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VSNL expands its global network
Mumbai: Tata unit Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd.(VSNL), on Friday announced it has completed its takeover of Tyco Global Network (TGN). The network stretches approximately 37,000 miles to connect North America, Europe and Asia.

The deal is worth about $130 million and has been approved by regulators in the U.S. and other countries, Mumbai-based VSNL said.

"The combination of the TGN assets and the deep network penetration of VSNL throughout India will allow VSNL to design customized and scalable connectivity solutions between all the key global business centers, through a single point of contact," Vinod Kumar, president of VSNL International, said in a statement.
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Swedish Match to sell Wimco stake to ITC subsidiary
New Delhi/Kolkata: Swedish Match has announced that it is selling its entire stake in Wimco to Russell Credit Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ITC. No financial details of the deal were however announced.

Swedish Match held 74% equity stake in Wimco, which is into manufacture of matchboxes.

A statement by Swedish Match said it would also make an open offer for acquiring a 20% stake in the company as per a Sebi ruling in '02. A Russell Credit statement said the company would acquire an additional 2% stake from the Swedish Match group after the latter makes its open offer. This would take the total stake of the ITC subsidiary in Wimco to 76%.

Wimco owns brands such as Ship, Homelite and Tekka. The company has been making losses in the past two years - Rs42.7 crore in 2004-05 and Rs71.50 crore in '03-04.

The company statement said the entire transaction (open offer and the subsequent sell off to Russell Credit) is expected to be closed no later than during the fourth quarter 2005.
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South Korea Telecom may pick up stake in Tata Tele
Mumbai: South Korea Telecom is in talks with Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTSL), the CDMA-based telephony service provider of the Tata group, to acquire about 33 per cent stake in the company.

The price for acquisition could be in the range of Rs2,400-2,600 crore, sources have indicated. A high-level management team from SK Telecom is currently in Mumbai, holding discussions with TTSL officials.

J P Morgan is the financial advisor to the deal.

SK Telecom is a CDMA-based services provider in South Korea and has recently ventured into 3G services in that country.

Tata Tele has presence in over 1,200 towns across 20 circles in the country and has a subscriber base of around 4.2 million. Reliance Infocomm, the other CDMA player in the country, has a subscriber base of around 11.5 million and is valued at about Rs 22,500 crore.

The Tatas hold 66.80 per cent in TTSL, with mutual funds, UTI and foreign institutional investors (FII) holding around 9.54 per cent. Others, including private corporate bodies and retail investors, hold 23.66 per cent stake in TTSL.
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Steel majors cut prices
New Delhi: Close on the heels of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) slashing product prices, steel majors Tata Steel, Essar Steel and Ispat Industries on Friday announced a cut in their prices by around seven to eight per cent on account of rising inventories.

According to company sources, Tata Steel slashed prices by as much as Rs3,000 for its branded flat products. Essar Steel has revised prices for its products in the domestic markets by approximately five to eight per cent with immediate effect. Ispat Industries has also announced lowering of its steel prices by around seven per cent, largely due to rising inventories, company sources said.

SAIL had, on Thursday, announced a cut in prices by Rs500 to Rs2,000 per tonne. The company had termed the price cut a "temporary correction" owing to market fluctuations, triggered partially by China's low intake of steel.

The domestic steel production, which was an estimated 35 mt in 2003-04, is estimated to grow to 38 mt by 2006-07 and further to 52 mt by 2011-12.
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Jindals sign MoU with Andhra Govt. for smelter
Hyderabad: Jindal South West Holding Limited (JSWHL), part of the $4 billion O. P. Jindal group, has announced its intentions to enter the aluminium sector with the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Andhra Pradesh government towards setting up a refinery and smelter plant at Visakhapatnam at an investment of Rs9,000 crore.

Sajjan Jindal, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of JSW Steel Limited, said in a release here that getting into aluminium was an extension of synergies for the group. JSW at present has interests in steel, power, minerals and mining, industrial gases and port facilities.

The capacity of the project at Visakhapatnam would be 1.5 million tonnes per annum for the refinery, and 2.5 lakh tonnes per annum for the smelter. It would have the potential to employ 10,000 people directly and indirectly. The raw material, bauxite ore, would be sourced from the Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC), which will mine it independently.

The take off time for the project is expected to be about three years.
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LG to invest another $30mn in India
New Delhi: Korean major LG Electronics has said that it would invest about $30 million (about Rs130 crore) to strengthen operations in India.

"We are investing $30 million in India as we are looking at the business here to contribute about 8-10 per cent of the overall global AC sales," Hwan-Yong Nho, President-Air Conditioning Division, LG Electronics, said.

India currently contributes about 4-5 per cent of the overall global sales. If the commercial AC business were to grow as expected in the Indian market, the Indian subsidiary could contribute up to 10 per cent, Nho said.

The company today launched its multi power system commercial air-conditioner targeted at premium residential and mid-sized commercial establishments.
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Jubilant acquires majority stake in US drug firm Trinity Labs
New Delhi: Jubilant Organosys Ltd has acquired 64 per cent equity in the US-based generic pharmaceuticals company Trinity Laboratories Inc and its wholly owned subsidiary Trigen Laboratories Inc.

As per the agreement signed, Jubilant will acquire the stake for cash payment of $12.25 million, of which $8.25 million will be paid to the existing shareholders while the remaining would be used as growth capital.

It will invest an additional $8.42 million until December 2006, which will enhance its holding in Trigen to 75 per cent.

Trigen Laboratories manufactures generic dosage forms and has a USFDA approved manufacturing facility in Maryland, US. It has an annual production capacity of 650 million tablets and 35 million capsules that can be enhanced to one billion tablets a year.

The product portfolio of Trigen focuses on the therapeutic areas of central nervous system (CNS) and cardiovascular system (CVS), including anti-hypertensive, diuretic and andrenocortical steroids. It has six approved abbreviated new drug approvals (ANDAs) and another two applications are awaiting clearances. It also has a pipeline of 14 products, of which ANDAs for five products would be filed during the current calendar year.

Jubilant too has a presence in the CNS and CVS segments and hence the company sees synergies in the US acquisition.
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Corporate performance and results:Visaka Industries, Hero Honda, Honda Siel, Bajaj Auto
Visaka Industries to pay 20 pc final
The board of directors of Visaka Industries Ltd, the Hyderabad-based yarn and asbestos cement sheets manufacturer, has recommended a final dividend of 20 per cent for the fiscal, taking the total dividend for the year to 30 per cent.

The board had earlier declared an interim dividend of 10 per cent. It adopted audited financial results for the fiscal ended March 2005 on Thursday.

As per the audited financial results for 2004-05, the company's net sales turnover was Rs208.08 crore, marginally lower than Rs208.59-crore reported in the unaudited financial results. The net profit has increased to Rs14.35 crore (Rs13.73 crore), yielding an EPS of Rs13.12 (Rs 12.55) on an equity base of Rs10.67 crore.

At the end of March 2005, the company's reserves stood at Rs59.35 crore.

Hero Honda June sales up 12.5 pc
Hero Honda has said that its sales grew by 12.5 per cent to 2,26,073 bikes last month as against 2,00,922 units in June last year.

According to a company statement, this growth was achieved in the face of continuing supply constraints of components caused by the volatile situation prevailing in parts of Haryana, where both the manufacturing plants of the company are located.

For the quarter ended June 2005, the company achieved cumulative sales of 6,86,494 units, recording a growth of 13 per cent. During the corresponding period last year, the company had recorded sales of 6,09,123 units.

Honda Siel sales up 38 pc in June
Honda Siel Cars India Ltd (HSCI) said its sales jumped 38 per cent to 3,826 units in June this year as against 2,772 units sold during the same month of the previous financial year.

The cumulative sales for the calendar year 2005 (January-June) jumped 29 per cent to 21,604 units as against 16,738 units during January-June 2004. In terms of percentage, the company registered a growth of 29 per cent.

Bajaj Auto 2-wheeler sales rise 25.5 pc
Bajaj Auto Ltd has reported a 20 per cent increase in sales of 2 & 3-wheelers for June 2005, to 1,61,282 units from the previous corresponding 1,34,391 units.

Sales of 2-wheelers rose 25.5 per cent to 141,316 units (112,643 units for the year ago period). This included a 33.9 per cent gain in motorcycle sales to 130,710 units (97,591 units). Three wheeler sales dipped 8.2 per cent to 19,966 units (21,748 units).

Exports were down 2.6 per cent to 15,946 units (16,379 units), an official statement said.
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