Reliance to take stake in Raymond Synthetics
Mumbai: Reliance Industries Ltd. will buy the 26 per cent stake in Raymond Synthetics Ltd., held by Raymond Ltd., at Rs.5 per share amounting to Rs.22 crore.

According to a report in the Business Standard, Reliance will take this stake through its associate company, Silvassa Yarn and Investments. Silvassa Yarn will make an open offer to buy 20 per cent more of Raymond Synthetics.

With this deal, Reliance’s polyester filament yarn capacity goes up to 3 lakh tonnes per annum from 2.28 lakh tonnes.
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Zee splits stock, to pay $148 m to Star
Mumbai: Zee Telefilms Ltd. will reduce the face value of its share to Re.1 per share from Rs.10 each. This was decided at the annual general meeting held on 27 September 1999. Zee Telefilms intends to be a more widely held company.

By 30 September 1999, Zee will pay $148 million to Star thereby taking over the latter’s 50 per cent stake in Patco, Siti Cable and Asia Today. These three companies were joint ventures between Zee and Star.

Meanwhile, Star will launch the Fox Kids channel in English and Hindi. This channel will cover India, China and Taiwan.
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Pfizer's subsidiary proposal opposed
Mumbai: Pfizer India’s Minority Shareholders Association could not be convinced by the Pfizer India management, about the latter’s proposal to set up a wholly-owned subsidiary. Instead, the association asked Pfizer Inc to increase its stake in Pfizer India to 74 per cent at Rs.70 per share. Financial institutions and minority shareholders hold about 55 per cent in Pfizer India.
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HLL buys Coco Care
Mumbai: Hindustan Lever Ltd. will buy the Coco Care coconut oil brand from Recon Oil Industries. The price of the deal is yet to be disclosed. HLL already has the Tata Nihar brand of coconut oil in its stable. As claimed by the company, with the takeover of the fourth largest brand in the country, HLL will enjoy a 22 per cent market share in the coconut oil industry.
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MTNL profits overstated : CAG
Mumbai: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has stated that the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. has overstated its net profit by Rs.341.85 crore. As of 31 March 1999, MTNL has made sales of Rs.5,259 crore and a net profit of Rs.1,288 crore. The CAG has cited major reasons for the overstated profit to be the provision for leave encashment, service charges overstatement and lower provision for depreciation.
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Two years to go for ModiLuft to break even
Mumbai: Rex Lezard, chief executive officer of ModiLuft has said that his company will break even in the year 2002. The company will begin operations in February 2000, with three 737-400s. By August 2000, ModiLuft plans to increase its fleet to six aircrafts and to 12 by end-2002.
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Praxair to takeover Pune Oxygen, Asiatic Industrial
Bangalore: Praxair is likely to buy the oxygen and medical oxygen business of Pune Oxygen and the gas business of Asiatic Industrial. The deals are worth around Rs.10 crore.
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Tisco plans issue
Mumbai: Tata Iron and Steel Company will issue debt amounting to Rs.150 crore, through a 12.5-12.7 per cent non-convertible debenture issue. The issue will be sold on a book building basis. The debenture will have a tenure of eight years. The issue will be lead-managed by Kotak Mahindra Capital and ABN Amro Securities.
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Yahoo! in Chinese
Shanghai: Yahoo!, the US-based internet company and Founder, a Chinese computer manufacturer will jointly launch the Yahoo! Chinese site at www.yahoo.com.cn. The product will resemble the US Yahoo! portal, but the content will be Chinese.

The announcement is significant since the Chinese government had recently said that it will restrict foreign investments made in internet service and content providers.
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Workers in DaimlerChrysler want a share in the profit
London: About 2,20,000 workers, represented by their union leaders are seeking a share in the profit from DaimlerChrysler. This is the single biggest challenge facing the company’s new management.
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JV by NEC, Mitsubishi
Tokyo: NEC and Mitsubishi will set up a 50-50 joint venture company that will manufacture and market cathode ray monitors and liquid crystal displays. The joint venture is a result of the intense competition existing in that segment of the electronics industry. The venture will help both companies to rationalise their operations.
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GNFC profits up
Ahmedabad: The Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilisers Company has recorded a net profit of Rs.78.78 crore for the year-ended 31 March 1999, a rise of 14 per cent from the profit recorded during 1997-98. GNFC achieved more than 110 per cent growth in the production of both ammonia and urea fertilisers.
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Champagne Indage in venture with Wente
Pune: Champagne Indage Ltd. has tied up with US-based Wente Vineyards for marketing and distributing Wente Indage Chardonnay and Wente Indage Merlot.

Champagne Indage will issue optional convertible bonds at Rs.120-Rs.140 per bond, amounting to Rs.25 crore. It will have an option to get converted into equity by the end of 18 months. The company will use the funds to expand its agriculture business.
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Oriental Power Cables to be taken over by Imofin
New Delhi: Sick company, Oriental Power Cables, is set to be taken over by Italy’s Imofin. The Italian company will bring in Rs.23 crore in the form of equity and loans. Imfoin is likely to pay an amount equivalent to ten per cent of the face value per share held by the shareholders of Oriental.
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Indian Oil Tanking to issue rights
Calcutta: Indian Oil Tanking Ltd. will float a Rs.20 crore rights issue, the proceeds of which will be used by the company for its capital expenditure requirements. IOT was formed in 1998-99, through a joint venture between Oiltanking GmbH of Germany, a 50 per cent stakeholder and Indian Oil Corporation and IBP Co. Ltd., which hold 25 per cent stake each.
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Veba, Viag merger is now formal
Munich: Two German utility companies,Veba AG and Viag AG,  have formally announced their plans to merge. In a 13.5 billion Euro ($14.1 billion) deal, the companies will sell their non-core divisions so as to fund their expansion schemes.

The new company, which will be listed on the European bourses, will be the largest utility in Europe. The companies have decided that the core businesses will be energy and specialty chemicals. Veba and Viag expect synergies of 800 million Euros to arise out of their merger.
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New security system from IBM
New York: A new security system will be launched by International Business Machines Corp which will help protect documents when they get transferred as part of electronic commerce. The system will not be a software firewall but will be in the form of a security chip embedded in the hardware of the computer.
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