Star almost in control of UTVs Vijay TV
Mumbai :UTVs Tamil channel, Vijay TV, is now on the verge of
being effectively controlled by Star TV. The latter has carried out a virtual backdoor
takeover of by taking control of programming, content, distribution and airtime sales.
However, formally, Vijay TV continues to be owned by UTV, though all crucial functions
have been franchised to Star.
With this Stars bouquet in India grows to ten channels. This also represents
Stars first foray into the South and into the regional language market.
Vijay TV for UTV has been a
constantly loss making organisation leading UTV chairman Ronnie Screwvala to open talks
with Star to come up with a viable alternative.
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Warburg
Pincus takes stake in Gujarat Ambuja
Mumbai :Warburg Pincus, a global private equity fund has zoomed in on Gujarat
Ambuja Cement as an investment target. A couple of months ago, Warburg subscribed to the
equivalent of about 2-3 per cent of GACLs equity through foreign currency
convertible bonds and is now believed to have picked up another 2-2.5 per cent of the
companys equity through secondary market purchases over the past few weeks.
The purchases have been in the range of Rs 180-190 per share and the total value of the
investments made by Warburg Pincus in GACL may therefore top the Rs 200-crore level.
Warburg Pincus recently pumped in $ 200 million fresh investment into the Bharti
groups telecom business.
Industry sources, confirmed that Warburg has, through its FII licence for India, been a
consistent buyer at the GACL counter.
Gujarat Ambuja is one of the fastest growing cement companies in India and has a capacity
of about 8 m tonnes. It has also recently picked up a 14.4 per cent stake in ACC.
The GACL scrip has clocked a 52-week high of Rs 230.
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Movenpick
may launch nation-wide chain of ice-cream boutiques
Bangalore : Movenpick, the leading Swiss ice-cream maker, after its product launch
in Bangalore, may set up a nation-wide chain of "ice-cream boutiques".
Initially Movenpick plans to set up
six boutiques in cities like New Delhi, Mumbai and Goa with each boutique styled like a
Swiss caf.
The cost of each boutique is
expected to cost around Rs 40-45 lakh and the company wants to grow the franchise way.
Movenpicks South Asia general manager Neeraj Jain said that besides ice creams, the
boutiques would also sell coffee Four such boutiques are currently operational in parts of
South Asia.
The Movenpick range of ice-cream will retail at Rs 50 (for 100-ml pack), Rs 235 (for 500ml
pack) and Rs 395 (for a one-litre pack). The range has already been introduced in six
cities with launches scheduled in Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata."
The Super-premium ice-cream market is around Rs 50 crore.
Jain said that high import duties had forced the company to price its icecream at 30-40
per cent higher then comparable ones. The company imports its entire range of ice-creams
from Switzerland.
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Tepid response
to SAIL's VRS
New Delhi :Steel Authority of Indias
efforts to reduce its work force have received a set back as its ongoing voluntary
retirement scheme has evoked poor response on account of delays in revising wages.
Against a target of 10,000 personnel at April end, less than 2000 had applied for
voluntary retirement highly placed sources said.
Looking at the poor response from employees, the corporation decided to extend the scheme
by a month to May 15.
Sources said that since the scheme involved lump sum payment and was linked to wage
revision, the employees were waiting for the new scales to be implemented before taking a
decision, they said.
Last year 13,000 employees opted for voluntary retirement against a target of 10,000.
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ONGC and
Reliance lock horns
New DelhiOil and Natural Gas Corporation and Reliance are both vying for oil
and gas blocks offered under second offering of new exploration licensing policy.
While ONGC has bid, on its own or in consortium with Indian Oil Corporation, Gas Authority
of India and Oil India, for 18 blocks out of the 25 blocks on offer, Reliance in
consortium with Hardy oil is vying for 15 blocks, official sources said.
ONGC is fighting Reliance-Hardy consortium in six of the eight deep-water blocks on offer,
including two each in Kerala-Konkan, Gujarat-Saurasthra and Mumbai basin, sources said.
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RIL's
Jamnagar project gets PFC loan of $113.55m
New Delhi The 500 mw Jamnagar Thermal Power plant of Reliance Industries has
received a sanction of Rs $113.55 million from the Power Finance Corporation.
PFC chairman and managing director A Khan said $113.44 million (about Rs 525 crore) loan
has been sanctioned for the Rs 3,150 crore 2x250 mw petroleum coke-based power plant of
Reliance recently.
The 10-year loan to Reliance would
carry an interest rate of 12-13 per cent.The project is to be commissioned in 42 months
from the date of achieving financial closure and would have a debt-equity ratio of 70:30
(Rs 947 crore equity and Rs 2,210 crore debt).The project cost includes a foreign currency
component of $453.34 million while the Rupee component is Rs 696 crore.Reliance is likely
to retain 51 per cent equity in the project while offering the remaining to lending banks
and financial institutions, Khan said but declined to say if PCF would be interested in
picking equity in the project.
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MSEB
will not pick up equity in DPC after phase II
Mumbai :The Maharashtra State
Electricity Board is rescinding on its earlier plans to pick up 15 per cent equity in
Enron-promoted Dabhol Power Company after the complete construction of the entire $3
billion power project in Dabhol.
A senior MSEB official said, "It is true that we had promised to take the 15 per
cent, translating into infusion of around $65 million and given the serious financial
stress the board is facing, it is not going to be possible for us to participate in the
phase II of the project."
Currently, Enron International owns 65 percent; MSEB has 15 per cent, General Electric and
Bechtel 10 per cent each.
However, MSEB has not sent an official intimation to the DPC in this regard, the official
said, adding the board would inform the company soon after the completion of the project.
DPC's $1.87 billion phase II would be fired on June 7, 2001, thus marking completion of
the 2,184-mw projects.
DPC, which received a Foreign Investment and Promotion Board clearance last December for
its 1,083 crore foreign direct investment, has not been able to scout an alternative fifth
partner for MSEB's equity.
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CGU wants
to invest up to $50m in MF venture
New Delhi : CGU the global financial giant would invest up to $50 million in its
mutual fund venture which is expected to start operations by September 2001.Stuart Purdy,
CGU life insurance chief representative manager said, "We would invest $50 million if
we hold 100 per cent stake," adding the amount would be less if the asset management
company were floated together by CGU and the Dabur group.
The proposed venture would be based
in Mumbai.
Although CGU is yet to file application with the Securities and Exchange Board of India
for the mutual fund venture, Purdy said the company plans to start operations in September
this year.
The two companies would invest about Rs 110 crore initially in the proposed life insurance
venture where Dabur group would hold a majority 74 per cent while CGU would hold 26 per
cent, the maximum limit stipulated by IRDA.
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New India
Assurance appointed by DPC to head insurance programme
Mumbai: Despite the uncertainty over the survival of Dabhol project, the Dabhol
Power Company (DPC), has formulated an operational insurance programme for 2001-02, and
has roped in New India Assurance to lead its insurance programme.
The insurance cover has been placed at a provisional cover of $11 million.
The DPC is required to maintain insurance during the construction period and commercial
service under clause 15.1 and 15.2 of the power purchase agreement (PPA), DPC selected New
India Assurance after thoroughly scrutinizing proposals from New India Assurance and
United India Insurance on industrial all risks policy (IAR) and difference in conditions
(DIC).
According to the common agreement and PPA requirements, the insurance should cover
material damage, machinery breakdown, loss of profits, interruption of fuel supply or
machinery breakdown and business interruption.
DPC has pointed out that IAR had additional coverages for design defect related losses and
consequential business interruption, damage to pipeline and consequential business
interruption and expediting expenses/offsite storage and inland transit.
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Jet Airways to commission Boeing 737-800 simulator
Mumbai : Jet Airways plans to commission its
flight simulator by the end of this month after receiving the necessary approval from the
Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Jet officials said that it acquired a six axis Boeing 737-800 simulator and a Boeing
737-400 flight-training device (FTD), from CAE of Canada at a cost of $16 million, which
are now awaiting inspection and certification by the regulatory authorities.
Jet with about 360 pilots on its rolls with a fleet of 27 next generation Boeing 737s, has
taken on lease over 10,000 square feet area at Nirlon House, an industrial complex in
suburban Goregaon for setting up the simulator to train its pilots.
With the setting up of the simulator, the airline would save considerable amount of
foreign exchange and time for pilot training, presently sent to foreign airlines in
Amsterdam and Stockholm for simulator training.
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Compaq not to increase bid for Proxicom
Houston : US-based Compaq Computer Corp said
that it had decided not to increase its $344 million bid to acquire technology consulting
firm Proxicom Inc, following a rival bid from Dimension Data Holdings Plc. Company
officials said that though Compaq still planned to "aggressively" expand its
services offering, current economics do not warrant increasing the bid for Proxicom.
Last month Compaq agreed to buy Proxicom for $5.75 a share, valuing the company at about
$344 million, according to regulatory filings. However on Monday, Dimension Data, a South
African computer-networking concern eager to boost its
profile in the US, made a competing bid for $7.50 a share, or $449 million.
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United India Insurance wants administrative employees to boost business
Mumbai: Increasing competition among insurance companies has prompted Chennai-based
United India Insurance chairman & managing director R Jagannathan to adopt a novel
approach.
He has asked all of his
companys employees including administrative staffers to mobilise personal line of
business for the company.Addressing the press Jagannathan said he feels doing business is
not the responsibility only of development officers and the marketing department and says
that he expects each of the companys 15,000 employees (excluding the 4,000
development officers of the company) to at least garner Rs 50,000-60,000 worth of policies
in personal line of business this year.
United India Insurance after recording a poor growth of around 3.5 per cent (premium
income of Rs 2,449 crore) during 2000-2001 is targeting a robust growth of 15 per cent on
the basis of new strategies.
The insurance company has completely revamped its business strategy. It will now
frequently monitor its regional and divisional office performance, launch new products
shortly, target major clients and expand its bases in the medium and small sector. Apart
from negotiating with public sector banks including Andhra Bank, Indian Bank, Punjab &
Sind Bank for selling its products, the company intends to appoint around 4,000-5,000
agents during the next four to five months to hawk its products.
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No secret deal to end strike says Balco chief
Raigarh: SC Krishan, managing director Balco
says there is no secret understanding between Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi and
the companys new management to end the more than two-month old strike by its
employees in protest against its privatisation.
He stressed that that the chief minister acted for the betterment of Balco. As to how the
strike ended he said Mr Krishan said there were many doubts in their (employees)
minds about the new management, which they were successful in removing.
Now, he said, the new management is busy reviving the plant and has drawn up plans to
increase its production from one lakh tonnes to 2.5 lakh tonnes, and has also finalised
plans for modernisation and extension of Balco.
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Damanis increase deposit by Rs 30.5 crore in escrow account for VST
Mumbai: For the sake of a larger control of VST Industries, the Damani brothers
controlled Bright Star Investments has deposited an additional Rs 30.5 crore to their
merchant bankers ASK-Raymond Jamesin the escrow account maintained for the
takeover of VST.
With this the total amount deposited with Bright Stars merchant banker stands at Rs
44 crore, Rs 9.41 crore more than the actual amount of Rs 34.59 crore required to acquire
additional 30,88,384 shares (or 20 per cent equity stake) in VST.
Currently, Bright Star holds 14.97
per cent in the VSTs equity of Rs 15.44 crore.After Sebi cleared Bright Stars
open offer on Thursday last, its fresh bid for VST will now open on Tuesday May 15.It may
be recalled that Russel Credit a subsidiary of ITC Ltd has made an open
offer for VST at Rs 115 per Rs 10 equity share of the latter.
This move by Bright Stars to increase the escrow account in favour of ASK-Raymond
James with HDFC Bank, is being seen by marketmen as a possibility of its raising the offer
price to around Rs 150 per one Rs 10 equity share of VST.
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Bajaj Auto
explores unique marketing strategies
New Delhi: Bajaj Auto positioned as the son of
the Indian soil in scooters as it were is exploring different marketing strategies. Amid
the various Bajaj models on display at its showrooms are scooter models from Piaggio and
Aprillia of Italy and Honda of Japan. what in the world is it up to?
According to the companys
in-house market research, it pays to ask people if they would like to drive such scooters.
This would elicit customer response to these models.
In particular, Bajaj Auto is
planning to utilise the response of the consumers to develop designs of new scooters and
to add new features.
These rival models being shown by
Bajaj Auto are knocking on the doors of the Indian scooter market the largest in the
world.
Honda Motor Company has a
fully-owned subsidiary in India, Honda Motorcycle and Scooters and India Ltd. It is slated
to launch a gear-less scooter, Activa, next month.
Piaggio, which earlier had an equity
stake in Kanpur-based LML Ltd, is known to be keen on setting up a subsidiary in India as
well as picking up the state-owned Scooters India Ltd. Bajaj Autos research is also
part of a larger initiative to check the sagging fortunes of the scooter market.
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Indal to exit Orissa Extrusions soon
Mumbai: Indian Aluminium Co (Indal), the newest
member in the Aditya V Birla group stable, will soon exit Orissa Extrusions (OEL).
Orissa Extrusions is a joint
venture between Norsk Hydro of Norway, the Orissa government and Indal.
Hindalco, which controls about 74
per cent of Indal, was directed by the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction
(BIFR) to submit a rehabilitation proposal for the ailing OEL to ICICI, the operating
agency.
According to a study conducted by
ICICI, the cost of the rehabilitation was estimated to be only around Rs 15 crore. Low
capacity utilisation was the primary reason for poor sales. The unit employed around 150
workers.
ICICI was to submit the report after
examining the rehabilitation proposal to the bench appointed by the BIFR.
Hydro, Norway, had, however, refused
to participate in the scheme at the very beginning as it was never involved in the
management of the company.
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Bharat Biotech launches diarrhoea drug
Hyderabad: Bharat Biotech International Ltd has
launched Biogit, the countrys first indigenously manufactured probiotic yeast,a
therapeutic agent for diarrhoea and other intestinal dysbiosis.
Dr Krishna Ella, managing
director of Bharat Biotech said Biogit is a lyophilized preparation of live cells of yeast
and is made through fermentation.
Biogit has the ability to impact
gastrointestinal tract by restoring the disrupted microbial balance, he said. The 250 mg
sachet of Biogit is priced at Rs 25 against Glaxos price of Rs 30.
Till now, Glaxo was the only player
in the Rs 14 crore market for the product in the country.
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KMFL ventures into vulture financing
Mumbai: Kotak Mahindra Finance Ltd (KMFL) has
launched vulture financing.
This essentially means buying
out bad assets of non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) at a discount and recovering the
amount from the debtors.
Venkattu Srinivasan, vice president,
KMFL said this new line of business would be the focus area of KMFL's asset reconstruction
division in the current financial year.
Srinivasan said, "This business
is risky but at the same time very profitable. We can even earn a 100 per cent spread in
some cases."
KMFL launched its asset
reconstruction division last year. This has been engaged in the recovery of non-performing
assets of banks, management of asset portfolios NBFCs and recovering dues of the
manufacturing and service providing companies.
It recovered a total asset of Rs 120
crore till date with success rate in case of NPA recovery is around 20 per cent.
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IFCI may induct a strategic partner
New Delhi: Cash-strapped IFCI is pushing a case
for roping in a strategic partner.
However sources say roping in of
a strategic partner, hinges on a number of other issues including a better capital
adequacy ratio.
Executives at IFCI say that the
institution wants that it should be given the permission to rope in a strategic partner.
An executive with IFCI says that the company will not get a good partner if its financial
position does not improve. For that it needs the Rs 400 crore infusion suggested by the
expert committee (headed by former State Bank of India chairman D Basu), said an
executive.
Finance ministry sources, however,
said that there is no fixed line of thinking on the way the government would help in
improving IFCIs position. Officials say that at the moment all the options are under
consideration and merger is one of them. Even the option to provide the Rs 400 crore
assistance is under consideration.
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