Tata Tea to raise stake in Glaceau to 40 pc
Mumbai: Ratan Tata to be chairman, Tata's plan venture in China.

Tata Tea, which picked up a 30 per cent stake in US-based enhanced water-maker Glaceau, plans to hike its shareholding to 40 per cent.

Speaking to a select group of journalists, Tata Tea Vice-Chairman R K Krishna Kumar said the shareholders' agreement signed between the Tatas and Energy Brands International provided for such a stake hike. However, no specific time-frame has been assigned for the deal.

The effective control of Glaceau remains with the promoters. Company founder J Darius Bikoff, his family, associates, and distributors hold about 50 per cent, while the balance 20 per cent is held by venture capital funds.

Tata Group chief Ratan Tata will be the chairman of Energy Brands. Krishna Kumar will also be on the board of the US company.

In yet another move overseas, Tata Tea will sign a 50:50 joint venture with a Chinese company next week. The venture will be in the instant tea segment. The Tatas are expected to invest around Rs100 crore.

Commenting on what lay in the Glaceau deal for Tata Tea shareholders, Kumar said, "In three years, revenue will start kicking in through dividends to Tata Tea GB, which will percolate down to Tata Tea here."

He added, "The acquisition provides Tata Tea an opportunity to be present in the unfolding crossover space in the beverages market. We believe this acquisition will help us grow our business in North America."

Glaceau could benefit from Tata Tea's strong distribution network in the UK and Europe, he said.

Bikoff said Glaceau products fell in the health and wellness category, and its brands included nutrient-enhanced Vitaminwater, electrolyte-enhanced Smartwater, and flavour-enhanced Fruitwater. Energy Brands has doubled its revenue in the last two years.
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India campus will be biggest non-European centre, says EADS
Bangalore: European aerospace and defence major EADS says its activities at the proposed India campus Technology Centre will be bigger and far more comprehensive than its other three non-European centres, according to its CEO, Dr Tom Enders.

The campus-style centre — location for which is yet to be decided — will host units of all its subsidiaries and those of Indian partners. It will begin operations in the second quarter of 2007 and open fully in early 2008.

Potential partners
Talks have been initiated with TCS, Wipro, Infosys, Satyam, QuEST, HCL, Geometric, Infotech Enterprises among others for potential partnerships in software, engineering and design solutions. EADS, with a 2005 turnover of € 34 billion, expects its investments in the country to touch € 2 billion (around Rs11,000 crore) over the next 15 years.

For India, "We have adopted not a hit-and-run plan after getting business, but long-term win-win partnerships with Indian companies," Dr Enders told a news conference, at the end of his two-day Bangalore visit.

The team is part of a visiting German delegation led by the Minister for Economic Affairs, Mr Michael Glos.

The future focus would be on co-development, co-production in defence and space. Until now, the Indian business during 1994-2003 totalled € 365 million, mainly from Airbus and ATR aircraft sales.

The Technology Centre will start with 100 local employees and increase it to 800 in three years and 2,000 in 10 years.
An EADS India Outsourcing Centre based in Delhi and Bangalore will tap sub-contractors and become operational by this year-end.
There will be an Airbus Engineering Centre, which will start operations by mid-2007.

More than the cost benefit, EADS was looking at India for its professional skills that were becoming scarce back home. "This is the first time such a project of this size has been put up," said Mr Daniel Baubil, Head of Global Industrial Development.

EADS, currently holding the heaviest order book in its domain, worth € 253.2 billion, aims to increase turnover from Asia-Pacific to 30 per cent of its total revenue, up from the present 23 per cent.

It has engineering centres in the US, Russia, China, and a research centre in Singapore centres. The Indian activities would cover engineering, IT services, engineering design, technology publication and production, training of engineers and mechanics and much more.

Its activities and services include the commercial Airbus aircraft, Eurocopter; commercial launchers; missiles; satellites and defence transportation.

On the space front, the EADS-ISRO Antrix consortium jointly won two European satellite-building contracts. "In satellites we are No. 3 and are working hard to be No. 1," Dr Enders said.
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Targeting 3000 plus, Flextronics to go on a hiring spree
New Delhi: Close on the heels of private-equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Co (KKR) acquiring 85% stake in the company, Flextronics Software Systems on Wednesday outlined its expansion plans.

The company plans to hire 3,000 professionals this year. "We aim to grow our revenues to $500m in the next two years. We will be hiring 3,000 professionals this year. Close to 80-85% of this headcount growth will be in India," Ash Bhardwaj, chief executive officer of Flextronics Software Systems, said.

FSS, with a revenue of $300m, has 7,000 employees across various facilities. About 5,000 professionals are located in the Indian centres (Gurgaon, Chennai and Bangalore).

"We will also be growing our presence in the Eastern Europe. We are currently in Ukraine and looking at Belarus. In addition, we will be expanding in China from the current location in Beijing to other cities," he said. The company has delivery centres in South Africa, Germany and the US.

FSS has appointed Sanjay Dhawan (founder of Inkra Networks) as new chief strategy officer. "Sanjay Dhawan comes with a domain expertise in technology and products, and he will play a key role in our growth in areas such as hardware design and system-level consultancy practice," he said.

It may be recalled that in April this year, an affiliate of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, the US private-equity firm, decided to buy the software business of Flextronics International in a deal valued at $900m. Flextronics, retained a 15% stake in the business.

Mr Bhardwaj said the closure of the deal would happen sometime next week. "We are in the process of finalising new name for the company, and the board structure is also being finalised," he added.
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Michelin plans to enter two-wheeler tyre market
Mumbai: Michelin India Tyres Private Ltd, the 100 per cent subsidiary of Michelin France, has plans to venture into the two-wheeler tyre market. The tyre major is keen on tapping the motorcycle segment that comprises 75 per cent of the two-wheeler tyres market.

According to senior officials, the company would initially introduce its tyre range for the motorcycle market followed by the scooter range. The spokesperson said he would not like to comment on the future product launches.

The tyre range will be introduced by the year-end across all `Michelin Priority Partner' retail outlets that had been recently launched in the country. They will be sourced through Michelin's plant in China.

Radial tyres
In the two-wheeler market, the motorcycle segment is the key area as it is the segment where radial tube tyres are now available in the retail market. According to experts, more customers are opting for radial tyres despite their premium price because of their advantage over bias ply tryes. Earlier the company had shown keen interest in tapping the original equipment players (truck and bus manufacturers). Officials said that the company is in talks with several players in the industry. Like the two-wheeler segment, the truck and bus radial market is at a nascent stage though growing at a faster pace. For the replacement market in car tyres, the company imports its range from its Thailand plant. It had earlier introduced its new range of car radials (Energy XM1). These tyres were introduced specifically for the mid-size car segment; it is one of the fastest growing segments in the car industry.

In order to ensure that quality controlled tyres are being sold in the country, the Government of India is likely to mandate a BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) order that makes it mandatory for tyre manufacturers to adhere to certain standards.
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Actis set to buy controlling stake in Nilgiris Dairy Farm
New Delhi: The UK-based private equity firm Actis is all set to pick up controlling stake in the Bangalore-based, family-run Nilgiris Dairy Farm. According to sources, the deal amount is estimated to be in the region of about Rs300 crore and would be in the form of a management buy-in by the private equity firm.
Stake Negotiations

When contacted, Mr C. Gopalakrishnan, Director, The Nilgiri Dairy Farm Ltd, confirmed that negotiations were on to sell stake, adding that most of the family members have already signed the deal with Actis. He, however, added that he himself was yet to take a call on selling his personal stake, stating that he would take a final decision during a franchise meet which is due to take place after a few days.

Financial institutional sources added that Actis has formed a new management team for Nilgiris. Interestingly, Mr N.C. Venugopal, who was till earlier this year the Managing Director of Lotte India Corporation Ltd (formerly Parrys Confectionery), is heading the team and may also be part of the top management of the company.

Stake Purchase
Meanwhile, sources said that though the exact stake that Actis is purchasing is not known, it would amount to over 51 per cent and will be purchased from the family members who own Nilgiris.

They added that Actis will work along with the family members post the completion of the transaction and that employees at other levels in the company would remain unaffected.

The deal would include control of the Nigiris brand, apart from the company's manufacturing and warehousing business. Nilgiri's is one of the oldest supermarket chains in the country with its origins dating back to 1905.

Unlike other chains in the country, which do not produce any goods of their own, nearly half of the sales in the Nilgiri's supermarkets is contributed by its own food products in the dairy and bakery segments.

Second Buy-in
The transaction would also mark Actis' second management buy-in in the country after Phoenix Lamps. Actis had roped in ex-Nokia Managing Director, Mr Sanjeev Sharma, to head the Actis team for Phoenix Lamps, an auto components manufacturer.

Actis has raised about $475 million to invest in the Indian market.
The firm had indicated earlier that it plans to invest about $100-125 million every year, though the figures may vary depending on the actual size of deals struck.

The private equity firm's other investments in India include Punjab Tractors, Paras, Glenmark Pharma and Jyothi Labs.
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Punj Lloyd bags IOC order
New Delhi: Punj Lloyd has bagged an order worth Rs349.73 crore from IOC to undertake works at the naphtha cracker project in Panipat, Haryana. The order is to be executed on an EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) basis and entails the construction of offsite and storage facilities at IOC's naphtha cracker project, a company release said.

Under the secured contract, which has come through Indian Oil Tanking Ltd, Punj Lloyd will construct storage facilities, including double-walled cryogenic storage tanks, storage spheres, mounded bullets, atmospheric tanks, heaters and pumps. The project is scheduled to be completed in 24 months, with an additional two months for commissioning, the release added.
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Strides to acquire Singapore generics co
Bangalore: Strides Arcolab has announced signing an approximately Rs60-crore deal to acquire the Singapore-based branded generics company, Drug Houses of Australia (Asia) P Ltd (DHA).

DHA will spearhead Strides's plans to enter Chinese and Asia-Pacific markets and help create a regional brand in the long run, Strides said in a release here.

DHA, established in 1969, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Haw Par Healthcare Ltd (of Tiger Balm fame) - a leading branded generics player in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

Regional brand
Mr Arun Kumar, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Strides Arcolab, said Strides's strategy was to grow regionally alongside striking global partnerships.

The acquisition would be through internally funds and partly through debt; a few routine NOCs are due and the transaction will be completed during September, Mr Ravi Shankar, Executive Director, told Business Line.

This would be the company's fifth overseas buy in the last couple of years, after the ones in Poland (100 per cent buy at $8 million); Italy (70 per cent stake in Beltapharm SpA for 1.6 million) and earlier in Brazil (around 66 per cent).

The pact
The share purchase agreement provides for Strides Singapore Pte Ltd (an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Strides Arcolab,) to fully acquire DHA for a consideration of approximately S$19.7 million.

According to Mr Ravi Shankar, Strides currently has a small presence in Asia and expects to enlarge this by riding on DHA's brand equity in the Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong markets.

For the financial year ended December 2005, it posted sales revenue of S$ 16.36 million (around Rs50 crore) and PAT of S$2.72 million (around Rs7.5 crore).

DHA has a GMP-certified manufacturing facility in Jurong, Singapore's industrial hub, and manufactures conventional pharma products in the form of tablets, capsules, liquids and creams.

It lacks product development skills but could be ramped up and be a launch pad for the parent's injectables in South-East Asia.

Strides would be getting its 14th manufacturing facility, spread across India, the US, Brazil, Mexico, Poland and Italy.
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Ford study for indigenisation of diesel engines
Mumbai: Ford India is carrying out a feasibility study on indigenisation of its Duratorq range of diesel engines. These engines currently figure in the mid-size sedan Ford Fiesta.

Mr Scott McCormack, Vice-President, Marketing and Sales, Ford India, said: "We are looking at the possibility of developing the engines locally as 75 per cent of our Fiesta sales are governed by the diesel variant."

If the feasibility study is found viable, then the company would look at developing the engines at Hindustan Motors's Pithampur plant in Indore. The company has been manufacturing its current range of Rocam (Ikon) and Durateq (Fiesta) engines at the HM plant. Ford tied up with HM in 2002 to manufacture the Ikon range of petrol engines.

Duratorq Engines
Currently, it imports the Duratorq (Fiesta) diesel engines from Europe. The indigenisation programme is for the Fiesta and the upcoming Fusion diesel variant that is likely to be launched in 2007. Currently, the Fiesta has a local content of 65 per cent. The objective is to increase the local content to 90 per cent and bring down the overall cost of the vehicle considerably.

Ever since the petrol prices have flared up, more and more prospective customers are opting for diesel variants. The company has received positive response for the Fiesta diesel variant. In order to garner more sales, the company had recently introduced a base model (1.4 Exi) under the sub 7- lakh segment. The success lies in the cutting edge diesel engine technology (second-generation common rail direct injection) that is known for its performance and fuel efficiency.

Meanwhile, Tata Motors has decided to launch the CRDi technology in their mid-size sedan offering, the Tata Indigo. The company is about to introduce the new generation Dicor CRDi engine with the new face-lift Tata Indigo.
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DCW plans Rs525-cr capex
Mumbai: DCW Ltd is planning to make a capital investment of Rs525 crore including a foreign currency convertible bond issue of Rs150 crore. The remaining expenditure will be met by internal accruals and term loans from a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India, said a company official.

The Rs700-crore company making soda ash, caustic soda and PVC, is expanding capacities to use by-products to augment its bottomline. The expansion will be in phases beginning September 2007 and ending by March 2008, said a company press release.

The press release also quoted Dr S.C. Jain, Chairman and Managing Director, DCW, as saying that the company plans to increase its synthetic rutile production from 30,000 tonnes to 60,000 tonnes.

To cut power and steam costs by about Rs35-40 crore, the company is constructing a new captive thermal plant of 50 MW capacity and 70 tonnes of extra steam.

To gainfully utilise its effluent, DCW is in the process of putting up an Rs125-crore iron oxide plant to produce yellow, red and black grades through either a joint venture with a foreign company or in-house. The plant is likely to be operational by the end of 2007.

The company has decided to double its soda ash capacity from 1-2 lakh tonne per annum at an investment of Rs200 crore.
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Scorpio posts record sales
Mumbai: Ever since Mahindras introduced the all-new Scorpio, sales have shown a steep climb.

In August, the company recorded its highest ever sales of 3,482 units for the flagship model in the domestic market.

While domestic sales showed their best performance ever, there was a dip in Scorpio export sales of 312 units (455 units) over the corresponding period last year.

Overall, total Scorpio sales (3,794 units) posted an increase of 20 per cent. The company posted an increase of 11.7 per cent in total domestic vehicle sales with 12,981 units (11,623 units) while exports have risen to almost double sales figures with 1,051 units (659 units). Cumulative vehicle sales, including exports, for April-August '06 were 62,224 units as against 52,999 units last fiscal, a growth of 17.4 per cent.
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Maruti sales up 16% in Aug
New Delhi: Car market leader Maruti Udyog Ltd on Friday announced that it has posted a 15.68 per cent increase in domestic sales at 48,259 vehicles in August as against 41,717 vehicles sold in the same month last year.

The company said the total sales stood at 51,855 vehicles in August this year, including 3,596 units of exports.

Sales of Maruti 800 dipped to 6,425 units in August, down 9.3 per cent from 7,084 units sold during the same month in 2005.

The sales in the domestic compact car segment (comprising Alto, WagonR, Zen and Swift) grew 22.2 per cent to 32,466 units as compared to 26,558 units in August 2005, while sales in the midsize segment (Baleno and Esteem) rose by 14.6 per cent to 2,837 units as against 2,475 units sold last year in August.
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Bajaj bike sales up 21pc in Aug
Pune: Bajaj Auto Ltd, manufacturer of two and three-wheelers, has registered a 21 per cent increase in sales of motorcycles during August.

The company has recorded sales of 1,80,570 motorcycles compared with 1,49,415 for the corresponding period last year.
According to an official communication, BAL has registered a total two-wheeler sales of 1,82,013 (1,64,020) an increase of 11 per cent to the corresponding period of last year.

The sale of three-wheelers stood at 26,150 for August compared to 22,782 in the corresponding period last year, an increase of 15 per cent. The total two and three-wheelers sales were 2,08,163 and 1,86,802, respectively, up by 11 per cent.

Exports from this stood at 32,283 and 23,752, respectively, an increase of 36 per cent. For the April-August period, the motorcycle sales stood at 9,19,872 against 6,87,174 vehicles for the corresponding period last year, registering a growth of 34 per cent. The total two-wheeler sales stood at 9,33,792 (7,42,502) respectively. The total two and three-wheelers sales for the period April-August stood at 1,057,480 vehicles (8,41,180 vehicles), recording a growth of 26 per cent. Exports during this period stood at 1,73,022 compared to 88,943 recording a growth of 95 per cent.
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Hero Honda sales down
New Delhi: Hero Honda Motors has witnessed a second consecutive month of drop in sales, with numbers, exports included, dipping by 12.6 per cent in August to 2,15,076 units against 2,46,304 units in the same month last year.

Exports, however, stood at 8,525 units against 8,200 units in August 2005.

Sales in the five months of this fiscal, however, were up 10.2 per cent to 12,83,082 units against 11,63,921 units in the same period last year.
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Ford India sales up 88pc
Chennai: Ford India sold 2,699 cars in August, 88 per cent more than in the corresponding period last year.

In the January-August period, the company sold 29,470 cars, 93 per cent more than in the corresponding period last year, says a press release from the company.

"The company continues to grow its presence across the country," the release says. To meet the growing demand for Ford models in the country, new dealership facilities have been opening in cities such as Aurangabad, Rajkot, Bareilly, Ranchi, Vijayawada and Guntur.
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Huawei Tech opens new facility
Bangalore: Huawei Technologies India has opened a new facility in Bangalore to develop optical network products and wireless LAN solutions. The new centre will work on Huawei's Optix series. These optical solutions are deployed in IPTV services, Triple Play (high speed Internet, television and voice) services, mobile services and leased line services.

The facility to accommodate 180 software engineers will also house a team working on Wireless LAN domain, related software development catering to the Wireless Switch and Wireless Access Points products.
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