GM submits new proposal for Daewoo
Seol: General Motors has submitted a revised proposal to acquire South Korea's troubled Daewoo Motor.

GM has raised several problems, including Daewoo's contingent liabilities that may surface after the takeover.

GM signed a non-binding preliminary agreement in September to acquire Daewoo Motor and its sales subsidiary for $400 million.

GM had said it planned to sign a binding agreement by the end of last year, but talks flaundered when Daewoo refused to nullify an agreement with its labour union that guarantees the jobs of all 10,000 assembly line workers even after the company is sold.

GM is worried that the bankrupt company's debts - estimated at $17 billion - may be even greater than previously declared.

Daewoo Motor, a flagship of the giant Daewoo group which collapsed in the aftermath of the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, went bankrupt in late 2000 and has since been under court
receivership.
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Four firms bid for Dabhol project
Mumbai: Four companies have submitted expressions of interest to buy the stake held by foreign shareholders in Enron Corp's $2.9 billion Dabhol power project.

At least two more companies are likely to put in applications before a deadline for preliminary bids ends by 5:00 pm.

The Industrial Development Bank of India, the lead creditor to the project, invited the bids on 30 January for the 85 per cent foreign stake in Dabhol.

Enron owns 65 per cent of Dabhol. General Electric Co and US-based contractor Bechtel Corp each own 10 per cent. The Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) holds the remaining 15 per cent.
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HC ultimatum to Maharashtra on DPC
Mumbai: Mumbai High Court has directed Maharashtra government to inform within two weeks whether a London court order, staying proceedings against Enron's Dabhol Power Company in Indian courts, was still in force.

The direction was given by Justice Ajit Shah and Justice Vijaya Tahilramani, who heard a bunch of public interest litigations challenging legality of DPCs power purchase agreement with Maharashtra State Electricity Board, high tariff charged by DPC and guarantees provided by the government to the project.

The judges adjourned the hearing of these PILs to 20 February 20.
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IDBI to infuse Rs 150cr into IFCI
New Delhi: IDBI will shortly infuse Rs 150 crore into IFCI as part of the Rs 1,000-crore assistance announced by the government in August 2001.

IDBI has so far infused only Rs 50 crore against the agreed Rs 200 crore.

The other stakeholders -- Life Insurance Corporation and State Bank of India -- have already invested Rs 200 crore each in IFCI.

Earlier, the government infused Rs 400 crore of the total Rs 1,000-crore bailout package to IFCI announced in August.
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STC sell out in 7 months
New Delhi: Ernst & Young, global advisors for disinvestment of State Trading Corporation, have been given 30 weeks to complete the process and ensure that the trading house is privatised by the next fiscal.

Government intends to sell off its 91 per cent stake in STC by middle of 2002-03. Ernst and Young has being asked to complete the disinvestment process including due diligence, bidding and evaluation in a little over seven months.

STC has already undergone capital restructuring under which it has transferred Rs 40 crore out of its reserves of around Rs 400 crore to the government.

STC would transfer an additional Rs 4.5 to the government by way of dividend tax.

On account of the cancellation of 30 per cent equity of STC, shareholders would get Rs 1465 for 30 shares cancelled out of every 100 shares held by them.
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SAB acquires 77% in Rochees
New Delhi: South African Breweries has acquired 77 per cent stake in Rochees Breweries of Rajasthan for a total consideration of Rs 14 crore.

SAB India already holds a blanket approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board for investing Rs 600 crore in acquiring beer companies in India. It has put in between Rs 130 crore and Rs 160 crore for acquiring three breweries, including Rochees.

SAB India, which is 60 per cent owned by British liquor major South African Breweries through a wholly-onwed arm, was set up last year as a holding company to be used by SAB for investments in the brewing industry in India.
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US firm to drill for Reliance
New Delhi: Reliance Industries has contracted Houston-based Transocean Sedco Forex for carrying out drilling as part of the $350 million offshore oil and gas exploration programme.

Transocean Sedco Forex is currently mobilising the Discoverer 534 drill ship to India from US Gulf of Mexico and is expected to begin drilling latest by April.

Reliance Industries would invest close to $350 million in the oil exploration programme over the next three years.

About 10-15 wells are planned to be drilled in 2002-03 mostly in the deep water blocks and shallow water blocks.

Four vessels have been deployed to conduct seismic surveys, two along the east cost and two along the west coast of India.
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Ford Ikon cheaper by Rs 20,000
New Delhi: Ford India Ltd has announced a Rs 20,000 rebate on the Ikon. The scheme is aimed at boosting sales in a dull market and attracting corporate buyers who would be seeking the benefits of depreciation on year-end purchase.

A top-end 1.6 litre Ikon ZXi model is now going for Rs 6.24 lakh and the 1.3 EXi for Rs 5.60 lakh (both on-road in Delhi), thereby saving Rs 20,000 on each car.

The discount comes in the form of the insurance charge. The firm is also offering its 1.3 CLXi model with additional features like power windows at a slightly higher cost.
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TCS ties up with INCOIS
Hyderabad: Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services and Tata Consultancy Services have entered into an agreement for the development of an online solution aimed at offering web-based services.

This covers the development of a web-based multilingual online solution that facilitates the user community to query, analyse, visualise and download a variety of ocean information and advisory services.

Data warehousing, data mining and web GIS were integral to this solution, which will be WAP-enabled subsequently. TCS would be hosting the solution in 12 months.
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Bhel wins Rs 174-cr power plant order
New Delhi: Bharat Heavy Electricals has won a Rs 174-crore order to set up a 40 MW power plant for Chennai Petroleum Corporation.

The gas-based co-generation power plant would be part of CPCL's refinery expansion and is scheduled to be completed in 17 months.

The order includes supply and commissioning of two 20 MW gas turbines and two 52 tonnes-per-hour heat recovery steam generators and associated equipment.
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AVB Group to hike stake in UK startup
Mumbai: The Aditya Birla Group is increasing its stake in a UK-based software startup called Advisor Technologies.

The group is also giving shape to a branding strategy which will emphasise the Aditya Birla brand name in its software business, currently consolidated under group company PSI Data Systems.

PSI Data Systems is planning to hike its stake in Advisor Technologies from the current 5.3 per cent through the equity-swap route. PSI will get additional equity in exchange for transferring intellectual property rights in a range of products which it is developing for Advisor Technologies.

Advisor Technologies has been promoted by the UK-based venture capitalist Young Associates.
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Mitsui picks up 13% in Vertex Soft
Pune: Japanese conglomerate Mitsui has picked up a 13 per cent stake in a Pune-based systems integrator, Vertex Software. The software solutions and services provider was valued at $3-3.5 million when Mitsui picked up the stake.

Mitsui offers Vertex business opportunities in sectors like banking and finance, trading, telecom and the public sector.

Vertex was founded in 1996 by Ashok Kalluraya, chairman and CFO, Ajit Patil, CEO, Ajay Patil, director technical, all based in Pune, and Sameer Patil, in the US. Vertex has an 80-member development facility in Pune, a subsidiary and branch office in the US and a branch office in Japan which it will upgrade into a subsidiary.

This is Mitsuis first investment in an Indian software company.
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O&M, Mindshare as regional hubs for Castrol
Mumbai: Ogilvy & Mather India and Mindshare India have been appointed hubs Castrol.

O&M will be its ad partner and will supply everything from strategy to creative and brand templates for all Castrol work done across India, Middle East, and Africa.

Similarly, Mindshare India will do all media buying, strategy and research for Castrol for traditional and non-traditional media avenues.

Ogilvy will work with either Castrol's local ad agencies in some markets like the Mid East, or with Ogilvy agencies in markets like South Africa.
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Gail eyes 26% in Kakinada LNG project
New Delhi: Gas Authority of India is mulling picking up 20-26 per cent equity in the Rs 6,100-crore Kakinada LNG import project in Andhra Pradesh.

Kakinada LNG project promoters Petronas of Malaysia and Cocanada Port Company of Singapore have approached Gail for participation in the 2.5 million tonne LNG import, regassification and storage project.

IndianOil and BP Amoco are the other promoters of the Kakinada project.
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Ford to launch new SUV
Detroit: Ford Motor plans to produce a new car-based sport utility vehicle.

The new mid-size vehicle, dubbed the Ford CrossTrainer, will be built at Ford's Chicago assembly plant starting 2004.

Crossover vehicles combine the most popular attributes of an SUV, including ample passenger space and rugged outdoor looks, with the smooth ride and handling of a car.

The vehicle will come equipped with a V6 engine, all-wheel drive and an automatic transmission intended to provide seamless gear shifts.
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I-Flex Solutions wants change in shareholding
New Delhi: I-Flex Solutions has approached Foreign Investment Promotion Board to allow its 2000 retail shareholders to participate in the initial public offer for sale process.

I-Flex had last year announced its IPO plan under which it said the proposed issue would be a combination of sale offer by existing retail shareholders and fresh issue of equity.

The company has sought FIPB approval to allow the NRI or non-NRI shareholders to offer their shares to other NRIs or resident Indians as part of the sale process.

The approval, if granted, will give an opportunity to the existing RI and NRI shareholders to exit.

Citigroup currently holds 48.44 per cent, while 10.84 is held by ESOP Trust and the rest by individual shareholders.

The proposed IPO would be 10 per cent enhanced equity share including a 2.5 per cent of fresh equity. The equity share price would be decided through book-building route.
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LG Electronics targets Rs 2700cr turnover
Kolkata: LG Electronics India is targeting a turnover of Rs 2700 crore in the year 2002.

During 2001, the company had achieved a turnover of Rs 2216 crore, higher by 16 per cent over that of the previous calender year.

In the previous year, LG had sold nearly 6.5 lakh CTV sets.

With a current market share of 12 per cent, LG is aiming to garner 15 per cent of the total CTV market by the end of the current year.

The company is also planning to launch a slew of refrigerators, washing machines, and ACs.
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Final bids for Paradip soon
Mumbai: The Centre will invite final price bids for selling its 74 per cent stake in fertiliser maker Paradip Phosphates on 8 February.

Tata Chemicals, the countrys largest maker of soda ash, and a few other companies such as Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers are expected to submit bids for Paradip Phosphates.

Other likely bidders include Oswal Fertilisers, Zuari Agro and Coromandel Fertilisers of the Murugappa Group.

Paradip Phosphates, located in Orissa, is one of the largest producers of di-ammonium phosphate in Asia.
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Chinese firm to launch food products
New Delhi: The $600-million Chinese health care firm Tiangin Tianshi Biological Dev Co Ltd is introducing a range of Chinese herb-based food supplement health products in India.

In the first phase, Tianshi's Indian arm will import and market 11 health food supplements in the areas of cardiac system, energy, calcium supplements, weight management, essential systems like kidney, dietary fibre and zinc supplements, internal body cleaners, body vitalisers and so on.

The company has also got the nod to market certain machines for blood circulation disorders and acupuncture through heat therapy.
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TCS prepares for IPO
New Delhi: Tata Consultancy Services is planning to list the software company on the bourses before the end of the next fiscal.

With fresh fund requirements cropping up after it bought the 25per cent stake of Videsh Sanchar Nigam (VSNL), public funding has become important for the Tata group. The group will have to cough up Rs 1,400 crore, besides the open offer price, to pick up the stake in VSNL.

TCS currently contributed more than 10 per cent of the total software exports from the country and it had proved its strong business fundamentals by hiring 3,000 people this fiscal despite adverse market conditions.

Moreover, the success of Bharti Tele-Ventures public issue encouraged the company to make up its mind to go to the markets. Two merchant bankers, Merill Lynch and Morgan Stanley, would either jointly handle the issue or one of them would be selected for the job.
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HLL moves FIPB to raise foreign investment
New Delhi: Hindustan Lever has sought an approval for raising the investment limit for foreign institutional investors from the present 24 per cent to 49 per cent. It has also sought a classification of the company as a fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company.

HLL wants to be classified as a FMCG company as 100 per cent foreign direct investment is permitted in this sector.

HLL has also requested the government to permit allotment of its 1,375 shares (at a face value Re 1 each) to foreign shareholders of International Bestfoods (IBFL) after the latters merger with HLL.
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M&M launches electric 3-wheeler in Delhi
Mumbai:  Mahindra & Mahindra has commercially launched its electric three-wheeler Bijlee in the Delhi territory.

The company initially plan to have a commercial launch in small numbers in the Delhi market and is looking at around 100 units in the next two months.

M&M is also looking at entering the Tamil Nadu market and is specifically looking at Chennai and Coimbatore. The company is also applying for starting commercial runs in Kerala.

The company has also started selling the electric three-wheeler in Agra.

The model (with two battery sets) has been priced at Rs 3.32 lakh (ex-Delhi).
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Sealy to exit JV with Kurlon
Bangalore: The US-based Sealy Inc has decided to pull out from the Sealy-Kurlon joint venture.

Sealy might resume looking for other strategic partners once the market condition improves. The poor market conditions and flat growth of the spring mattress market has been mentioned as the reason for exit.

Following the companys decision, the manufacturing activity in Bangalore has also been stopped.

The Sealy-Kurlon 50:50 joint venture was established in June 1998 to manufacture and market a premium line of innerspring sleep system mattresses under the Sealy brand name.
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Castle lager beer launched
New Delhi: South African Breweries (SAB)has launched its international beer brand Castle Lager.

Castle Lager will now be available at retail outlets, bars and restaurants in the capital in two pack sizes of 650 ml and 350 ml priced at Rs 35 and Rs 20 respectively.

The product will be launched across major cities within the next six months.

SAB targets to gain over 10 per cent market share in the first year in the regions where Castle Lager is to be introduced.
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Samsung to invest Rs 25 crore
New Delhi:  Samsung plans to invest Rs 25 crore this year towards developing new moulds for augmenting its home appliances range.

Samsung India is targeting a turnover of Rs 1500-1550 crore from its consumer electronics and home appliances business in 2002. The share of home appliances in the total turnover is expected to grow to around 44 per cent from 41.5 per cent last year.

Samsung plans to introduce two more models of washing machines in the fully automatic segment and two more in the semi automatic segment this summer. All the new introductions will be in the 6.0 kg-7.0 kg segment.
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