Reliance Energy, REVL merger approved at a swap ratio of 7.5:100
Mumbai: Anil Ambani controlled Reliance Energy has approved the merger of Reliance Energy Ventures (REVL) with itself. The share swap ratio for the merger has been fixed at 7.5:100. The scheme of amalgamation entails a share exchange ratio of 7.5 share of Reliance Energy for every 100 shares of Reliance Energy Ventures following the demerger scheme announced by Reliance group.

The shares of the company held by REVL will be cancelled under the proposed scheme of amalgamation. The fully diluted equity capital of the company will remain at approximately Rs228 crore, the company said.

The proposed scheme comes as a bonanza for 23 lakh shareholders of Reliance Industries, who will be entitled to free shares of four Anil Ambani group companies. This will lead to enhancement of their value, elimination of dual listing of the company and RCVL.
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S. Kumars expects Rs.145 crore earnings in FY06
Mumbai: Textile company S Kumar's Nationwide, releasing its guidance for 2006, said it expects to achieve earnings of around Rs142-145 crore for the financial year 2006.

The new guidance for the earnings before interest, depreciation, tax and advances (EBITDA) of Rs145 crore of the company, shows higher expectation in comparison to an earlier guidance of Rs121 crore, released at the beginning of 2005.

This is on the basis of a combination of revised product mix in the consumer textiles and robust sales in the luxury textiles (under the Reid & Taylor brand), the company said.

The company has also made significant progress in the rollout strategy of its retail arm, a 100 per cent subsidiary called Reid & Taylor Retails Ltd and proposes to rename the retail arm as Brand House Retails Ltd, it said.
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Ashok Leyland in deal with Sri Lankan leasing firm
Colombo: Ashok Leyland will export commercial vehicles worth Rs300 crore to Sri Lanka's People's Leasing Co (PLC).

According to PLC's chief executive D P Kumarage, the one-year deal allows PLC to open letters of credit of up to Rs300 crore, which will be mostly used to buy trucks and buses, he said.

PLC is currently amongst Sri Lanka's biggest leasing companyies, commanding a 19 per cent market share.

Besides offering traditional forms of leasing, PLC has carved a niche in the bus leasing business.
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Venus Remedies applies for third patent
Mumbai: Venus Remedies has filed its third Patent Cooperation Treaty International Application for a patent of its product titled 'Fixed Dose Combination drug of latest generation Cephalosporin with an Aminoglycoside''. The product would be launched very soon in India under a strategic marketing tie-up with an Indian pharmaceutical firm to ensure its proper placement in its respective segment.

The drug is expected to gain approximately 10 per cent market share within one year of its launch in its segment.

The company's claim for this patent would get international accreditation once the European patent office files its report on this.
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Aurobindo gets US approval for anti-AIDS drug
Mumbai: Aurobindo Pharma has received a tentative approval from the USFDA for its anti-AIDS product, Nevirapine Oral Suspension 50 mg / 5 ml indicated in the treatment of pediatric patients with HIV. This is the first generic version of the approved product, Viramune Oral Suspension, 50 mg /5 ml, manufactured by Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, the company informed the BSE.

It is used in combination with other antiretroviral agents for the treatment of HIV-1 infection.
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Reliance Ind. may announce Q3 results on Jan 10
Mumbai: Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries is considering releasing the un-audited financial results of the company for the quarter ended December 31, 2005 on January 10. The company's board of directors will meet on January 10, to consider and take on record the financial results for the third quarter of the current fiscal, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.
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Air India plans food festival on flights
Mumbai: Air India plans to host a food festival 'Gourmet Flight', on board its flights in the Mumbai-London sector from January 5.

During the festival passengers can treat themselves to a feast of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian delicacies on menu, a spokesperson for the carrier said here.
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Madras Cements plant voted greenest in India
Chennai: The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has rated the Alathiyur (Tamil Nadu) plant of Madras Cements as the greenest cement plant in the country and has awarded it four leaves as part of its Green Rating Project for the cement industry.

The Green Rating Project has so far rated paper, automobiles, and chlor-alkali industries. So far, all top rated companies from different industrial sectors have managed only three leaves.

Overall, the cement industry has obtained an average score of 36 per cent and been awarded three leaves. The Madras Cements plant, with a capacity of three million tonnes a year, scored 51 per cent.
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Birlasoft to launch new facility
Hyderabad: Birlasoft, the information technology arm of the C K Birla Group, will soon launch a 700-seat development facility in the city by Feburary 2006. The company also plans to increase its staff strength to 5,000 by the end of 2006.

In the last one year the company's manpower has grown from 1800 to over 3000 IT professionals. Birlasoft has development centres in NOIDA (2), Chennai, Bangalore, Melbourne and Sydney, with its marketing headquarters being situated in New Jersey, USA.
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Micro Technologies, WIAA sign deal
Mumbai: Micro Technologies India has tied up with Western India Automobile Association to offer Micro VBB (Vehicle Black Box) to 60,000 members of WIAA through attractive schemes.

The company said the tie-up would help in proper implementation of about 50,000 pieces order from the western region.

The Micro VBB is a messaging, anti-theft security system with life support features with various sensors installed in the vehicle. This intelligent box senses even events such as smoke identification, emergency alert switch, Telematics, intrusion detection of vehicle doors and immediately intimates these events to vehicle owner's mobile, telephone or through e-mail, it said.
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Godrej may hive off foods division
Mumbai: Godrej Industries is planning to hive off its foods divisions, for Rs50 crore, and has sought approval from its shareholders for this. The shareholders will consider authorising the board for selling, leasing or disposing of the foods divisions to an associate company, as a going concern, for a consideration of not less than Rs50 crore, by way of postal ballot, the company told the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The company also plans to make a further investment of about Rs10 crore in securities of Godrej Upstream Ltd (GUL) by subscription, purchase from other shareholders or through some other way, it said.
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King Koil to enter India
Mumbai: US-based spring mattresses maker King Koil has received approval from the Foreign Investment Promotions Board to begin its operations in the country. King Koil is present in 60 countries and specialises in manufacturing of spring mattresses.

Dubai Furniture Manufacturing Company (DFMC), a part of A A Al-Moosa Enterprises, would introduce King Koil products in India.
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Eveready expands FMCG business
Kolkata: The Rs800 crore Eveready Industries India is extending its Eveready brand name to mosquito coils. This is the first time that the popular drycell and torch brand is being extended. The Eveready brand mosquito coils would be available in the market within a fortnight and the company says it is confident of success.

Eveready is mainly targeting the rural market through its marketing network since the existing brands in mosquito coils are mainly urban driven.
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IOC asks government to lower duties
Chandigarh: Indian Oil Corp has asked the government to lower duties on petroleum products to arrest losses. The company's margins have been under severe pressure due to under recoveries from kerosene.

"Unless the government brings down duties on petroleum products and international crude prices do not come down, the oil sector will continue to lose money", said IOC chairman Sarthak Behuria said.

For the first six months of the current fiscal, IOC's net profit was down to Rs895 crore from Rs2,712 crore in the year-ago period and the company is likely to face losses on account of pricing pressures.
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Jubilant, Eli Lily in five year pact
Mumbai: Jubilant Organosys has entered into a five-year agreement with US-based pharmaceutical company, Eli Lily under which Jubilant along with its subsidiaries -- Jubilant Biosys and Jubilant Chemsys (Jubilant), will provide a range of collaboration drug discovery services to Lilly, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.
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Royal Enfield banks on exports
Chennai: Royal Enfield has registered a 20 per cent growth in sales in December 2005 by selling 2,620 units, as against 2,189 units in the year ago period.

The company said its exports have increased by 63 per cent as its Electra model was well accepted in the European market.

Exports have gained across Europe with Germany and UK showing high growths. The company's international Electra model is due for launch in the US soon and the company says it sees exports as a major growth engine.
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Marico acquires soap brand 'Manjal'
Mumbai: Cosmetic and healthcare major, Marico Industries has acquired herbal bath soap brand 'Manjal' from Oriental Extractions for an undisclosed sum.

Manjal soap has an annual turnover of about Rs9 crore, and has until now been marketed by SD Pharmacy, a sister concern of Oriental.

Harsh Mariwala chairman and managing director Marico Industries, said he expected 'Manjal' to do better in future through an expansion of reach with the company's network, as also with a better leveraging of the quality of the soap and its positioning.
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BBC, Jhunjhunwala to buy stake in Radio Mid-day
Mumbai: The Netherlands-based BBC Worldwide Holdings BV has entered into an agreement with Mid-day Multimedia to invest Rs31.85 crore in the equity shares of Radio Mid-day.

Apart from this stock-broker Rakesh Jhunjhunwala in partnership with Rare Enterprises, has entered into an agreement with the company to invest a total of Rs10 crore (Rs 100 million) in the equity shares of Radio Mid-day West. These funds will be utilised by Radio Mid-day for bidding for licenses under Phase II of the Private FM Radio Broadcasting Policy announced by the ministry of information and broadcasting, the company said.

The investment is as per the regulatory guidelines issued by ministry of information and broadcasting and the FIPB permission received from ministry of finance.
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Maruti Udyog sell off on Jan 12
New Delhi: The Central Govt. will decide on the winning bids for the sale of its eight per cent stake in Maruti Udyog on January 12 - a week after the Expressions of Interest (EoI) are received from prospective buyers.

The government holds 52,824,020 equity shares in Maruti Udyog at a face value of Rs5, representing 18.28 per cent of the Company's equity.

Of these, 23,112,804 shares are to be divested. The government is expected to garner Rs1,500 crore, if the shares are sold at the current market price.

A Group of Ministers (GoM) on Disinvestment will meet on January 5 to finalise the base price for shortlisting bids. The companies that have submitted EoIs include Bank of India, Life Insurance Corporation, Punjab National Bank and IDBI. At present, LIC holds 3.31 per cent stake in Maruti.

According to officials, there is a possibility that the entire eight per cent may also go to a single bidder.

Post sale the government will be left with 10.28 per cent stake in Maruti.

The minimum bid value has been fixed at Rs10 crore. The offer has a lock-in period of six months.
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Covansys opens new concept centre
Bangalore: Covansys, a global consulting and technology services company, has opened the Convansys concept centre for WebSphere DataStage in partnership with IBM, to strengthen its offerings in the business intelligence practice with respect to "Real-Time Information Integration" capabilities.

"Incubated as part of the business intelligence centre of excellence, the concept centre will develop and provide data warehousing and BI solutions to extend into the Real-Time Information Integration space which global customers across different industries are demanding for, in this on-demand era," a statement from the company said.

Covansys said it is a premier member of the IBM ParterWorld for software programme, and an IBM premier business partner.
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