The share purchase agreement was finalised on Wednesday and the rest of the Rs 1,020 crore deal will be shut over the course of the following week. The deal was overseen by Havmor's financial advisor KPMG, Veritas Legal, and Dhruva Tax Consultants.

Microsoft Corp agreed to buy LinkedIn Corp for $26.2 billion in its biggest-ever deal, combining the software giant's fast-growing cloud services business with the world's largest online network for professionals.

Kingfisher, with an outstanding debt of Rs 9,000 crore, is just one case. The total money stuck in bad loans was a staggering Rs 4 lakh crore at the end of March 2015. The figure was Rs 1 lakh crore just five years ago.

Government said it has cleared 12 foreign investment proposals, including that of Swedish fashion major Hennes & Mauritz, totalling Rs 821.63 crore.

BlackBerry Ltd warned on Friday it expects to report a huge quarterly operating loss next week and that it will cut more than a third of its global workforce, rekindling fears of the company's demise and sending its shares into a tailspin.

Company boards have to be more vigilant for good corporate governance in India.

Chaitanya Kalbag talks about Business Today's latest issue, which exposes the shortcomings of equity research in India. And about BT's annual survey of India's best banks.

Special Correspondent G. Seetharaman talks about his cover story, which exposes the dark underbelly of equity research in India.

Analysts' reports that are critical of companies are always contentious; company boards take analysts' meetings very seriously and with trepidation.

Michael Palmer, President of the Toronto-based Veritas Investment, explains what makes his company's research different, in an e-mail interview with Suman Layak and G. Seetharaman.

Neeraj Monga, Executive Vice President, Veritas Investment, talks about the 'sensational' language of Veritas's reports and other issues, in a phone interview with Business Today. Edited excerpts:

The cosy arrangement of \"see-no-evil, speak-no-evil\" between research analysts and companies in India was shaken in July 2011 when Veritas started analysing large Indian companies. But will its efforts change the way Indian analysts are going about their work?

Allegations of dubious deals with companies promoted by Robert Vadra are not DLF's worst headache - the real estate giant is deep in debt. As of June 30, 2012, gross debt stood at Rs 24,259 crore - nearly 2.4 times the total income and 20 times the net profit of the last financial year.

Sesa Goa managing director Prasun Kumar Mukherjee met Suman Layak in June. That was well before Goa imposed a temporary mining ban and the central Ministry of Environment and Forests withdrew all mining licences in Goa in September in the wake of the MB Shah Commission's report.

Research reports by well-known firms can move stock prices. And if the report is too harsh on the company, the result is a bitter controversy, with both sides pointing fingers at each other.

Shares of Indiabulls firms on Wednesday fell sharply after Canada-based Veritas in a report alleged serious irregularities at the group, which in turn termed the charges as \"malafide and fabricated\" and said it has filed a criminal case against the research firm.

Reliance Communications (RCom) stock was badly hammered on Tuesday, dropping to a 52-week low, after Canadian investment research firm Veritas downgraded it by cutting the price target to a mere Rs 15.

If Kingfisher Airlines goes belly up, the government will hurt too, not just Vijay Mallya. Banks effectively own 75 per cent of the airline, and the impact on their books could be devastating. FULL COVERAGE

Vijay Mallya shuts Kingfisher Red at a time when low-cost aviation is flying high. Its 15 single-cabin, no-frills aircraft would be converted into a mix of business and full-service economy class seats to become part of the airline's full-service fleet.

The rising number of auditors' qualifications in accounts statements indicates the deteriorating state of Indian accounting standards. In times when Indian corporations run global companies, accounting practices should be conservative rather than aggressive when there is an element of uncertainty.