Sterling Biotech raises $15.36 million through GDRs
Mumbai: Sterling Biotech has issued 23,28,045 global depository receipts (GDRs) at $6.60 per GDR to raise $15.36 million. The issue closed on 1 October 2003.

According to a release issued to the Bombay Stock Exchange today, each GDR represents six underlying shares of Rs 2 each. The company has thus issued 1.39 crore shares via GDRs. The stock was flat at Rs 61 on the National Stock Exchange at 1225 hrs.
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Dubai Jafza attracts Indian businesses
Mumbai: Speaking at a seminar organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), on the opportunities at Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza) in Dubai, Abdalla Al Banna, customer relations and development manager, Jafza, said among the 1,400 companies operating in Jafza 334 are from India.

Reports say that among all the companies in Jafza, 74 per cent are into trading, 22 per cent into manufacturing and four per cent into services. Emphasising the role of India, Al-Banna said India is the third largest exporter to Dubai. Among the Indian exports, 35 per cent are precious stones/pearls, 21 per cent textiles and about 10 per cent food industry. He gave examples of Indian businesses already present in Jafza like Tata, SRF, Mirc Electronics, Bajaj and IPCL.
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SSI may buy London IT firm
Chennai: SSI, the Chennai-based software services company, is likely to acquire a London-based IT consulting firm. The consulting firm, listed on the London Stock Exchange, offers software and IT consulting services in the government, financial services and manufacturing sectors. The $120-million company employs 1,500 people. The firm has a huge accumulated debt and plans to raise money from the market early this year.

"SSI has been in talks with the firm for about four months now and has conducted several meetings with the firm's management. It appears that there is synergy in the business strategy of the two companies," sources familiar with the process were quoted as saying. "Though the valuation may not be a negotiation point at this stage, we are treading cautiously before we settle down for the acquisition at a price which might not be worthwhile."
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Datacraft to double its headcount to 300 people
Bangalore: Datacraft, the country's leading systems integrator with revenues of Rs 250 crore, is planning to double its headcount to 300 people over the next six months, say reports. The expansion in manpower is primarily for executing the $29-million SBI phase II project that the company has bagged recently. SBI along with the seven associate banks has earmarked a strategic IT investment of $100 million, which will be rolled out in phases.

Datacraft India has already implemented the $17-million phase I project for the bank that involved 1,457 branches across 49 cities. The phase II networking project for India's largest bank will cover 2,800 branches across 300 locations in addition to deploying SBI's corporate network known as SBI Connect. Dilip Kumar, CEO of Datacraft India, said banking practice is a focus area for the company, accounting for 32 per cent of its revenues. The other key segments that it is pursuing business include telcos, call centres and software companies.
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Singapore firm fires PWC, KPMG for 'irregularities'
Mumbai: SembCorp Logistics, Southeast Asia's largest logistics group, has found a $12-million accounting irregularity at its Indian subsidiary, SembLog India, headquartered in Chennai. The Singapore-based company has sacked six senior officials including its managing director and CFO after the irregularities were detected, newspaper reports say. The company has also terminated the services of accountants PriceWaterhouse & Co (India) and auditors KPMG Consulting. It plans to initiate legal action against them.

The company on Wednesday informed the Singapore Exchange that an investigation has shown that PWC India and KPMG, which used to be SembLog India's external and internal auditors respectively, did not detect the creation of fictitious revenues, expenses, documents and invoices even though these practices had been carried out over a number of years.
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Jessop plans rejig to clear losses
Mumbai: Engineering goods major Jessop & Co, which was acquired by Ruia Cotex through the divestment route, is planning another round of financial restructuring to wipe out the entire accumulated loss of Rs 110 crore.

The company is also planning to put in place a new facility to roll out state-of-the-art coaches, including those for metro trains, to enlarge its presence in railway coach manufacturing, Ruia group chairman and director of Jessop Pawan Kumar Ruia said. "Our existing coach manufacturing facility is quite old. We are looking for foreign collaborators to improve facilities so that we can make coaches for metro rail also."
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