Vodafone jumps into fray for Hutchison Essar stake
New Delhi: Vodafone, which has the second largest number of subscribers globally, has confirmed its interest in picking up a controlling stake in mobile company Hutchison Essar.

With Arun Sarin, CEO Vodafone having received a mandate from the Vodafone board to go ahead with the move to acquire Hutchisons Telecommunication's Indian stake, the stage seems set for an intense battle with Indian telecom major Reliance Communication, which is also eyeing the company. Vodafone has appointed UBS as its advisor.

A statement from Vodafone said that the company continues to believe the mobile market in India has great potential and is, therefore, considering the acquisition of a controlling interest in Hutch Essar. The company has informed Bharti Airtel about its interest in acquiring stake in rival cellular firm Hutch Essar.

Vodafone has 10 per cent stake in Bharti, which it may have to sell if it goes ahead with the Hutch deal due to a non-compete clause.
Vodafone's strategy, led by Sarin is that of seeking selective acquisition opportunities in developing markets and exiting saturated markets.

Western media reports said Vodafone's bid would be dependent on whether it convinces Bharti Airtel, India's largest mobile operator where it already has 10 pc stake to waive a one-year non-compete clause.

Vodafone is reportedly been trying to get an agreement in principle from Bharti Airtel's larger shareholders, Bharti Telecom and Singapore Telecom, to drop the non-competition clause for a penalty fee.

Meanwhile, the board of directors of Hutchison Essar met in Mumbai on Friday, but the meeting was a routine one unrelated to any potential bid for the company.
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GM launches Chevrolet U-VA hatchback
New Delhi: General Motors has launched its premium hatchback `Chevrolet Aveo U-VA. The company is targeting to achieve annual sales of 2,00,000 units by 2010.

The 1.2-litre Aveo U-VA, will be positioned against Maruti's Swift and Hyundai's Getz and would be available in three variants with the base model being priced at Rs3.99 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), matching the entry-level price offered by rivals.

The other two variants of the model have been priced at Rs4.39 lakh and Rs4.79 lakh respectively (ex-showroom Delhi) and the company offers the option of ABS on the top-end and airbags (after the next three months) for additional costs.

According to the company the Chevrolet U-VA has been reengineered to suit Indian conditions and it carries a local content of less than 50 per cent, which would be hiked to 55 per cent soon.
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Rajesh Exports bags 276-cr export order
Bangalore: Rajesh Exports (REL) has bagged an export order worth Rs276 crore of gold jewellery from the Sharjah-based Excel Goldsmiths. The order is to be completed by March 2007.

Rajesh Exports which is the largest gold jewellery manufacturer in the world and the country's largest exporter of gold jewellery, has achieved expertise in hand-made and machine-made jewellery. The company's manufacturing facility in Bangalore brings together state-of-the-art technology with fine Indian artistry.
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Tata Steel wins EU approval for Corus acquisition
Brussels: Tata Steel has received approval from the European Commission to buy Anglo-Dutch firm Corus Group, paving the way for the creation of the world's fifth-largest steel maker.
"The Commission's investigation has found that the proposed transaction would not impede effective competition in the European Economic Area as the parties' activities only overlap to a limited extent," an official statement said.

The European Commission has cleared, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition by the Indian steel producer Tata Steel of Corus Group Plc, a manufacturer of carbon steel and aluminium products based in Europe.

The Commission's investigation has found that the proposed transaction would not impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it, as the parties activities only overlap to a limited extent.

Tata Steel Ltd is a vertically integrated steel company active at all levels of steel production, including the extraction of iron ore from mines in India and the manufacture of semi-finished and finished carbon steel products at plants in India and south-East Asia.
Corus Group plc, UK, makes mainly semi-finished and finished carbon steel products at plants in Europe.

Tata Steel is one of the main players on the Indian market. Corus is a strong European player. The Commission's examination of the proposed transaction showed that the horizontal overlaps between the activities of Tata Steel and Corus within the EEA are limited to the supply of flat finished carbon steel and welded tubes, where the combined market shares are relatively low and below a level where the companies could affect either the total quantity or the prevailing price in the market.
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M&M to acquire German forgings co
Mumbai: Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has agreed to acquire 90.47 per cent stake in German forging company Schoneweiss & Co GmbH of Germany for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition will be made through one of its subsidiaries.

Schoneweiss is one of the top five axle beam manufacturers in the world and specialises in suspension, power train and engine parts, said M&M in a statement to the stock exchanges on Friday.
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Porsche to launch new Cayenne in India
Mumbai: French car major Porsche will introduce the new Cayenne in India in April 2007. The new model will debut globally at the Detroit Motor show in January 2007. In India it will be introduced with major changes in exterior and interior styling and engine upgrades. The company is also gearing up for the Indian launch of its first four-door coupe model, the Porsche Panamera in 2009. In the two that Porsche has been in the country, it has sold 250 Porsche cars and its cheapest car is priced at around Rs 50 lakh.

The company entered the used car business a year ago and has sold 20 cars in second sales, eight per cent of total sales.

Porsche is looking at introducing the Porsche Financial Services in India. In 2007, various studies will be conducted before the company introduces it in 2008. On a global platform, the company's financial services include features like preferred lease (providing flexible, attractive terms and reasonable monthly payments on new and pre-owned up to five-year-old Porsche models), retail financing (finance terms to spread out the cost of the vehicle - up to 84 months in some cases), Porsche options (one pays only for the period during which one has driven the new or pre-owned Porsche (up to five-year-old models with an estimated final balloon payment covering the vehicle's remaining expected value), direct pay programme (the programme helps simplify the payment process by automatically deducting the monthly payments from a designated account, payment estimator (a calculator that gives you an approximate estimate of the actual sum of money that will be paid upfront and credited on a monthly basis to the bank account) and European delivery (this exclusive customised programme allows one to take delivery of your new Porsche while touring Europe; the local dealer takes care of the delivery in one's country of origin).
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