BNP Paribas plans mutual fund foray
Mumbai: BNP Paribas, the Paris-based banking conglomerate, is planning to enter the domestic mutual fund industry though an asset management company (AMC). BNP’s has proposed to State Bank of India (SBI) for the life insurance business, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Cardif S.A. Following the tie-up in the insurance business, both the banking entities are also likely to partner in BNP’s AMC foray.

Industry sources say BNP might also choose to up a stake in SBI’s asset management company, which already manages a wide range of mutual funds, instead of floating a separate AMC. In fact several of the companies such as Prudential ICICI, Birla Sun-Life, and HDFC Standard Life, have followed this route by either becoming joint venture partners in existing AMC or through forming a new joint entity.

BNP, which has a presence in India dating back to 1860, offers a wide range of banking and investment services through its branch network in India. The bank has eight branches in the country in Mumbai, Calcutta, Delhi, Pune, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Hyderabad.
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Glaxo sells Livogen brand for Rs 8 crore
Mumbai: Glaxo India Ltd. has sold its `Livogen' brand to E Merck India Ltd. for Rs 8 crore, as a part of its strategy to sell all its minor brands. As per a notification sent to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), Glaxo India had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with E Merck India on November 27, selling all the rights, title and interest in the registered trade mark Livogen together with the goodwill associated to the latter.

E Merck India Ltd. is mainly involved with vitamin formulations and Livogen is expected to bolster its product portfolio. Other competitive brands in the Livogen segment include Himalaya Drugs' `Liv-52', which is the market leader in this therapeutic segment.
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Dr Reddy's-Cheminor merger approved
Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh High Court has approved the merger of Dr Reddy's Laboratories and Cheminor Drugs Ltd. with retrospective effect from April 1 this year. The merger makes Dr Reddy's Laboratories the third largest pharmaceutical player in India with a post-integration turnover of more than Rs 800 crore.

According to Dr Anji Reddy, chairman of Dr Reddy's Laboratories, the completion of the merger process, would enable the company to have the critical size and enter generics business in regulated markets. for finished dosage forms and help emerge as a fully integrated pharmaceutical multinational company

Dr Reddy's Laboratories is a research-based pharmaceutical company of Hyderabad with revenues of Rs 493 crore. It has established in the business of bulk actives and exports its products to 60 countries. Cheminor, also a Dr. Reddy's group company is a leader in bulk actives and intermediate development. It has established itself in the highly regulated markets of the US, the EU and Japan. It has entered the global generics market with the export of Ranitidine-75 mg and Fluoxetine to North America.
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