Hindustan Petroleum missive to government on MRPL : dilute
New Delhi: The board of directors of state-owned oil company, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, which is due to meet and approve the buy-out of the AV Birla stake in its joint venture in Mangalore Refineries, is understood to have written to the government on this issue. The board is said to have told the government that any merger of MRPL with the oil major will not be possible until the government dilutes its stake in the former, which currently stands at 51.01 per cent.

The oil major also wishes to retain the option of selling out, demerging, or divesting part of the MRPL equity to a strategic partner at a later date.

With the infusion of new funds in doubt as the Birla group pulls out, HPCL has sought the government’s help in procuring soft loans and equity infusion by the Oil Industrial Development Board.
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Kotak Mahindra to decide on options to become a bank
Mumbai: The board of directors of Kotak Mahindra is set to decide on the various options it has before it in its course to convert itself into a commercial bank. The options before it are acquiring an existing bank and going for a reverse merger or promoting a new bank.

The company has already put in place a business model with the help of Consultancy Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting) and Crisil. The last date for prospective bank promoters to submit their applications to the RBI for a banking licence is March 31.

The company has been contemplating this issue for several months now.

According to industry sources, with Centurion Bank, Karur Vysya, Lord Krishna and Dhanalakshmi on the lookout for a partner, Kotak might consider the options of acquisition or reverse merger with any of these entitites.

The RBI norms released in January this year require NBFCs wishing to convert into banks to have a minimum net worth of Rs 200 crore, capital adequacy ratio of 12 per cent and non-performing assets of less than 5 per cent. In addition, they should also have a triple-A credit rating and should not have defaulted on public liabilities.
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Tatas to spread their brand through cricket
Kolkotta: With the government spiking cigarette giant ITC’s sponsorship of the Indian cricket team, the Tata Group is all set to take up the position vacated by ITC. The cigarette giant has had to withdraw its Will Sports Cricket sponsorship in view of the government ban on cigarette advertising.

The Tata Group views the sponsorship as a good means of promoting its Tata brand and are said to have bid for becoming the official sponsors of the Indian cricket team.

According to sources, besides the Tata group, Korean consumer electronic majors LG Electronics and Samsung were also seen as front runners for the official sponsorship for the Indian team.

Several past and present cricketers including current Indian captain Saurav Ganguly and celebrities like Ravi Shastri, Raju Kulkarni, Dilip Vengsarkar, Kiran More and Saba Karim hail from the house of Tatas.

Top sources in the cricketing world confirmed that the new sponsorship arrangement is likely to be finalised by early April, just in time for the next Zimbabwe fixtures.
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Guarniflon may take over Hind Flourocarbon
New Delhi: One of Europe’s largest chemical groups, Guarniflon of Italy and SRF are said to be the front runners for acquiring the ailing Hindustan Fluorocarbons, a sick company originally promoted by the Rs 1,000-crore, state-owned Hindustan Organic Chemicals.

According to informed sources, SRF has put in a bid for Rs 9 crore and the Italian company is understood to have offered Rs 14.1 crore to acquire all assets of the company.

Both companies are understood to have bid in response to an advertisement by the operating agency, IDBI, inviting offers for the takeover, leasing, amalgamation, merger for the rehabilitation of Hindustan Fluorocarbons.

Guarniflon is the largest integrated manufacturer of poly tetra flouro ethylene semi-finished and finished products in Europe.

The acquisition may see nearly 170 of the total 270 employees in Hindustan Fluorocarbons being asked to leave.
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Mudra DDB sets up media specialist
Mumbai: Mudra DDB is said to be contemplating setting up its own media AOR (Agency of Record) called OMS, or Optimum Media Solutions, to handle Rs 150-crore worth of media-only business, or clients who don’t repose their creative business with the agency.

The agency is also reportedly in talks with the gigantic, global media specialist Optimum Media Direction, part of the Omnicon group, for a JV or to be part of the setup as a separate brand when it enters India.

OMD is expected to come to India within year’s time, and then OMS will be folded into this unit as separate brand, along with the media departments of TBWA and RK Swamy BBDO, two other outfits belonging to the same group.

Slated to be headed by Amit Ray, currently a vice president with Mudra, OMS will have some key clients in Madura Garments, Nutrine, Samsung, Satyam Infoway.
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Max Healthcare to set up health care clinics
New Delhi: Using the Dr. Max brand name, Max Healthcare, a subsidiary of Max India, has begun setting up its chain of healthcare clinics. The first three such clinics were inaugurated in the capital city.

The primary centres will offer consultation as well as diagnostic and radiology tests while the secondary centre will have more advanced facilities to carry out tests such as magnetic resonance imaging and computerised tomography.

Max Healthcare has a strategic alliance with Harvard Medical International, a subsidiary of Harvard Medical School, which provides it access to the medical school's vast pool of resources.
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IIT-Mumbai may tie-up with Unilvever for biotech research
Mumbai: According to sources, the world’s largest FMCG major, Unilever plc., has initiated talks with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai, for conducting basic research in biotechnology for different varieties of foods products.

The discussions, which have been initiated a few months back, are likely to fructify into a final decision shortly.

While Mr. Jayesh R Bellare, head of biomedical engineering, IIT-Mumbai, confirmed that Unilever has put forth a proposal for conducting research in biotechnology for food products, he was reluctant to divulge whether Unilever wants to develop a new molecule or it wants IIT to conduct additional research in a food molecule already developed by it.

Recently, multinational pharmaceutical major Eli Lilly has tied up with the Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) for conducting additional research on a molecule developed by the company in the anti-diabetic segment. The investment involved in the deal is around $15 million.

Other companies reportedly in talks with IIT Mumbai for research work in various fields are General Electric of the US and domestic power equipment major Larsen & Toubro, pharma companies like Zydus Cadila, Kopran and US Vitamins
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Dr Reddy's Labs to float ADS in April
Hyderabad: Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd recently filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission signifying its intention to mobilize $150 million through an ADS issue early next month. Roadshows for the issue are expected to commence shortly and listing is likely to take place around April 11 or 12.

Listing for the shares will be done on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Merrill Lynch & Co has been appointed as the managing underwriter for the offer. When this happens, Dr Reddy's will be the first Indian pharmaceutical company to be listed on a US exchange.

The top executives of the company, including chief executive officer G V Prasad, chief operating officer Satish Reddy and senior vice-president (finance) Vasudevan, today left for the US to participate in the roadshows.
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L&T being wooed for Vijayanagar project
Mumbai: With global power majors, Enron and PowerGen, exiting from their bid to pick up a 26 per cent stake in the 500 mw Vijayanagar Thermal Power Project (VTPP), the chief promoter of the project, the Karnataka Power Corporation, is likely to invite engineering major, Larsen & Toubro to invest in the project..

Enron has quit the Indian power sector until the time it feels that the sector has become economically viable. PowerGen has quit in keeping with its global plan to concentrate on power projects in the US and Europe.

While L&T does not operate any power project in the country, it is the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for many power projects in the country.

The cost VTPP is estimated at Rs 2,100 crore with a 75:25 debt-equity ratio. KPCL is planning to hold a 26 per cent stake in the project.
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Mahindra Sintered enters into pact with German firm
Pune: The 51:49 joint venture between the Mahindra group and the UK-based GKN group, Mahindra Sintered Products, has recently entered into a major strategic alliance with MicroMet GmbH, Germany, a leading producer of copper powder in the world, to produce high-grade copper powder.

The 2,400 tonne per annum capacity plant to manufacture copper powder has been set-up at the existing manufacturing facility of Mahindra Sintered in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra.

In the first year of operation, MicroMet will buyback 1,000 tonne of copper powder and will gradually increase it to 70 per cent of the installed plant capacity.

The buy back clause is likely to help the new plant break even in the first year of operation itself.

According to Mr BM Kataria, managing director of the company, MicroMet has provided the technology free of cost to Mahindra Sintered and it would meet Mahindra Sintered's copper powder requirements by using a state-of-art, cost-effective production technology.

Copper powder is a raw material which Mahindra Sintered requires to produce sintered bearings and parts, which are used by the automotive, auto ancillary industries and in domestic appliances like food processors, washing machines and other items.
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M&M's Bijlee to gain from new auto policy
Mumbai: The new auto policy that is to come into effect shortly is likely to give M&M a boost for its electric vehicle, Bijlee.

It is understood that the government is likely to announce an excise holiday, in addition to a reduction in customs duty on certain components, for electric vehicles, resulting in lowering the price of such vehicles. .

This will surely give the Mahindra Bijlee a boost since, under current conditions, its prices are higher than other three-wheelers that run on fossil fuels.

Bijlee is manufactured by the joint venture between M&M and Jayem, a Coimbatore-based company, at the latter’s plant. M&M has a 40 per cent equity in the joint venture.
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