IT sector gets largest share of venture capital
Bangalore: The information technology sector has received the largest share of venture capital investments in India -- Rs 324.43 crore of the total investment of Rs. 1,256 crore  -- in 1998, according to a study by the city-based Indian Venture Capital Association. Of this amount, software units received Rs 250.89 crore distributed over 100 projects.

The Venture Activity Report -1998 prepared by the association says there is a 25 per cent increase in venture capital investments in 1998, as compared to the previous year.
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Maruti hikes prices of 800 cc, Zen
Mumbai: Maruti Udyog has increased the prices of its Maruti 800 and the Zen models of cars with effect from 10 September. The price of 800 cc standard car has been hiked by Rs 6,640 and the deluxe version by Rs 3,315. There will be an increase of Rs 2,212 for the Zen. The current prices (ex-showroom, Mumbai) of the 800 cc standard car is Rs 2.07 lakh, deluxe Rs 2.61 lakh and the Zen (LX) Rs 3.27 and the Zen (VX) Rs 3.83 lakh.

There will be no increase in the prices of other models -- Esteem,. Omni and Gypsy. The company said the price hike has been on account of increase in input costs.
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Essar seeks extension of domestic loan tenor
Mumbai: Essar Steel says it will not be able to repay existing loans from financial institutions unless the institutions extend the maturity of these loans.

Essar Steel's managing director J Mehra is reported to have said that, "without an extension, we will not be able to repay our debts". The company has about Rs 1,200 crore in overdue loans, with maturity period of five to seven years. The company will need about another five years to repay these loans.
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Aurobindo Pharma raises equity
Hyderabad: Aurobindo Pharma has raised Rs 27 crore by placing 5.51 lakh equity shares with investors in India, the UK, Hong Kong and Singapore.

The company says that the private placement will help it to expand its investor base. "The proceeds will help in creating a strong base for delivering sustainable earnings growth over the long term," P.V. Ramprasad Reddy, managing director of Aurobindo Pharma, said. The proceeds of this issue will be used to part-finance the company's research and development and formulation activities.
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Continental nominee on Apollo board
New Delhi: Apollo Tyres is inducting a nominee from Continental AG, the German tyre company, as a director on its board. Apollo's board has approved an invitation to Continental's international business unit head Robert Steinmetz to join the board.

Modi Rubber has already inducted a Continental nominee on its board and Mr Steinmetz is an alternate director on its board.

Apollo says Continental has been approached for appointing its nominee on the company's board with a view to improve coordination between the two companies and catalyse technology transfer.
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Apollo plans new product-mix
Calcutta: Apollo Tyres is planning rationalisation of its product-mix. This change in focus is in view of the shift in the profile of road transport sector in India.

Onkar S. Kanwar, vice chairman and managing director of the company, said the proposed product-mix will have greater emphasis on new generation radial tyres. The company has set up a state-of-the-art radial facility in addition to enhancing cross-ply truck tyre capacity, he said.
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Government to sell stake in IOC, GAIL, Concor to retail investors
Mumbai: The government will sell a small part of its stake in Indian Oil Corporation, Gas Authority of India Ltd and Container Corporation of India to retail investors. This token divestment will be the first by the government in the three 'navratnas' through public offers. The divestment will be in the range of two to three percent of the government stake in these companies, government sources said.
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Birla TransAsia prunes staff
New Delhi: Birla TransAsia Carpets, a sick company in the Yash Birla fold, has retrenched 75 per cent of its employees.

The company said it has paid Rs 3 crore as compensation to the retrenched workers who include, besides workers, employees in the managerial, marketing and clerical cadres. The company's staff strength has dropped to 140 from 560. The company -- the only publicly-held carpet-making company in India -- was referred to the Board for Industrial and Financial Restructuring for the second time a few years ago. The company has now entered into tie-ups with some foreign companies to import synthetic carpets and tiles.
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Asda stores to source beer from Mysore Breweries
Mumbai: Mysore Breweries of Bangalore, is going to provide technical knowhow to a Belgium-based brewer for manufacture of a premium lager. The beer will be sold by the well known Asda supermarket chain in the UK. The Asda chain has recently been acquired by Wal-Mart.

Mysore Breweries, which makes and sells the Cobra brand of beer in the UK, will get royalty on sales through the Asda chain of stores. The company already has its Palisades brand of beer marketed in the US.
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Kinetic shareholders okay ESOP
Pune: Shareholders of Kinetic Engineering approved a resolution at the annual general meeting of the company and its subsidiary, Kinetic Motor Company, to introduce a employee stock option plan. The plan will benefit about 300 managers in   Kinetic Engineering and 200 in Kinetic Motor. Under the plan, Kinetic Engineering employees will be offered shares at Rs 60 per share against a market price of Rs 100 and Kinetic Motor Company employees will get the shares at Rs 30 per share against a market price of Rs 50.

The company announced on the occasion that it will launch its first motorcycle, KX 4, in November this year. It will later introduce another model, the GF125, to be made in technical collaboration with Hyosung of South Korea. The company is also engaging a Milan-based design house to design its scooters.
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RPG Life Sciences, Norton Healthcare in pact
Mumbai: RPG Life Science has entered into an agreement with Norton Healthcare of the UK to develop new formulations with non-patent infringing processes for products going off patent in 2002. The range of products will have a $25 billion global market.

RPG Life Sciences will also drop from its portfolio a number of low margin agro and pharma products and focus on branded segment, Harsh Goenka, chairman of the company, told shareholders at the company's annual general meeting.

The company will launch Losartan and Carvidol in the cardiovascular segment, Zertralin in psychiatry and Lamotrigine in epilepsy. The company has also become the first in the country to make anti-cancer bulk drug Doxorubicin and immunosuppressant Cyclosporin.
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India Software-Midas-Kapiti JV
New Delhi: K.K. Birla group company India Software Group has aligned with UK-based Midas-Kapiti International to provide software products to the Indian financial sector. Midas Kapiti International is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Misys, one of the world's largest software companies with a market capitalisation of two billion pounds on the London Stock Exchange,

The joint venture has launched its first software, Plato, in India, used by banks to set up asset liability management system.
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Gulf Oil to set up blending unit
Mumbai: Gulf Oil India, a Hinduja group company, is setting up a blending plant in South India. It will also set up a research and development facility, which will later be a hub for Asian region.

KPMG to study Agrani project
New Delhi: The Industrial Development Bank of India, ICICI and IFCI, which are financing the Agrani satellite phone project of Subhash Chandra, have appointed KPMG to do a financial and business appraisal of the Rs 3,300 crore project.

The financial institutions have also nominated a technical committee headed by a former head of Indian Satellite Research Organisation, Prof U.R. Rao, to do a technical evaluation of the project.
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Telco truck sales up
Mumbai: The Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company has reported an increase in the sale of heavy and medium commercial vehicles in August 1999. The company sold 5,050 trucks in August 1999 compared to 2,830 vehicles in the same month last year. Cumulative sale of heavy and medium commercial vehicles during April-August 1999 was higher at 21,450 units compared to 14,397 units in the previous year period.
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FCB Worldwide and Bozell merge
Chicago: Advertising agency True North Communications announced the merger of its FCB Worldwide with Bozell Worldwide. The merged entity will have annual billings of $8.2 billion.

The revamped FCB Worldwide will rank first in the US and fifth in world among advertising agencies. Globally it will be behind Japan's Dentsu, McCann Erickson WorldGroup, BBDO Worldwide and Young & Rubicam.
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Proton to have subsidiary in India
Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian car company Proton says it is setting up a wholly-owned subsidiary in India to market its cars. The company will approach the Foreign Investments Promotion Board for necessary permission, the company's chief executive officer, Tengku Mahaleel Tengku Ariff,said.

Mr Ariff said the company plans to enter the Indian market via a tie-up with Hindustan Motors. Hindustan Motors and Proton have signed a memorandum of understanding for assembling Proton cars in India.
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Mastech, GE Capital in JV
New York: Mastech Corporation has announced that it has formed a strategic relationship with GE Capital, a wholly-owned subsidiary of General Electric, to start a business processing joint venture in India. GE Capital will invest $30 million in equity in the 50:50 joint venture and aim to provide an estimated $122 million in information technology services business to Mastech in three years.

The joint venture will focus on providing business processing services for global customers. It aims to become a world leader in business process outsourcing market.
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Fidelity to use Palm VII of 3Com
Boston: Fidelity Investments has entered into an agreement with 3Com Corporation to deliver its InstantBroker service to investors through the Palm VII, 3Com's hand-held wireless internet access device.

Fidelity has been named 3Com's premier brokerage provider and will exclusively provide stock trading and personalised services from an application installed in every Palm VII device. 3Com's Palm VII is due for release later this year.
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Hewlett-Packard ties up with StarMedia
Miami: Hewlett-Packard is tying up with leading Spanish language web service group, StarMedia Network, to provide online outlets for small businesses throughout Latin America.

The deal with StarMedia is just the latest of nearly three dozen alliances H-P has signed since February with software firms, banks and telecom groups.
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Sega introduces Dreamcast
New York: Sega of America has introduced the much anticipated game system, Dreamcast.  The gadget has already got three lakh orders.

Sega said the the video console game, built on the latest 128-bit computer chip technology, will generate sales of $45 million on the first day of its release. The system gives Sega a temporary lead over Sony and Nintendo, which have stomped Sega in the 64-bit video system market.
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Leo Burnett is Delta Airlines' ad agency
Chicago: Leo Burnett Company has been appointed as the advertising agency of record for Delta Airlines. The account is worth $100 million.

The airline said Leo Burnett will succeed Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising after a three-month transition period. Leo Burnett beat New York's Grey Advertising and Omnicom Group's TBWA Worldwide to bag the business.
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ITW to acquire Premark
Glenview, Illinois: Illinois Tool Works, whose products include ZIP-PAK re-sealable packaging, said it is acquiring commercial food equipment maker Premark International in a $3.4 billion deal.

Shareholders of Premark will receive ITW stock with a market value of $55 for each Premark share.
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