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Baron to create 5 divisions
New Delhi: Consumer electronics major, Baron International, is planning
to restructure the company on the basis of products handled and hand over the day-today
management of the divisions to professionals. Until now, it was run as a family concern
with Kabir Mulchandani as chief executive officer. According to sources, the operations of
the company will be split into five divisions with each division headed by a
professional, who will be responsible for the day-to-day operations and the bottomline. Mr
Mulchandani will then assume an overall strategic role. The company is also planning to
strengthen its relations with Aiwa.
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HDFC declares millennium dividend
Mumbai: Housing Development Finance
Corporation’s board has decided to declare a one-time special millennium dividend of
100 per cent to all its shareholders. The company will also declare the usual year-end
dividend over and above the millennium dividend. In 1998-99, the company paid 85 per cent
as dividend.
The company justified its decision saying its reserves are
in a satisfactory position and its capital adequacy ratio is very comfortable. As such, it
believes, the shareholders have to be rewarded.
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Modi Xerox acquires
Tektronix unit
New Delhi: Modi Xerox has acquired the
Indian subsidiary of Tektronix for $1.5 million as part of the worldwide acquisition of
the company by Xerox Corporation. The Indian unit will now merge with Modi Xerox’s
indirect marketing group. Tektronix has nearly 50 per cent share in the office colour
printing business worldwide and the acquisition is expected to help Modi Xerox in creating
a full line of office printing products.
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Infosys plans to fund
start-ups
Bangalore: Infosys Technologies is
understood to have decided to fund start-up ventures by acquiring minority holdings in
them. Besides becoming partners in profit, the company’s intention is also to
understand the technology handled by these start-ups. The funding will not be confined to
start-ups launched by members of the company, but any good idea will receive support.
Infosys will not invest more than 20 per cent in such start-ups, company officials said.
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Santro to cost more
Chennai: Hyundai Motor India’s Santro
will cost nearly Rs 15,000 more from 4 January. The company said the prices of all models
will go up by about four to five per cent on an average. The price increase is to help the
company offset the increase in freight cost and costs of steel, plastic and labour. There
will be no change in the price of the Accent. The price increase will be less for the
Santro deluxe models, while it will be more for the base models.
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Rockport shoes in
India
New Delhi: Rockport shoes will be the new
entrant into the Indian marketplace. A subsidiary of Reebok, Rockport will make available
its entire product range – shoes and garments -- in the Indian market. The Marlboro,
Massachusetts-based company, will have some four stores in Delhi, two in Mumbai and one
each on Bangalore, Hyderabad and Jaipur. In India it will function as a division of Reebok
India.
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Valvoline to expand
market reach
New Delhi: Valvoline, maker of engine
oils, is planning to expand its market reach. The company, which has limited presence in
north India now, is setting up a nation-wide marketing network and introduce products for
car care. Valvoline has a presence in India since 1994, first through the Western Gadgil
group. It has tied up with Cummins to launch Valvoline Cummins, which will handle the
Indian operations.
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East India Pharma plans
new products
Calcutta: East India Pharmaceutical Works is
planning to launch a series of new products following its collaboration with The Cleveland
Clinic Foundation. The company has been engaged in bio-technology-based research for some
time. This will result in a number of products that will be available in the Indian
market, company sources said. The new product line will be genetically engineered.
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ICICI’s VRS
attracts 200 takers
Mumbai: ICICI says its second round of
voluntary retirement scheme has attracted more than 200 takers. The company said with this
shedding of excess staff in certain categories, the total strength stands at just over
1,000. ICICI had earlier introduced a scheme in 1996-97, under which 117 employees opted
for voluntary retirement. Almost 80 per cent of those who opted to exit under the present
scheme, which was open throughout December 1999, were non-professional staff.
ICICI will now focus on its planned new technology
platform to become a virtual universal bank.
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Carrier plans
refrigeration plant
Bangalore: Carrier Refrigeration is setting
up a new plant in Bangalore. The unit will produce a new concept in air-conditioning
called walk-in cold rooms and also condensing units, evaporators, bottle coolers, chest
freezers and display cases. The total investment planned in the plant is around $8
million. The plant will have an R&D unit.
Carrier Refrigeration is a 100 per cent subsidiary of
Carrier Corporation of the US.
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Tisco creates two steel
divisions
Calcutta: Tata Iron and Steel Company is
dividing its steel business into two – flat product and long product. These two
independent businesses will function as standalone companies with independent marketing
and operational teams. Earlier, Tisco had set up an independent cold rolling mill
marketing team, to market its cold-rolled products from the mill which will go on stream
in May 2000. Other flat products like hot rolled coils will be merged with the cold
rolling mill marketing division, which will finally come under the flat product business
group. Nearly 70 per cent of Tisco’s saleable steel consists of flat products.
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Y2K site sold off at
record price
New York: An Internet address that offered
information on Y2K – year2000.com -- has been auctioned off for $10 million. The
owners, Canadian computer consultant Peter de Jager and Houston-based Tenagra Corporation
said they were done with the name and hence the sale. They now await the credentials of
the bidder. The price offered for the name will surpass the previous record price of $7.5
million got by business.com in November 1999. Mr de Jager and Tenagra did not reveal the
identity of the bidder immediately. The auction was done on Internet auctioneer eBay Inc.
There were some 13 bidders for the name.
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Lloyd’s site
hacked
London: Lloyd’s of London said a hacker
broke into one its Internet site, but there was no danger to business transactions. The
site has been temporarily closed and will be reinstalled on a new server soon. The site
hacked is lloyds.com, which is not used by Lloyd's to conduct transactions. Instead it
provides information about its business. As such, there is no damage to any other systems
that are running the company’s insurance business. The hacking was noticed as some of
the text was found to be changed.
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Thomson-CSF plans to
acquire Racal
London: Thomson-CSF, the French defence
electronics group, is planning a $3.23 billion takeover bid for Britain’s Racal
Electronics, according to British newspapers.. Racal is world’s largest battlefield
radio maker.
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BT, Vodafone may seal a
deal
London: British Telecommunications and
Vodafone AirTouch are likely to conclude a deal for acquiring Spanish mobile phone
operator Airtel. Industry analysts following the deal say a joint control of Airtel
between the two is possible. British Telecom and Vodafone, with 17.8 per cent 21.7 per
cent holding respectively in Airtel, are vying to acquire a 30.4 per cent holding in the
Spanish company now in the custody of Banco Santander Central Hispano.
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Mannesmann
statement on Jan 14
Dusseldorf: Mannesmann said it will make an
official statement to its shareholders in response to Vodafone AirTouch’s hostile
bid. A company spokesman said the company has agreed on January 14 as the date for making
the statement in consultation with Germany’s Takeover Commission.
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