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HDFC plans millennium dividend
Mumbai: HDFC is planning to please its shareholders with a special
millennium dividend. The company’s board of directors plans to discuss the issue at a
meeting. The company has an equity base of Rs 119 crore and reserves of Rs 1,852 crore.
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Videocon plans unit in Noida
Lucknow: Videocon International is planning a manufacturing unit in Noida
near Delhi, its first outside Maharashtra. The unit, costing Rs 165 crore, will make
consumer electronics items, including black and white televisions and audio and video
systems. Officials of the Noida Authority said the industry ministry has approved the
proposal, and the authority is allotting 12 acres of land to Videocon.
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Dabur effort to sell off
Real
New Delhi: Dabur India, which has been trying to sell its fruit juice
brand Real, has not been able to strike a deal with a Mumbai-based fast moving consumer
goods major. Dabur is now understood to be scouting for another buyer for the brand, which
also covers cooking pastes. Dabur Foods, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the healthcare
major, is marketing the Real range of products.
Dabur is planning to exit its non-core businesses on the
recommendation of McKinsey and Co. It has come out of its confectionery joint venture with
General de Confetaria India by selling its 49 per cent holding to partner Angrolimen of
Spain. It has also exited a joint venture with Swedish cosmetics company Antonion Puij,
which makes the Samara brand of cosmetics.
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SSI to take over Agenda
Chennai: SSI is planning to take over
Chennai-based Internet solutions provider Agenda Netmarketing, known as 3rd
Agenda, in an all-cash deal. SSI’s board is meeting to take a formal decision in the
matter. The company had recently taken over Indigo Technologies and has been on the
lookout for acquiring software companies in order to consolidate its activities. SSI wants
to focus its softweare activities in applications in banking, insurance, securities,
telecom and healthcare.
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ITC plans new resort
Calcutta: The ITC group is setting up a new hotel -- a luxury
resort -- in Gurgaon near Delhi at a cost of Rs 100 crore. The new hotel will be within
the premises of its Classic Gold Resort. The work on the hotel is expected to begin in the
third quarter of 2000.
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Dividend
repatriation, exchange reserves delinked
New Delhi: The government has decided to do away with the dividend
balancing condition for foreign companies investing in India with effect from 1 January.
Under this condition, a company's repatriation of dividends has been directly linked to
its export earnings.
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GM unveils a new
fuel-efficient car
Detroit: General Motors Corporation has
produced an experimental teardrop-shaped sedan called Precept, which the company claims is
capable of running 80 miles to a gallon of fuel. The vehicle will be on show at the North
American International Auto Show opening in Detroit on 9 January.
Going on show along with Precept will be Ford Motor's
Prodigy, which is capable of 70 miles a gallon. Both cars have been developed under a
federally-sponsored partnership for a new generation of vehicles. The industry-government
collaboration is working to launch, by 2004, family vehicles that can triple the fuel
economy without sacrificing performance. Industry experts say neither Precept nor Prodigy
is likely to go into mass production, because of high costs, but some of the technology
used in their development could be used in other vehicles.
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Vodafone, BT plan
joint action for Airtel
London: British Telecom and Vodafone AirTouch
are considering joining hands to take over Spanish mobile operator Airtel. Both British
Telecom and Vodafone have holdings in the 15 billion Airtel. Vodafone has been
attempting to take over Airtel by buying 30 to 45 per cent holding in the company from
Banco Santander Central Hispano. Vodafone owns 21.7 per cent of Airtel's equity, while
British Telecom has 17.8 per cent.
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Rolls-Pratt &
Whitney merger proposed
London: Rolls Royce is seriously considering
a plan to merge with US aero-engine maker Pratt & Whitney. A business newspaper said
investment banks, including Goldman Sachs, have mooted this scheme in order to bring in
consolidation in the aero engine industry. Rolls Royce, Pratt & Whitney and General
Electric’s aero engines division are the leading players in the sector now.
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