Calvin Klein ties up with Murjani for distribution
Mumbai: Calvin Klein (CKI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Phillips-Van Heusen, has made Murjani India its exclusive distributor agreement in India and also given the latter a retail store license for India. The agreement includes both the ck Calvin Klein bridge line of womens and mens apparel and accessories, as well as Calvin Klein Jeans and jeans accessories.

Murjani will sell the products through free standing retail stores and select department stores approved by CKI.

Meanwhile, The Warnaco Group, has entered into an exclusive distribution and retail agreement with Murjani for Calvin Klein underwear and pursuant to its global licenses, will be the exclusive supplier of Calvin Klein Jeans and jeans accessories.

At least 40 free-standing ck Calvin Klein, Calvin Klein Jeans, and Calvin Klein Underwear stores will open in India over the first five years, with development beginning as early as Spring 2007.
Murjani currently has tie ups with Gucci, Jimmy Choo, and French Connection, among others.
Back to News Review index page  

WPP group acquires Ray & Keshavan
Mumbai: The WPP group has acquired Bangalore based design firm Ray + Keshavan having received approval from the foreign investment promotion board (FIPB) some time ago. The acquisition marks the group's entry into the specialised design market in India.

Ray + Keshavan has so far done work for companies like Himalaya, Wipro, Infosys, Hindustan Lever and ITC and offers services like brand identity, interactive design, packaging and environmental graphics.
Back to News Review index page  

Tata Power to invest Rs9000-cr in Orissa
Mumbai: Tata Power (TPC) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Orissa government to develop a 1000MW coal-based power project near Cuttack, which will be scaleable to 2000Mw at a later date. Tata Power plans to invest around Rs 9000 crore in Orissa two phases.

The proposed project will also have a captive coal mine and will be set up at Naraj Marthapur near Cuttack.

A company press release said the state government had promised "comprehensive assistance" to the power project with a single window clearance for all approvals. The release added the state government will also recommend to the central government for allocation of captive coal blocks or will assist in the necessary coal linkages for the project.
Back to News Review index page  

Reebok to expand presence
New Delhi: Reebok is planning to expand its presence in India substantially and will increase the number of stores from 350 now to 1,100 by 2010.

The Reebok brand has a higher market share in India than Adidas and Nike. Adidas which acquired the Reebok brand last year is strategizing as to which brand would lead the charge in the country.
In the last one year, Reebok has expanded its market share in the country from around 40 per cent to over 50 per cent.

To promote its brand, Reebok will kick off a new campaign 'When Did I Know' with cricketers Rahul Dravid and Mahendra Singh Dhoni from October 1.

Though it lost the kit sponsorship deal for the Indian cricket team to Nike, Reebok claims that it has at any time, at least eight brand ambassadors in the playing eleven. The company also claims to have 25 per cent share of the bat market in the country.

Reebok may also introduce its Scarlett Johansson range of apparel in select stores worldwide in March next year.
Back to News Review index page  

McDonald's on expansion drive
Pune: Fast food chain McDonald's plans to further expand its presence in India. The company plans to double its presence in the country by adding 100 restaurants in three years, and expanding its patty plant.

Amit Jatia, managing director of Hardcastle Restaurants, a joint venture partner of McDonald's India, told mediapersons today that the company would increase the patty making capacity at its Taloja (near Mumbai) plant in six months. The capacity of the plant would be increased from 6,000 tonne a year now to 8,000 tonne with an incremental investment of about Rs15 crore.

Recently McDonald's recently expanded its capacity from 4,000 tonne to 6,000 tonne, and the plan to enhance the capacity further was in its response to the increased demand as well as part of the company's overall expansion plans, Jatia said.

McDonald's is expected to increase the number of its restaurants to 115 by the end of the current year and would add more outlets to take the total to around 200 in three years.
Back to News Review index page  

UNI shareholders approve stake sale
New Delhi: United News of India's (UNI) shareholders have given their nod to Zee Network's investment company Media West's proposal to acquire a 60 per cent stake in the news agency. Four representatives of Media West have been inducted into the UNI board.

The stake in UNI was acquired by Media West earlier this month, at an estimated cost of Rs32 crore, pegging the news agency's valuation at Rs53.33 crore.

The equity sale had sparked off protests from political parties as well as employees of the organisation as they did not approve of a private player buying into a news agency.

The seven-member board will have Vir Sanghvi of HT Media and Arindham Sengupta as directors, while Manoj Kumar Sonthalia will stay as the chairman, stated a release.

Earlier, UNI had nine media organisations as shareholders, which were also on its board. The other shareholders and board members of UNI include media companies like HT Media, the Times of India Group, Ananda Bazar Patrika and The Hindu.
Back to News Review index page  

Ranbaxy sets sights on URL/Mutual
Mumbai: Ranbaxy has now set its sights on the US-based privately held URL/Mutual Pharmaceuticals. If the deal goes through, it could well be the largest acquisition, ever, by an Indian company.

URL/Mutual had sales of around $350 million, and market sources say the payout for Ranbaxy could be out anywhere between $800 million to $1 billion to gain control.

Ranbaxy is said to be completing the due diligence process for URL/Mutual even as its talks to private equity investors to raise funds to close the deal. URL is also the target. Sources said the valuations of URL/Mutual are high because there are other global generic companies keen to grab URL/Mutual.

The acquisition fits in with Ranbaxy's target of $2 billion in sales by 2007.
Back to News Review index page  

Alok Inds to acquire 60 per cent stake in Czech co
Mumbai: Alok Industries has signed an agreement with Mileta International of Czech Republic to acquire 60 pc stake for e13.97m and has retained the rights to buy 19.6 per cent more in Mileta depending on the fulfillment of certain terms and conditions.

Mileta International makes shirting fabrics, batistes and voiles, table and bed linen and handkerchiefs. The company posted an operating profit revenue of e11m in the six months ended June 30, '06 with an operating profit of e0.84m.

As per the agreement, Alok Industries will own all Mileta brands , including Mileta, Erba, Cottonova, Lord Nelson, Wall Street, Osaka and Erbelle as well as Mileta's licensee rights of Daks for handkerchiefs. Alok will become a sourcing base for Mileta's products globally.

Also Mileta will move 25 per cent of its manufacturing and 100 per cent of its sewing activities to India, while a large chunk of its manufacturing will remain in the Czech Republic. Mileta will also provide design inputs and marketing inputs to Alok, besides providing training and technology support.
Back to News Review index page  

Netherlands eases investment norms for Indian firms
New Delhi: Netherlands is wooing Indian investors and has relaxed its tax treatment rules for holding companies. The country plans to reduce the present shareholding requirement for holding companies based there to 5 per cent from the current 25 per cent.

This means that if any Indian company sets up a holding company even with a 5 per cent shareholding, it would become eligible for exemption from capital gains and dividend tax said sources.

Under a new law, Netherlands would also allow the concept of 'passive-investment participation'. This will allow companies who do not have active presence to be taxed at lower rates.

The new law is expected to come into effect from January 1, '07. The concept of non-business related investments is also being brought in from next year, which will facilitate all such investments to take advantage of tax breaks as non-business related investments. These could be characterised as passive investments.
Back to News Review index page  

Sterling Biotech to acquire China gelatin maker
Mumbai: Gelatin-maker Sterling Biotech in its first overseas acquisition will buy China Gelatin Ltd, a gelatin manufacturing facility in China in an all-cash deal which will be completed upon receipt of all necessary government approvals relevant to both companies, the company said in its announcement to the BSE.

Sterling Biotech has been acquiring production facilities in the domestic market including Torrent Gujarat Biotech's manufacturing plant in Gujarat for Rs55 crore in an all-cash deal last year. The acquisition of the China facility is in line with Sterling Biotech's philosophy of focusing on the growth market globally, the company told the Bombay Stock Exchange. The acquisition would also help the company tap into other East Asian markets.

The transaction will be Sterling Biotech shares were up 16.09 per cent on the BSE at Rs127.35.
Back to News Review index page  

Moser Baer arm acquires stake in US company
New Delhi: Moser Baer Photo Voltaic, a wholly owned subsidiary of Moser Baer India Ltd (MBI), has acquired a stake in US based company Solaria, which is a photovoltaic concentration technology company.

Moser Baer, the parent company, had earlier announced an investment of $ 17 million into MBPV for investing into emerging solar cell technologies. MBPV wants to get into in technologies like Concentrator Photovoltaic (CPV), Nano, which should enable it to develop a sustainable competitive edge and technological leadership in this high growth industry.

"Solaria has developed a breakthrough technology to deliver low-cost, high-efficiency solar PV solutions. The company's unique low-concentration technology platform should enable Moser Baer to produce two to three times the number of modules from the same amount of silicon material used in today's conventional cells and modules," said a press release.
Back to News Review index page  

Aurobindo Pharma signs agreement with Gilead
Hyderabad: Aurobindo Pharma has signed an agreement with the US-based pharma major Gilead Sciences to manufacture and market generic versions of their anti-retroviral brand Viread (Tenofovir disoproxil fumerate) in 95 countries under the Gilead access programme.

The company said the country's classification is rated according to the Human Development index and includes high prevalence focus countries in Africa and Asia, including India. According to the company, the licensing agreements with Gilead Sciences include a technology transfer to enable expeditious production of large volumes of high quality generic version of Tenofovir DF.
Back to News Review index page