IPCL raises funds
Mumbai: Indian Petrochemicals Corporation has raised Rs 320 crore through a combination of unsecured and unrated fixed rate debentures and floating rate syndicated term loans.

The funds will be used for meeting capital expenditure for phase two of IPCL's Gandhar expansion project and long-term working capital needs.

While an maount of Rs 235 crore has been raised through a floating rate loan with an average inception cost of 13.65 per cent, another Rs 85 crore has been raised through 6-year fixed rate debentures at 14.25 per cent.

The private placement deals were arranged by Citibank.
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Indian companies on a growth path
Mumbai: An analysis of the first quarter results of 105 Indian companies for 1999-2000 analysed by The Economic Times shows that the aggregate net profit of these companies rose 27 per cent to Rs 1,223 crore, while aggregate sales increased 11 per cent to Rs 11,666 crore.

The study has also revealed that 14 infotech companies have shown a sharp, 70 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 204 crore while sales rose a steep 52 per cent to Rs 849 crore. The 14 companies include Infosys Technologies, Satyam Computers, Aptech, Pentafour Software and DSQ Software.
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Icra predicts M&A in pharma sector
New Delhi: The Indian pharmaceutical industry will witness many mergers and acquisitions in the coming months, according to a research report by credit rating agency Icra. The agency has predicted that four major companies -- Sun Pharmaceuticals, Wockhardt, Ranbaxy and Dr Reddy's -- will consolidate their positions.

The report made it clear that the multinational drug companies in the Indian market will gain strength in the long run, although aggressive Indian companies would continue to dominate the market.
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Promoters' stake in Infosys comes down
Mumbai: The promoters' stake in Infosys Technologies has dropped from 45 per cent in February 1993 to 29.69 per cent at the end of March 1999.

The founders and their families, consisting of 18 members, hold 98.20 lakh shares in a total equity of 330.69 lakh shares. These details are revealed in the company's annual report for the year ended 31 March 1999.

Foreign institutional investors held 24.79 per cent of Infosys's  shares in March-end 1999. Their stake was between 16 and 17 per cent in March 1995. Individual holdings in the company declined from 28.2 per cent in 1995 to 25.14 per cent. Indian financial institutions and mutual funds held around 12-13 per cent.
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Tata Sons net profit up
Mumbai: Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata group, has reported a 102 per cent leap in net profit in 1998-99 to Rs 55.21 crore from Rs 273.63 crore in the previous financial year. A major portion of the company's earnings has come from its software division, Tata Consultancy Services.

Besides being the holding company of about 100 companies of the group, Tata Sons has five operational divisions, TCS, Tata Consulting Engineers, Tata Economic Consultancy Services and Tata Quality Management Services.

The company has declared a dividend of 200 per cent for the current year.
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Exxon eyeing stake in Mangalore Refineries
Mumbai: Exxon Corporation of the US is understood to be planning to pick up a stake in the AV Birla group-Hindustan Petroleum Corporation joint venture company Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals.

The company needs an additional Rs 670 crore to expand capacity from 3 million tonnes to 9 million tonnes. It is also looking at the private placement route to meet its expansion needs.

The AV Birla group and HPCL hold 37 per cent stake each in the venture. Its equity capital is Rs 792 crore. The group has denied that it is planning to offer stake in the company to anyone.
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L&T planning holding company for infrastructure projects
Mumbai: Larsen & Toubro is poised to set up a holding company to manage infrastructure projects, including power, currently executed through special purpose vehicles.

The holding company will be created with very low initial investment and L&T will invite financial institutions to invest in the company, L&T's chief executive officer A.M. Naik says in his Vision 2005 report.
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RPG group to acquire NITL
New Delhi: The RPG group is going to take full control of the ailing National InformationTechnologies Ltd, a joint venture between the Madhya Pradesh State Electronics Development Corporation, the Press Trust of India, and RPG Cables.

The management of the company is now in the hands of the RPG group. The company has been referred to the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction.

Under the proposal, 90 per cent of NITL's share capital will be reduced. After that MPSEC and PTI will transfer their equity to the RPG group for a consideration of Rs 1 each. RPG Cables will then infuse Rs 3.35 crore by way of interest-free unsecured loans and additional share capital at par to part-finance the revival. MPSEDC and PTI will also have to write off their unsecured loans of Rs 56.50 lakh each.
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Gretag Imaging to make photo labs here
Mumbai: Swiss photo equipment manufacturing company Gretag Imaging will manufacture and market photo labs in India from next month. Gretag Imaging plans to sell 200 Masterlab-740, each priced at Rs 17.5 lakh in the first year itself.

It has signed an agreement with Photoequip, an Indian company, a few days ago for the manufacture of the equipment.
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Cadila project nearing completion
Ahmedabad: Cadila Pharmaceuticals' Rs 10-crore project for the expansion of its bulk drug manufacturing facility at Ankleshwar in Gujarat will be completed by March 2000.

The company will also commission its Rs 60-crore formulations facility at Dholka near Ahmedabad by June 2000. This will be the biggest such facility on one site in the country, the company says.

The company will manufacture 10 new products in the areas of anti-hypertensives, anti-arthritis and anti-depressants at the two multi-purpose plants coming up at the existing facility, I. A. Modi, chairman of Cadila Pharmaceuticals, said.
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Duracell to make India export hub
Calcutta: Duracell, the battery firm of Gillette, has decided to source bulk of its requirement for markets in east Europe and South Africa from its units being set up in India.

Duracell's manufacturing unit at Manesar, Gurgaon has already earned export orders of Rs 43 crore for alkaline batteries from Poland, Hungary, Russia and South Africa.
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Ranbaxy board not to be expanded
New Delhi: The new management of Ranbaxy Laboratories has said it has no plan to expand the company's board now. It was reported earlier that  Bhai Mohan Singh, father of Parvinder Singh, the late chairman and managing director of Ranbaxy,  wanted to to bring in Malvinder Singh, his grandson, on to the board.

On his part, Malvinder has said he is not very keen to join the board in the immediate future. He and his brother, Shivinder Singh, had issued a statement welcoming Ranbaxy board's decision to appoint Tejendra Khanna as chairman and D.S. Brar as managing director of the company.
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ICI India in JV with Orica
Bangalore: ICI India has finalised plans to float a joint venture with Orica, one of Australia's largest chemical companies. ICI India will hold a 51 per cent stake in the joint venture and Orica 49 per cent.

ICI India will transfer its explosives business and its shareholding in Initiating Explosives Systems India, a joint venture with the US-based Ensign Bickford, to the new joint venture.

Orica is a former subsidiary of ICI Plc, before the parent company divested its worldwide explosives business to Orica in 1997.
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Lead-free chip technology from Matsushita
Osaka: Matsushita Electronics Corporation of Japan has developed lead-free packaging technology for semiconductors, according to a report in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper.

Concern in Europe and the US about lead pollution has prompted efforts to shift away from use of lead in chip-making. The company expects to commercialise the technology by April 2000. Its technology replace lead with rare earth alloys in chip frames.
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Ford to recall 2 lakh Focus cars
London: The Ford Motor Company confirmed that it will recall up to 2 lakh of its best-selling Focus cars after component faults were discovered in the European-produced cars. The recall would cover the entire product-run of Focus cars from their launch in September 1998 to March 1999.

The Ford recall follows a recent spate of recalls by other manufacturers, motivated partly by the desire to avoid potential law suits in Europe and the US for defective products.

A California jury recently awarded $4.9 billion in damages against General Motors after finding the company liable for a fuel tank explosion of one of its older models.
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Punch Taverns renews offer for Allied
London: Britain's Punch Taverns has tabled a $4.15 billion bid for the pub businesses of Allied Domecq after rival Whitbread withdrew from the race, the Sunday Telegraph newspaper said.

Allied and Punch Taverns said they would work out details in an effort to end what has been one of the most difficult corporate negotiations in Britain.
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BP Amoco to sell lubricants business
London: BP Amoco is contemplating selling its lubricants business to Britain's Burmah Castrol in return for around a 20 per cent stake in the lubricants and speciality chemicals company.

BP Amoco is currently negotiating with Mobil for the purchase of its share in a petrol retailing joint venture. Mobil has to sell the stake as a regulatory condition for its merger with Exxon Corporation.

A BP executive said that once the company buys Mobil out of the joint venture, it will sell the lubricants business to Burmah Castrol. In return, it will take a stake in that company.  
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HJ Heinz to sell slimming business
London: Pittsburgh, USA, based food giant HJ Heinz is planing to sell its Weight Watchers slimming business.

UK newspapers said British venture capital group Apax Partners & Co has emerged as front runner to buy the business. However, there are other contenders, like Inus Group, the New York investment company.  
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