Wipro in JV for Silicon Valley start-up
Bangalore: Wipro has concluded a memorandum of understanding with an American investor, Prakash Bhalerao, to set up a start-up venture in America's Silicon Valley. The new company, Alopa Networks, will license, on a non-exclusive basis, the source code of a network management product, CyberManage, developed by Wipro Infotech Software and Services group. Wipro will receive a one-time licence fee of $250,000.

Wipro Infotech Software and Service's group vice-president, finance, Girish S. Paranjpe, said Wipro will hold 10 to 15 per cent equity in the new company. The equity will be in the form of intellectual property and technical knowhow. The group's general manager for technology solutions, Vijaya Verma, and her team, which had developed CyberManage, will be part of Alopa's management team. Besides licensing CyberManage, Alopa will create network solutions and services for high-speed internet access using digital subscriber lines.
Back to News Review index page

Tata Tea plans due diligence for Tetley deal
Calcutta: Tata Tea will soon begin a due diligence exercise as part of its effort to acquire Tetley of London. R.K. Krishna Kumar, vice-chairman of Tata Tea, was quoted by The Economic Times as saying that the deal is "by no means clinched" as the due diligence itself will take some seven to eight weeks and there are a host of legal and accounting issues, which have to be settled before deciding on the price.

Mr Krishna Kumar said the resolution proposed at the annual general meeting of the company to raise $100 million for the acquisition is only an enabling resolution and the amount is not indicative of the price to be paid for the acquisition.
Back to News Review index page

Sun to push Star Office
New Delhi: Sun Microsystems is planning to popularise its Star Office, the freely downloadable office automation software that rivals Microsoft's Office and IBM-Lotus's Lotus Smart Suite.

Star Office is the first complete office automation software suite that is freely available on the web. A standard Microsoft Office product is available at Rs 13,500, while Lotus Smart Suite is priced at Rs 7,000.

Sun Microsystems said it will help clients move from their current systems to web-based .Com office. Sun had acquired Star Division Corporation, which makes Star Office software, and had recently decided to offer the product free on the net.
Back to News Review index page

Sudarshan plans export thrust
Pune: Sudarshan Chemical Industries is targeting specialty chemicals and high value-added products and plans to emerge as a major world player. The Rs 225-crore Pune company that makes pigments and pesticides will double its capacities of pearl essence pigments, used in cosmetics. It has aims to export 70 per cent of its products.

Sudarshan Chemicals is one of the three global manufacturers of pearl essence pigments. The company also proposes to double its organic pigments capacity.
Back to News Review index page 

ITI quote for switches lowest
New Delhi: Indian Telephone Industries is the lowest bidder in Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited's tender for digital telephone switches. The public sector ITI quoted Rs 4,797 a switch.

A MTNL source said ITI is likely to get the first order for the equipment soon.
Back to News Review index page

High court admits Philips' appeal
Calcutta: The appeal court of the Calcutta High Court has admitted Philips India's appeal against a trial court order restraining the company from selling its unit in Salt Lake in Calcutta to Kitchen Appliances, a unit of the Videocon group. Philips India sources said the company will now go ahead with the transfer of the property.

A division bench of the court said that compliance with section 173(2) of the Companies Act was not mandatory but only directory, and could be waived by the shareholders. The company is free to sell its undertakings with the consent of the shareholders as required under section 293(1)(a) of the Act. The court also said the selling price of Rs 9 crore had to do with the general administration and that it was not necessary to set it out in an explanatory statement.

The Philips Employees Union has decided to move the Supreme Court against the order.
Back to News Review index page

GM, Pepsi in joint ad campaign
Mumbai: General Motors India is teaming up with Pepsi to launch a co-promotion drive. The automobile company will kick off a campaign for its mid-size Corsa model with Pepsi on the lines of the campaign of the soft drinks major for the Cricket World Cup.

Corsa is pitted against rivals Accent of Hyundai, Ikon of Ford and Telco's three-box version of the Indica.
Back to News Review index page

McDowell to cancel warrants issued to UBL
Bangalore: McDowell & Co has decided to cancel 13.1 million warrants issued to its promoter company, United Breweries, for conversion at Rs 55. The company had issued 20 million warrants to United Breweries to be converted into McDowell shares. United Breweries had converted 6.9 million warrants at that price a few years ago, when the share price was at Rs 25/30 per share. The balance is being cancelled with the aim of improving investor relations, Vijay Mallya, chairman of the group, said.

McDowell share is now quoted at over Rs 100 per share and United Breweries share at Rs 89.5 per share.

United Breweries had also issued 25 million warrants to McDowell to be converted into United Breweries shares at Rs 35 per share. Of this, 5 million warrants have been converted. A decision to cancel the balance warrants is expected to be taken at a board meeting of the company.
Back to News Review index page

For acquisitions in Saarc region
Chennai: McDowell & Co is eyeing acquisitions in the Saarc region, according to Vijay Mallya, chairman of the company. The company is also planning listing on an overseas bourse.

The acquisitions can be in Hong Kong or Bahrain, but immediately the plans are for the Saarc region, Mr Mallya said. The group has performed creditably in Nepal where it has a 40 to 50 per cent market share.

The company will also comply with the US generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, as a prelude to its plan for listing on an overseas stock exchange, Mr Mallya said after the annual general meeting of the company.
Back to News Review index page

Gordon Woodroffe holds 7 AGMs in one day
Chennai: Gordon Woodroffe, a Manu Chhabria group company, conducted seven annual general meeting for seven years in Chennai all on one day, on 14 September 1999.

The meetings, chaired by S.P.Choudhary, executive vice-president of Shaw Wallace & Co and director of Gordon Woodroffe, passed resolutions for all the years unanimously. Attendance was thin.

Although the company had published its annual accounts for each year, the Company Law Board had restrained it from holding annual general meetings until the disputes relating to the control of the company between the two Chhabria brothers, Manu and Kishore, as settled. The matter has now been resolved in favour of the Manu Chhabria group, which holds a substantial stake in the company.
Back to News Review index page

SRF plans employee stock option
New Delhi: SRF proposes to introduce an employee stock purchase scheme for all its employees belonging to the officers' grade. The shares will be offered to eligible officers in the company and its subsidiaries at a discounted price of Rs 15 per share, subject to the approval of the shareholders. The shares are now priced at Rs 32 in the market.
Back to News Review index page

Indo Gulf to sell jetty
Mumbai: Indo Gulf Corporation is planning to sell its captive jetty at Dahej in Gujarat to French company Aegis for Rs 354 crore. The sale, understood to be structured through a special purpose vehicle, will bring down Indo Gulf's debt to nearly zero.

Company sources said the company will convert the jetty to a 100 per cent subsidiary and Aegis is expected to either pick up the equity or it will form a joint venture. It will optimise the captive jetty's operations.
Back to News Review index page

Kinetic motorcycle to take on Honda CBZ
New Delhi: Kinetic Motor Company will introduce its 150cc GF series four-stoke motorcycles in direct competition with Hero Honda's CBZ range of vehicles. The pricing and positioning will be competitive, Sulajja Firodia Motwani, joint managing director of the company, said.

The motorcycle will have a four-valve engine that will offer higher efficiency and power. Hero Honda CBZ has a two-valve engine.

The GF series is scheduled to be in the market in March 2000.
Back to News Review index page

VSNL to offer stake to staff
Mumbai: Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd has decided to offer one per cent of its equity to employees after the government disinvests part of its holding in the company.

The employees' stake will rise to 1.418 per cent. The pricing of the share for employees will be in the range of Rs 350 to Rs 400 per share.
Back to News Review index page

57 vanishing firms being prosecuted
New Delhi: The department of company affairs has launched prosecution under section 159 and 220 of the Companies Act 1956 against 57 vanishing companies, which had mobilised resources from investors and financial institutions.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India has forwarded a list of 159 companies, recommending prosecution. The department said after proper study, it found names of three companies have been repeated, eight are under liquidation and another was under the BIFR.
Back to News Review index page

South Korea tops list of investors
New Delhi: South Korea, Mauritius, the UK, and Japan top the list of investors in India, dislodging the US to fifth place. According to data compiled by the department of industrial policy and promotion in the in the industry ministry, the US has made investment of Rs 943 crore in the January-May 1999 period against Rs 3,104 crore from South Korea, Rs 2,304 from Mauritius, Rs 1,017 crore from the UK and Rs 990 crore from Japan. At one time,  post-liberalisation, the US topped the list of investors in India.

Analysts attribute the US decline to economic sanctions imposed by the US on India.
Back to News Review index page

Hyundai launches new Accent
Frankfurt: Hyundai Motor Corporation has announced the launch of a new Accent version that will replace the existing model in all international markets.

The car was formally launched by Chung Mong Ku, worldwide chairman of the Hyundai group. The car is available in the four-door sedan as well as three-door and five-door hatch-back versions. The four-door sedan will make its entry into India in October.
Back to News Review index page

DamlerChrysler to introduce 64 new models
Frankfurt: DaimlerChrysler has announced plans to introduce 64 new models by 2004. It will invest $47.6 billion in capital improvements and research and development in the next three years so that it can achieve its ambitious goal.
Back to News Review index page

Greenalls sells pubs to Scottish & Newcastle
London: Greenalls group said it is selling its pubs and restaurants to Scottish & Newcastle Brewers for $1.83 billion. Scottish & Newcastle is picking up 779 pubs and pub restaurants, managed by Greenalls, and 42 tenanted ones and 61 budget hotel lodges.
Back to News Review index page

Swatch to take over Breguet
Zurich: Swatch group has purchased luxury watchmaker Groupe Horloger Breguet, one of the oldest watchmakers in the world, having started its operations in 1775.

Swatch has reached an agreement with Investcorp to take over all the shares of Breguet. Breguet has manufacturing, sales and distribution units and units that make precision movements and micromechnical components for the watch industry.
Back to News Review index page