be joining forces with them as we continue to grow in one of our most important markets."

On being asked how the company plans to raise funds for the acquisition Goyal said, "We already had the money.

Mekanist is one of the earliest and most successful service player to emerge from the Turkish startup ecosystem, and we're excited about them becoming a part of Zomato," he added.

This is Zomato's seventh acquisition in the past six months, having acquired Urbanspoon for USD 52 million to enter the US and Australia markets only a couple of weeks ago.

Zomato recently also acquired local dominant restaurant search players in New Zealand, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Italy, reports PTI.

Info Edge owns a little over 50 percent stake in the company.

12:00pm Market Check

The 50-share NSE Nifty snapped winning streak to trade in the red on expiry day. The index fell 14.20 points to 8900.10 and the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 47.94 points to 29511.24, dragged by select metal and banking & financial stocks.

Asian markets traded lower, taking weak cues from the US markets and oil prices falling to new lows dampened sentiment. Brent crude traded below USD 49 a barrel.

Coal India topped the selling list on Nifty, down over 3 percent after the CCEA approved selling 5 percent stake or upto 31.58 crore shares in the company with a greenshoe option of an additional 5 percent stake. The market is waiting for floor price for the offer for sale scheduled for tomorrow.

HDFC Bank surged 2 percent after the cabinet approved the bank's proposal to bring in foreign investment worth Rs 10,000 crore without exceeding the 74 percent cap. Lupin too gained more than 1.5 percent as the company is now allowed to bring in foreign investment worth over Rs 6,000 crore after increase in FPI cap to 49 percent from the current 33 percent.

Telecom stocks like Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular are under pressure, down 2-3 percent after the Cabinet approved 3G auction reserve price at Rs 3,705 crore which is 36 percent higher than the trai recommendation and 10.6 percent higher than the previous 3G auction held in 2010.

Oriental Bank of Commerce's (OBC) third quarter net profit plunged 91.3 percent year-on-year to Rs 19.5 crore, dented by reduction in the book value of security receipts. The profitability was also impacted by higher provisions but higher other income restricted fall in profits. The stock lost 6 percent.