Mangalore Refineries plans to induct a partner
Mumbai: Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals Ltd, the A V Birla-Hindustan Petroleum Corporation joint venture, is planning to induct a multinational partner with up to 26 per cent equity participation. The two promoters are holding discussions with various companies and are expected to finalise a deal by November 1999, the Business Standard reported.

The A.V. Birla group and the HPC each owns 37 per cent of MRPL's equity, and financial institutions have a 4 per cent stake. The balance is held by the public. The promoters had brought in an additional equity of Rs 726 crore recently to fund expansion of the refinery's capacity.

The company had talked to Mobil Corporation before it was taken over by Exxon. It has tie-ups with Chevron and Texaco for supply of a part of the crude requirement.
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Indian Rayon to buy back shares
Mumbai: A V Birla group company Indian Rayon has decided to buy back its shares through a reverse bookbuilding process. The company's board has decided on a reverse bookbuilding offer of Rs 75 to Rs 85 per share for the buyback. The offer is for 25 per cent of the company's floating stock.

The buyback is expected to cost between Rs 127 crore and Rs 144 crore. The final price will be determined on the basis of bids from shareholders, company sources said.
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ICICI to pick up stake in Elbee
Mumbai: ICICI is all set to pick up a stake in Elbee Services, a leading courier company. The stake will be acquired through a preference share conversion. Elbee will issue 20.83 shares of Rs 10 face value at Rs 24 per share. The promoters of Elbee, members of the Shah family, own 55 per cent of the company.  After the conversion, their stake will reduce to 42 per cent.

ICICI has agreed to convert $2.64 million outstanding from the company in foreign currency loans into a rupee loan of Rs 11.43 crore.
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2 TVS group companies merge
Chennai: TVS-Suzuki has secured its shareholders' approval for an amalgamation scheme to merge the company with a small firm, Sundaram Auto Engineers, and a subsequent change in the name of the merged entity to TSL.

The company clarified that the merger is being done for sentimental reasons as Sundaram Auto Engineers has no operations. Sundaram Auto Engineers has a paid-up capital of only Rs 700 held by seven individuals. As per the scheme, all assets, liabilities, duties, rights and obligations of TSL will be vested with Sundaram Auto Engineers from 22 April 1999.
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Glenmark promoters to dilute stake
Mumbai: The promoters of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, the Saldanha family members, will dilute their stake in the company from around 85 per cent to 60 per cent through the sale of equity to a strategic investor and an initial public offer or placement with a private equity fund.

The move is aimed at raising Rs 50 crore to fund a research and development centre and a formulation facility. Glenmark has an equity capital of Rs 7.42 crore and is known for its anti-fungal preparations.
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Acer announces Indian arm
Bangalore: Taiwan's Acer Computer International has announced the setting up of its wholly-owned Indian subsidiary, Acer India (Pvt) Ltd, headquartered in Bangalore. The company will be engaged in manufacturing, marketing and selling the Acer brand of PC products -- personal computers, notebooks, servers and home PCs.

"With a current installed base of over 1.25 lakh Acer computers in the country today, India, to Acer, offers an accessible, potential market. We will strive to make Acer a leading PC brand in India," says Arun Sinha, managing director, Acer India (Pvt) Ltd.

Acer is the world's third-largest PC manufacturer, offering a broad selection of industry-leading high-end servers, multimedia PCs, notebooks, computer peripherals, components and semiconductors. It has operations in 37 countries and its revenue in 1998 was $6.7 billion.

The Indian venture comes after Acer parted ways with Wipro. However, Wipro will continue to market Acer products. In addition, the company has tied up with Thakral Computers and Unison Technologies, who will also be distribution partners.
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Winding up petition against Pure Drinks unit
New Delhi: The Chandigarh High Court has accepted an application from DCM Financial Services seeking winding up of Pure Drinks (New Delhi) for the company's failure to pay its dues. The court directed that acceptance of the winding-up petition be advertised in the official gazette of Punjab as well as in newspapers in the state.

DCM Financial Services claimed that Pure Drinks (New Delhi) owes the company Rs 1.61 crore. Pure Drinks (New Delhi) is a Patiala-registered company of the Pure Drinks group, which controls soft drink brands of Campa Cola, Campa Orange and Tripp as well as the Le Meridien Hotel in New Delhi.
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FIs okay loan for Essar Minerals
Mumbai: Financial institutions have decided to sanction Rs 892 crore in loans to Essar Minerals, which has been renamed HyGrade Pellets and is now 51-per cent owned by Stemcor of the UK. As a first step of a comprehensive package for the minerals company, the Industrial Development Bank of India has cleared Rs 300 crore as its share.

Of the Rs 892 crore, Rs 520 crore will go towards repaying Essar Steel's non-equity investments in the company. Essar Steel will use these funds to retire institutional loans. The financial institutions will advance another Rs 372 crore to the company to complete its iron ore beneficiation project at Bailadila, set up a captive power plant at Visakhapatnam and an iron ore slurry pipeline from Bailadila to Visakhapatnam.

Stemcor had recently bought 51 per cent of Essar Steel's 100 per cent stake in the mineral unit. Essar Steel continues to hold the balance 49 per cent stake.
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5 shortlisted to advise on HCIL divestment
Bangalore: Five international firms have been shortlisted to act as advisors to oversee the disinvestment of Air-India's shareholding in its wholly-owned subsidiary Hotel Corporation of India. The five firms shortlisted are: Jones Lang LaSalle/ANZ Investments Bank, Goldman Sachs/Kotak Mahindra, HSBC Capital Markets, Morgan Stanley, and Jardine Matherson.

The Hotel Corporation of India, which has a paid-up capital of Rs 4.60 crore, runs hotels and flight kitchens.
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Bharat Forge eyes acquisitions abroad
Pune: Bharat Forge is preparing itself for acquisitions in the US and Europe. The Rs 600-crore Kalyani group automobile components company is also exploring the possibilities of acquiring auto components firms abroad.

The group's chairman Baba N. Kalyani said the acquisitions are needed as exports of auto parts from India are an expensive affair.
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L&T to take stake in power project JV
Mumbai: Larsen & Toubro is taking a 26 per cent stake in a 500 megawatt power project that Indian Oil Corporation and Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan are building in Gujarat.

Indianoil and Mitsubishi have a 26 per cent equity holding each in the project. Besides Larsen & Toubro, the public sector Engineers India Ltd is also taking a minority stake in the venture. The project is based on residue fuel petcoke, which is sourced from an Indianoil refinery.
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Microland in new web venture
Bangalore: Microland, a leading web service provider, is set to launch its technology portal, ITspace.com. The venture will be a division of the company for the time being but will be converted into a separate company with ICICI Venture and Indocean Chase Capital Advisors taking stakes.

The portal will have a range of news, user-generated content, discussion forum and peer networking opportunities tailored to specific needs. Microland said the portal is structured to give up-to-the minute domestic and international news and analysis to help professionals stay abreast of developments in the industry and get updated in cutting edge technology, IT policy and market happenings including live IT stock feeds.
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Indal to hike aluminium production
New Delhi: The Indian Aluminium Company has outlined a Rs 800-crore plan to increase alumina production capacity and set up a captive power plant. The company will increase alumina capacity from 3.18 lakh tonne per annum to 5.1 lakh tonne per annum at a cost of Rs 400 crore at its Belgaum, Karnataka plant and set up a captive power plant at Hirakud, Orissa, its managing director N.K. Choudhry said.

He added that the company will also increase capacity of alumina at its plant at Muri in Bihar, and that of the rolling mill for manufacturing value-added aluminium products.
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Iridium India joins others for parent's revamp
Mumbai: Iridium India, the Indian subsidiary of Iridium, the global mobile satellite phone company that has filed a bankruptcy petition in New York, has joined hands with 11 other Iridium subsidiaries in other countries to implement a restructuring exercise of their parent company. Iridium has filed the bankruptcy petition after defaulting on two large loans totalling $1.5 billion.

In a recent meeting in Washington DC, the subsidiaries, which are gateway providers operating earth stations to catch and transmit messages to orbiting satellites of the Iridium project, have appointed common legal representatives and financial advisors to represent their case.

Iridium India is sponsored by leading domestic financial institutions and has invested nearly Rs 150 crore for setting up the gateway access. The company has a $72 million equity stake in Iridium.
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Proton offers to revamp Ambassador
Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian car company Proton has offered to upgrade Hindustan Motors' Ambassador cars. The company has also proposed marketing of the vehicle abroad.

Proton officials said the company can use its technology to change the model of the car and add value to it so that it becomes attractive in the Indian and international markets. Proton and Hindustan Motors signed a memorandum of understanding recently for assembling Proton models at Chennai.
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Endesa plans to sell unit's non-core business
Madrid: Spanish power company Endesa will sell its non-core businesses owned by Enersis, its Chilean subsidiary. The move forms part of the group's plan to increase profitability.

The plan includes measures to streamline management, systems and operating practices at Enersis, whose costs per kilowatt of electricity are calculated at double those of Endesa.
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Rolls Royce moves to acquire Vickers
London: Rolls Royce has launched a $933-million cash offer for Vickers in a move, which the company said is aimed at making it a global leader in marine power systems. Analysts, however, see the 53 per cent premium Rolls Royce has offered for Vickers's share as on a higher side.

The move has also surprised many as Vickers' defence business, including battle tanks and armoured vehicles, will be a surplus to Rolls Royce's requirement.
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