EDS acquires MphasiS
Bangalore: Global giant Electronic Data Systems Corporation (EDS) has acquired a 52-per cent stake in IT services firm MphasiS BFL in a $380-million (Rs1,750 crore) cash deal.

EDS has received more than 83 million shares in response to a conditional open offer at Rs204.5 per share to acquire a majority stake in Mphasis. The conditional offer opened on May 17 and closed on June 5. MphasiS will continue to function as it is with its current management team and name. EDS is evaluating options to merge its 3,000-employee Indian unit with Mphasis.

The combined entity in India will have more than 20,000 employees by this year-end, making it the largest workforce outside the US for EDS.

EDS may decide to maintain the integrated entity as a listed subsidiary and intends to complete the transaction by June and integrate both the entities successfully.

"The deal is about leveraging EDS' scale and the sheer size EDS brings to the table," said Jaithirth Rao, chairman and chief executive, Mphasis.

Analysts said the attractive offer price in the current market conditions triggered a better response to the EDS open offer.

The EDS offer price was at a premium of 9 per cent to the closing price of Rs188 on June 5, the concluding day of the open offer. The offer price was 37 per cent higher than the closing price of Mphasis shares on Monday, which slumped 10 per cent to Rs149 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
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P&G to acquire Gillette India
Kolkata: US-based Gillette Company is transferring its Indian subsidiary — Gillette India — to the Netherlands-based Procter & Gamble, in an out-of-market deal. The latter recently acquired Gillette Co. globally.

So, there would not be any open offer for the minority shareholders, who hold around 12 per cent, as mandated under the takeover regulations of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Gillette India's acquisition by Procter & Gamble would be effected on June 10, this year, and is an extension of the global acquisition of Gillette by Procter & Gamble.

According to a notice sent to the stock exchange, Gillette India has informed that The Gillette Company, USA has been acquired — "by way of merger" — following the global acquisition effective from October 1, 2005. The Gillette Company, USA and its four Indian subsidiaries — Gillette Group India Pvt Ltd (GGIPL), Gillette Diversified Operation Pvt Ltd, Mining Consultant Pvt Ltd and Nexus Mercantile Pvt Ltd — hold 2.47 crore shares of Rs10 each amounting to 75.88 per cent of Gillette India.

Out of the total shares, 1.33 crore shares are held by Gillette Company, USA. Gillette Group India holds 66.27 lakh shares, while 47.37 lakh shares are held by the subsidiaries.

"The Gillette Company, USA intends to transfer by way of gift, on June 10, 2006, or thereafter, in an off-market deal, its shareholding in GGIPL to another group company, Procter & Gamble India Holdings BV," the company stated.
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Infosys to give retention bonuses to senior managers
Bangalore: Instead of offering employee stock options (Esops), Infosys is planning to reward its senior employees with retention bonuses. Mohandas Pai, director, HR, research, education and administration, Infosys Technologies, refused to reveal specific details. He said that several parameters have been considered for this: performance of the employee, level of the employee and number of years spent in the organisation.

According to him, "Our culture and philosophy has been to give ESOPs to everybody. Now it's not possible because we have 53,000 people and it's not a scalable model."
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Mahanagar Gas hikes prices of CNG and PNG
Mumbai: Mahanagar Gas, a joint venture between GAIL, British Gas and the Government of Maharashtra, which supplies piped natural gas (PNG) and CNG to consumers in Mumbai and Thane region, has hiked its prices.

CNG will now cost Rs22.06 per kg in Mumbai (increased by Rs1.16), Rs22.51 in Thane (Rs1.21) and Rs22.18 in Mira/Bhayander region (Rs1.18). PNG will now cost Rs12.52 per kg in Mumbai (increase by Rs0.70), Rs12.75 in Thane and Rs12.58 in Mira/Bhayander region.

The company supplies PNG to about 2.5 lakh domestic and industrial units in these areas through its network of 201 km of steel and 1,840 km of PE lines across the city. About 1.7 lakh vehicles in Mumbai and surrounding areas consume CNG, which is distributed through a network of 120 CNG stations and 596 dispensing points.
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Reliance ups petrol, diesel prices
Mumbai: Reliance Industries has hiked retail prices of petrol and diesel by Rs4 and Rs2 per litre respectively, similar to the hikes effected by the public sector oil companies two days ago. RIL's petrol and diesel will still cost around Rs2.50 per litre more than that of the public sector oil companies. This is because it is the second price hike by Reliance in four weeks.

Last month Reliance increased the retail prices of the fuels by Rs2 per litre each, which, with taxes in various States, meant an effective hike of between Rs2.52 and Rs2.92 per litre. RIL has over 1,300 petrol and diesel outlets across the country.
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Ashok Leyland to raise Rs 700 crore
Chennai: Ashok Leyland plans to raise about Rs700 crore ($150 million) for capital expenditure.

According to the company this was an enabling resolution and there was no immediate need for the funds. The company said a committee of directors would look into all aspects of raising the funds, including the instrument and the time.

The company would also seek its shareholders approval at the annual general meeting to increase the investment limit for foreign institutional investors (FIIs) from 24 per cent to 40 per cent. FIIs now hold about 15 per cent of the company's equity.

While announcing the 2005-06 results, company officials said Ashok Leyland would spend Rs550 crore in the next two years on increasing vehicle and aggregates capacity from 77,000 to 100,000 units, modernising the plants and on research and development. The company would also look at acquisitions in areas such as engineering design and components.
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L&T signs jt venture with Malaysian co
Mumbai: Larsen & Toubro has entered into a joint venture with Malaysian company SapuraCrest Petroleum Berhad to build a $100-million derrick-cum-pipe-laying barge.

L&T will hold 60 per cent equity stake in the venture that has not been named so far while SapuraCrest will hold 40 per cent stake. L&T has described the venture as a strategic effort, allowing it to enter a field where no Indian company is in operation.

With the barge (an Indian flag vessel) L&T can exploit the sub-sea pipe-laying and installation opportunities across India, West Asia, South-East Asia and other neighbouring areas, said A.M. Naik, chairman & managing director, L&T.
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Wipro Tech acquires Saraware Oy
Wipro Technologies has acquired Finland-based Saraware Oy, a wireless network infrastructure provider for € 25 million (approximately Rs147.5 crore). The deal included upfront cash payment and debt takeover. In addition, there are earn-outs on achieving targeted financial conditions over an 18-month period.

Wipro has acquired three companies this year and has spent over Rs400 crore on the acquisitions adding around 1,600 employees. Earlier this month, Wipro acquired Portugal-based retail solutions provider Enabler for € 41 million and, in May, it acquired US-based Quantech Global Services for $10 million.

Saraware had revenues of € 3.8 million the last quarter (€ 15 million annualised) and is a profitable firm employing 200.

Wipro said the acquisition would help it position itself in the GSM/WCDMA wireless network market, which stood at $32 billion in 2005. Wipro's near-shore presence in Europe has also been fortified by this acquisition and it would also help Wipro prepare for the 3G evolution and give it access to the mobile security domain.
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Assocham against quota in higher edu inst.
New Delhi: Industry body Assocham has expressed strong opposition to the proposed introduction of an additional 27.5 per cent quota in higher educational institutions.

Assocham President Anil K Agarwal said there should be an additional educational cess that would go to the consolidated fund of India and should be utilised to uplift the downtrodden and enable them to compete with the rest of the world.
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Aeneas Portfolio acquires 13.81 per cent stake in Greenply
New Delhi: A New York-based investing firm Aeneas Portfolio has acquired a 13.81 per cent stake in interior infrastructure firm Greenply Industries for Rs26.76 cr.

The company's board approved a preferential allotment of 23, 47,000 equity shares of Rs114 each to Aeneas Portfolio, the company said in a release.

The deal has taken the overall foreign investment in Greenply to 20.28 per cent as BSMA Ltd, Goldman Sachs Investments and Deutsche Securities Mauritius Ltd had earlier picked up 8.19 per cent stake in the company.

The company would also issue 6,70,000 equity shares and 5,45,000 convertible warrants to its promoters on a preferential basis, a statement said.
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