Intel to pick up stake in Bharti group company
New Delhi: Intel Corporation is picking up a 20 per cent stake in the Bharti group's holding company for V-SAT and internet ventures, Bharti Telespatial. The Economic Times, in a report, said Bharti Telespatial has invited Intel to be an observer on its board. At a later date, Intel may have a representative on the board of the company.

Bharti Telespatial has so far been 100 per cent owned by Bharti Enterprises, the holding company of the Delhi-based Mittals. Bharti Telespatial in turn has a 51 per cent stake each in Bharti BT Internet and Bharti VSAT.
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Indian Rayon to sell magnesia unit assets
Mumbai: After failing to find a buyer for its Rs 350-crore seawater magnesia unit, Indian Rayon has decided to raise about Rs 50 crore immediately through the sale of the assets of this unit to cover a non-cash loss of around Rs 300 crore incurred by the company in the second half of 1999-2000.

The sea water magnesia unit was commissioned in 1997 and was operational till December 1998. The company will sell the 50,000-tonne per annum unit in piecemeal since it has not found a buyer for the whole unit. The company is also thinking of transferring some multi-purpose assets of the unit to other divisions of the Aditya Vikram Birla group.

The unit's operations were suspended due to unremunerative prices as a result of alleged Chinese dumping of fused magnesia in the Indian market, and lack of offtake. The unit's losses have affected Indian Rayon's business performance.
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L&T for e-com deals
Mumbai: Larsen & Toubro has decided to go in for e-commerce in all areas of its business-to-business transactions. The Rs 5,000-crore company has set up a task force for the purpose and will make use of the information technology facilities available with its subsidiary, L&T Information Technology.

Once the broad model is adopted, the company is expected to adopt e-commerce for financial transactions with its stockists and dealers, Achyut Godbole, chief executive of L&T Information Technology, said.
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New tractor range from M&M
Pune: Mahindra and Mahindra has launched a new tractor, the 605DI. The 60-horsepower tractor was displayed at the Kisan '99 exhibition in Pune.

The new tractor marks Mahindra & Mahindra's entry into the high horsepower tractor segment, with technology comparable with that of New Holland. Commercial production of the new tractor will begin in 2000 at the company's Mumbai plant.

The tractors will be available in various parts of the country by mid-2000. The tractor is priced marginally higher than the Rs 3.5-lakh of the company's 50 horsepower tractor.
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Hindalco hikes aluminium prices
Mumbai: Hindalco Industries has increased the price of aluminium ingots by five per cent with effect from 1 October. The price hike will be about Rs 4,000 per tonne.

The company has also increased the prices of other aluminium products like rods and extrusions by a similar margin. The increase comes in the wake of price rise in the London Metal Exchange.

The National Aluminium Company is also expected to increase the prices of its aluminium products shortly.
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Samsung announces digital plans
Mumbai: Samsung India Electronics has launched its millennium digital campaign, which will see the introduction of a host of products like MP3 player "Yepp", DVD players, digital camcorders, digital theatre and Tantus flat colour televisions.

These products are being launched simultaneously all over the world, the company's vice prescient sales, R Zutshi said. The DVDs will be manufactured at the Indian plant, Mr Zutshi added.
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Fujitsu ICIM shareholders agree on unit sale
Calcutta: The three major stakeholders of Fujitsu ICIM -- Fujitsu of Japan, ICL of the UK, a Fujitsu subsidiary, and the RPG group -- are understood to have agreed on the sale of the company's systems and engineering services division to Accel of Chennai. An extraordinary general meeting of the company has been convened on 5 October in Pune where the shareholders' approval for the sale will be sought.

Fujitsu has a10 per cent share in the company, ICL 36 per cent, and the RPG group 30 per cent. At an earlier EGM, the RPG group had voted against the resolution for the sale of the division.
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Zee to make films
New Delhi: Zee Telefilms will produce films, and has earmarked about Rs 30 to Rs 40 crore per annum for this venture. The company is also working out a distribution set-up for the release of the films.

Zee Telefilms managing director Vijay Jindal said the group has identified seven regions in the country where the films will be distributed through distributors.

Meanwhile, the group is also planning to launch its Music Asia channel in the US and Europe.
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Torrent unit declared sick
New Delhi: The Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction has declared Torrent Gujarat Biotech, a Gujarat-based Torrent group company, a sick company. The board has appointed the Industrial Finance Corporation of India as the operating agency to examine the viability of rehabilitating the company.

The BIFR has also directed the promoters of the company to present comprehensive rehabilitation proposals to the operating agency.
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BIFR rejects Solidaire's proposal
New Delhi: The Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction has rejected Solidaire India's proposal to induct Mirc Electronics as a strategic alliance partner. It has directed the operating agency, ICICI, to initiate the process of changing the management of the company and invite offers for takeovers, mergers or amalgamations.

Solidaire's proposal envisaged writing down the capital of the existing promoters by 90 per cent, infusion of additional equity by the strategic partner and relief from state and central governments. The BIFR felt that the proposal amounted not to introducing a strategic partner but a change of management, and lacked transparency.
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ASE seeks buyers for veterinary brands
Mumbai: The Baroda-based Ambalal Sarabhai Enterprises is seeking buyers for its veterinary brands. The Rs 271-crore human and animal healthcare company has appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers to design a restructuring strategy for the company, including prospective buyers for the animal healthcare products.

The company has a Rs 60-crore business in veterinary products.
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SRG Infotech to take stake in BITS
Mumbai: SRG Infotech is acquiring a 49.12 per cent stake in Bureau of Information Technology Services India, the computer education and training company, at Rs 20 per share. The total consideration will be Rs 14 crore.

BITS will use these funds for acquiring a software company in the US for which it has started negotiations.
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Silverline plans ADR
Mumbai: The board of Silverline Industries is considering an American depository receipt issue. The company has notified the Bombay Stock Exchange that it is also allotting equity shares on a preferential basis to its holding company, Silverline Holdings Corporation of the US.
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Lipton to buy mushrooms from Agro Dutch
Mumbai: Lipton, a group company of Unilever, will buy 6,000 tonnes of mushrooms annually for three years from Agro Dutch Foods of Chandigarh.

The purchase has been routed through the US-based Kanan group, which is acquiring a stake of five to 10 per cent in Agro-Dutch Foods. The contract is worth $7 million per year.
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Hero Honda plans new bike
Bangalore: Hero Honda is planning to introduce another under-100 cc motorcycle. It is also relaunching its existing models, the Street, the Splendour and the CD-100.

The company had recently launched a 156cc, five-gear CBZ model. In the next two to three years, it is also planning to launch 200-250 cc vehicles, according to Pawan Kant Munjal, chief executive officer of the company.
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BSES to take up AP project work on its own
Mumbai: BSES will undertake the BSES Andhra Power project work on its own and has rejected the bid of Lentjes of Germany for the engineering, procurement and construction work of the project.

The Rs 717-crore 210-mega watt  power project is coming up at Samalkot in the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. Lentjes, a part of the Lurgi group of Germany, had submitted the lowest quote for the work, but BSES sources said the contract could not be finalised due to various reasons, including Lentjes' plan to outsource equipment from Ansaldo of Italy.

This is the first time that BSES is implementing a major project on its own.
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Hutchison Max, NDTV in news pact
Mumbai: Hutchison Max Telecom, a cellular service provider in Mumbai, will offer news headlines from NDTV to cellular subscribers in the city under a strategic alliance. The service will be provided free round-the-clock with periodic updates. The subscribers will only be charged for airtime while accessing the news updates.
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Airbus scouting for partner
New Delhi: Airbus Industries is looking for partners to manufacture its 555-seater A3XX aircraft that is being planned. Adam Brown, vice president (forecasting and strategic planning), said the company expects the industrial partner to bring in not only finances but design and manufacture components. They will be risk-sharing partners, who will get a share in the profits.

"We are already in talks with some companies for this purpose," he said. Mr Brown, however, ruled out the Indian public sector Hindustan Aeronautics as a prospective partner as he said Airbus is already in talks with HAL for the freight version of the A-320 aircraft.
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New aircraft from Bombardier
Toronto: Bombardier, the Canadian aerospace and transportation company, has announced plans to develop a new 90-seat regional jet aircraft.

Robert Brown, president and chief executive, said Bombardier, which controls nearly half of the world market for regional jet aircraft, will announce by the end of 1999 whether to launch the 90-seater, a stretched version of the 70-seat and 50-seat aircraft, that would cost about Canadian $200 million to develop. The company projects a demand of 800 aircraft in the next 10 to 15 years.
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Visteon purchases Asian units
Dearborn (Michigan): Ford Motor Company's Visteon announced expansions in Asia, including purchase of the Naldec Corporation from Mazda Motor Corporation.

Naldec, a joint venture between Mazda and NEC Corporation, is based in Hiroshima, Japan, and makes about 4 million air bag, antilock brake, keyless entry, speed control and other electrical modules a year. Mazda is Naldec's largest customer. Ford has a 33 per cent stake in Mazda.

Visteon has also purchased a controlling interest in Duck Yang Industry Company, the largest instrument panel supplier in South Korea.
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Coke hit in Russia
New York: The Coca-Cola Company is cutting jobs in Russia after its operations in the country were affected by a big drop in sales. Analysts said the world's largest soft drink company will be forced to write down some of its investment in Russia. But a company spokesman in Atlanta refused to comment on the issue.

Coca-Cola has invested some $750 million in Russia since 1991.
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Net version of Office being developed
Seattle: Microsoft is developing an internet-based version of its Office software, but denied that the company is about to make an announcement that the software will be provided over the net on a rental basis.

"We are looking at a couple of options, including working with partners or making it available direct from Microsoft. We are not discussing any pricing models or any pricking specifics yet," she said.
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Phelps Dodge finalises Cyprus deal
New York: Phelps Dodge Corporation said it has finalised a friendly deal to buy Cyprus Amax Minerals for $1.8 billion in cash and stock. The deal ends speculation about a two-month-old merger bid by Asarco.

Phelps Dodge had sweetened its hostile offer by about $65 million in cash. The deal will help Phelps Dodge to compete more effectively in the volatile copper industry, which has been hurt by overcapacity and low prices.
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Debonair grounded
London: Debonair Airways has grounded all its planes after a court on 1 October ordered administrators to take charge of the loss making British airline. "As a result of its financial position, the company has suspended all scheduled flight services, a statement by the airline said.

Lufthansa and Swissair, both of which have operating agreements with Debonair, denied speculation that they want to buy the airline. Debonair, with 480 employees and 14 aircraft, has failed to turn a profit since it began operations in 1996.
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