Satyam shelves foreign equity deal
Hyderabad: Satyam Computer Services has shelved its $100 million foreign equity deal as the company confronted problems in raising investments in the overseas market. The company had planned the equity deal in order to retire debts worth Rs 250 crore.

The company said in a statement that the timing of the offer had gone wrong. However, sources outside the company said a combination of factors, including price and structure of the deal, besides the timing, had led the company to call off the proposal.
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Sterlite gives up Pennar acquisition plan
Mumbai: Sterlite Industries has dropped its proposal to acquire Pennar Aluminium of Hyderabad. Anil Aggarwal, chairman of Sterlite Industries, cited Pennar Aluminium's huge debt as the reason for abandonment of the proposal. Pennar Aluminium had accumulated losses of Rs 94 crore till 1994-95 and outstanding debt of over Rs 300 crore.

Mr Aggarwal also disclosed that Sterlite's promoters are increasing their stake in that company by 8 to 9 per cent. The Aggarwals hold 38.3 per cent stake in Sterlite.
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Ashok Leyland diesel engine plant sold to Ivesco
Mumbai: The diesel engine manufacturing plant of Ashok Leyland has been sold to Italian auto company and a subsidiary of Fiat, Iveco, for Rs 226 crore. Iveco is an original promoter of Ashok Leyland and, along with the Hindujas, holds 51 per cent of Ashok Leyland's equity.

The plant makes manufactures lower capacity engines. The Rs 2,051-crore company has said the sale proceeds will be used to retire debts worth Rs 1,000 crore .

Iveco in all probability will utilise the plant for manufacturing engines for its New Holland tractors.
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Ispat acquires Kalyani Mukund
Calcutta: Ispat Industries has concluded an agreement with Kalyani Mukund for acquiring the entire share capital of the company. The purpose of the acquisition: Kalyani Mukund has a 0.75 standard cubic meter per day allocation of gas, which  Ispat will have access to after the acquisition.

Ispat has paid a small part, Rs 12 lakh, of the total consideration to Kalyani Mukund, and has offered a corporate guarantee for Rs 26 crore to its shareholders. The total consideration for acquiring the 4,80,000 equity shares of Kalyani Mukund, constituting 24 per cent of its paid-up share capital, will be Rs 6.66 crore.
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SSI acquires Indigo companies
Chennai: SSI, the computer training company, has finalised the acquisition of two infotech companies, Indigo Technologies India and its sister concern in the US. The US company has been bought through the acquisition of a holding company, Indigo International Inc of Delaware, USA.

SSI will pay Rs 12.6 crore for the acquisition and will acquire shares of Indigo International from non-resident Indian promoters of the company, ICICI Venture Fund Management Company, Indus East Holding and Super Hill Investments Mauritius. Key employees of Indigo, who hold shares, will be issued SSI shares.
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Synpac increases stake in Kopran
Mumbai: Synpac Pharmaceuticals of the UK is investing $1 million to acquire a 37.5 per cent stake in the equity of collaborator Kopran Drugs. The two companies have strategic alliance covering penicillin products.

Synpac and Parijat Industries, the original promoters of Kopran Drugs, will now be equal partners in the joint venture. Synpac is owned by a Taiwanese family with interests in banking, insurance, cement and tyres, besides pharmaceuticals.
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Tata Electric plans telecom foray
Mumbai: Tata Electric Companies is planning to enter the internet business and will focus on telecom. The company's chairman Ratan Tata told TEC's shareholders at its annual general meeting that the company is eyeing the internet service provider business.

"We will like to focus on the telecom sector as it has a lot of potential," Mr Tata said. The company will invest in telecom through group companies, which already have a presence in the sector.
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Olivetti exits Modi Olivetti
Mumbai: Olivetti spa is exiting Modi Olivetti, its 13-year-old Indian joint venture with the B.K. Modi group. The Economic Times in a report said the Italian company is selling its 37 per cent holding to the B.K. Modi group, whose holding in Modi Olivetti will rise to 72 per cent.

Company sources said Olivetti will waive the amount due to it on account of the sale by taking a token amount.
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ITC may focus on infotech
Calcutta: ITC is seriously considering entry into the information technology sector. The company has been advised by Krishna Palepu of the Harvard Business School that it may make use of subsidiary ITC Infotech, now operating out of the UK and the US, to enter the booming infotech market.

Prof Palepu is also understood to have told the group to have a strategic alliance with an international company for the infotech venture.
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SAIL loan at Rs 20,000 crore
New Delhi: The Steel Authority of India Ltd has a loan burden of Rs 20,000 crore, the interest outgo due to which has touched Rs 2,000 crore per annum.

The SAIL board, which discussed the issue at a meeting last week could not arrive at a solution to this problem. Its options include: end to the fifth pay commission recommendations on salaries, price increase, selling the Indian Iron and Steel Company, and reverting to budgetary support.

The company has temporarily scrapped certain allowances to employees, like medical allowance, leave travel allowance and travel concession.
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Cincom plans JVs in India
Mumbai: The Cincinnati-based Cincom Systems is planning to invest $5 million in India in joint ventures in the software research and development sector. The company has already invested about $1 million to set up a wholly-owned subsidiary in India.

Cincom is a leading player in software solutions in the manufacturing, telecom, banking and financial sectors.
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Leo Burnett takes control of Chaitra Leo Burnett
Mumbai: The Leo Burnett Company, which has acquired 74 per cent equity in Chaitra Leo Burnett, the Indian advertising agency, is now taking over management control.

Announcing this, Steve Gatfield, regional managing director, Asia-Pacific, Leo Burnett Company, said it is now opportune for the company to take over management control and the operations of the agency.

Walter Saldhana, executive chairman of the agency, has decided to retire, Mr Gatfield said.
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P&O Nedlloyd sets up software centre
Pune: International Computers India Ltd, a Fujitsu, Japan, ICL, UK, and RPG group joint venture, has signed a letter of intent with P&O Nedlloyd, one of the world's largest container shipping and transportation companies, to set up a software development centre in Pune.

The centre is expected to take care of P&O Nedlloyd's user systems in Asia. ICIL will assign a dedicated team for on-site operations of the centre.
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Bajaj Tempo to supply gear boxes to DaimlerChrysler
Mumbai: Bajaj Tempo has received an order from DaimlerChrysler of Germany for supply of 2,000 gear boxes. The high performance GI/18/5 gear boxes will be fitted in the Ggelande-Wagen, a vehicle specially developed for the NATO military applications.
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Hero Motors plans scooter JV
New Delhi: Hero Motors is in talks with Peugeot of France and Aprillia of Italy for a scooter joint venture.

The company intends to enter the 150cc and 125cc scooter market with four-stroke engines. The company had earlier talked to Piaggio of Italy but the talks did not succeed.

The company has already concluded a joint venture agreement with Briggs and Stratton of the US for developing and manufacturing four-stroke engines for scooters and mopeds in India. Hero Briggs Stratton was formed in August 1988 and intends to start manufacture of four-stroke engines in 2001.
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World aluminium majors in merger talks
Zurich: Alusuisse Lonza of Switzerland and Pechiney of France, leading aluminium producers, are in merger talks with Alcan of Canada. If the merger materialises, it will see the formation of the world's largest aluminium company in terms of sales.

The alliance, said analysts in Zurich, will have a combined market capitalisation of $18.78 billion, but short of global leader Alcoa of the US with a value of $22.96 billion. But the three companies' total revenues for 1988 were $24.804 billion, against Alcoa's $15.5 billion.

The merged group will also account for slightly less than 15 per cent of the world's primary aluminium output.
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EC clears Hoechst-Rhone merger
Brussels: The European Commission has formally granted regulatory clearance to the merger of Hoechst AG of Germany and Rhone-Poulenc of France.

The move clears one of the remaining hurdles in the creation of the world's largest drugs and agri-business group with nearly $20 billion in sales.
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Virgin, One2One in mobile phone deal
London: Virgin Group and One2One confirmed that they are linking up for a $161.5 million plus joint venture to sell Virgin cellphones.

The deal will see the formation of Virgin Mobile. It will be Britain's fifth mobile brand and create 500 jobs in its first year.

Earlier Deutsche Telekom had acquired One2One in a 8.4 billion pound deal.
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Lucent acquires telecom software company
Murray Hill: Lucent Technologies announced that it will buy telecom software maker International Network Services for $3.7 in stocks.

The acquisition could strengthen the telecom equipment manufacturer's data networking business. International Network Services makes software that manages networks functioning on internet protocol. Lucent has signed an agreement for the deal.
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Daewoo will be forced to sell profitable units
Seoul: Daewoo's creditors are certain to tell the group to sell its profitable brokerage and construction units.

The detailed plan for the restructuring of the troubled group was discussed with the officials of the Financial Supervisory Commission, in charge of restructuring insolvent banks and corporations in South Korea, an official of Korea First Bank, a leading creditor of Daewoo, said.

The plan will dismember Korea's second largest group and will see the sale of Daewoo Securities, Seoul Investment Trust and Keang Nam Enterprise, the construction unit of the group.
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Tokyo Electric plans cheaper internet access
Tokyo: Tokyo Electric Power, the world's largest electric power company, is planning a joint venture with Softbank, the Japanese internet investment company, and Microsoft of the US. The joint venture aims to provide low-cost internet access.

Japanese Electric Power has a wide network of fibre-optic cables and it proposes to make use of this network to provide the internet access. The company proposes to offer the service at 5,000 yen a month, against 10,000 yen a month charged by NTT, the domestic telephone monopoly in Japan.
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