RPG Cables completes financial restructuring
Kolkata: Deutsche Bank AG Hong Kong has acquired a
14.9 per cent stake in RPG Cables, which manufactures
cables for power and Telecom sector. A company spokesman
said that an amount of Rs151 crore had been infused through
a mixture of debt and equity where promoters had also
participated.
RPG
Cabled has allotted fully convertible debentures to Deutsche
Bank aggregating Rs28 crore, equivalent to 14.9 per cent
of RPG Cables' equity capital.
The
company expects that the restructuring exercise would
help meet the strong demand in the power and telecom sectors.
RPG
Cables' has manufacturing units located in Thane, Silvassa
and Mysore.
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Arcelor
Mittal bids for Sesa Goa at Rs2,200/share
Mumbai: Arcelor Mittal has bid to acquire Mitsui Corp's
51 pc stake in Sesa Goa, India's biggest private iron
ore exporter at around Rs2,200 per share according to
sources. The highest bid received so far is Rs2500 per
share.
Tthe
Aditya Birla group has bid around Rs2,000 per share.
Other
companies in the fray to control Sesa Goa are Vedanta
Resources and global mining major CVRD.
According
to sources, an announcement on the stake sale is likely
next week. Mitsui's advisor in the stake sale is Morgan
Stanley.
The
Arcelor Mittal offer of Rs2,200 per share values Sesa
Goa at over Rs8,600 crore; the deal would be worth over
Rs4,400 crore.
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Jacob
of
US to buy stake in Avesthagen
Mumbai: US private equity firm Jacob Ballas Capital
(JBC) may soon acquire a minority stake in Avestha Gengraine
Technologies (Avesthagen), the biotech firm for $10 million.
JCB
is an India focused private equity firm floated by New
York Life Investment Management LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary
of New York Life Insurance Company, Singapore-based Excelfin,
Indo Pacific Estates and Punj Lloyd, one of the leading
engineering construction firm in India.
JCB's
$10 million investment will be $5 million in equity and
$5 million in warrants. The deal is said to be structured
at Rs1,850 per share, and values the company at a per
money value of $124 million.
Avesthagen
had earlier raised $32 million from Fidelity Investments
and France-based biotech majors Biomerieux and Limagrain
and the food giant Danone.
JCB's
fund infusion will be used for the company's proposed
acquisition and patent filings.
Avesthagen
operates in biopharmaceuticals, bioutritionals, bioagriculture
and science innovation.
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Sun
TV gets interim stay on sharing feed with TataSky
Chennai: Sun TV has challenged the order passed by
the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal
(TDSAT) asking the former to share its signals with the
Direct-to-Home provider TataSky in the Madras High Court.
Sun
TV has obtained an order of interim stay. Earlier on March
19, the TDSAT in an interim order asked Sun TV to provide
all its 20 channels on a-la-carte basis to TataSky at
50 per cent of its declared cable tariff.
The DTH service provider had also filed a petition in
the Delhi High Court but later withdrew the case after
the TDSAT took up the petition. TataSky had contested
Sun TV's decision not to provide signals to the DTH operator
saying that it was resulting in a loss for the company.
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Bajaj
Auto inaugurates new plant in Uttarakhand
Pantnagar:
Bajaj Auto has inaugurated its greenfield plant in Pantnagar,
Uttarakhand, which will enable it receive tax rebates.
Following this, the company has announced a cut of as
much as
Rs3,000
in the prices of its 100 cc model Platina, among the first
few bikes to be manufactured here.
The company said it has priced Platina at Rs33,000 down
from the earlier Rs36,000. Earlier the company had earlier
that it would exit this segment soon. By July, the company
plans to roll out a new motorcycle in the executive category,
which could be priced around Rs40,000.
Rajiv
Bajaj managing director, Bajaj Auto dismissed the claim
of Bajaj foraying into the small car segment or partnering
with Tata Motors. He said the focus of the company would
remain on the four-wheeler cargo, which it would launch
by 2009.
The
plant at Uttarakhand, Bajaj said, would address the overseas
market in the future. While there was no fixed timeframe
by when they would start exporting from the plant, it
has been built to scale up capacity for exports to Indonesia
where it seeks to gain its market share.
The
company already has a three-wheeler assembly unit at Indonesia
and would like to tap the two-wheeler market, he said,
adding that it was looking to set up a manufacturing facility
at Jakarta.
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Reliance
to set up Rs25,000 crore mega pipeline grid
Mumbai: Reliance Industries plans to invest between
Rs25,000 crore and Rs30,000 crore in setting up a pipeline
grid covering main gas transport trunk lines supplemented
by spur lines crisscrossing four major States to begin
with. The grid would cover the entire country later with
pipelines stretching about 10,000 km across the country
to be used on "common carrier basis."
The
initial stretch of about 1,950 km of main line and about
1,150 km of spur lines would be laid within 18 months
and all of the 10,000 km line within three years.
Of
the initial investment of about Rs18,000 crore that would
cover two major trunk lines, about Rs9,000 crore would
be invested in pipelines in Andhra Pradesh alone. This
would be supplemented by City Gas Distribution network.
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NMDC
to diversify into steel, coal mining, power
Hyderabad:
The National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC)
has decided to diversify into coal mining, power and renewable
energy and also set up a greenfield integrated steel plant,
with an overall investment of more than Rs10,000 crore.
The
2-million-tonne steel plant of the company would come
up in Chhattisgarh, where a location is being finalised.
NMDC is also scouting for joint venture partners and is
in talks with SAIL, RINL and others to put up the Rs3,500-crore
plant.
The
pre-feasibility studies have been completed and a consultant
is being appointed to identify the location and do the
project-costing.
NMDC
will be part of the mega venture contemplated by the Centre
to acquire overseas mines with a huge corpus fund. SAIL,
Coal India, NTPC and RINL are other PSU members in the
consortia which will bid for mines in Indonesia and Australia.
Independently also, NMDC has applied for coal blocks for
lease, on license and is ready for acquisition within
the country.
The
company is also setting up a 10-MW power plant to power
its projects. In renewable energy the company proposes
to set up windmills in Karnataka with an investment of
Rs110 crore.
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Rig
shortage hits ONGC plans
New Delhi: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC)
is unable to exploit the block in the Krishna-Godavari
(KG) Basin off the Andhra Pradesh coast, where it has
made its biggest gas discovery due to non-availability
of rigs.
The
gas find in ultra deepwater well in KG Basin became controversial
when the Directorate-General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) discounted
it on grounds that ONGC had not followed the conventional
method of testing to establish the find and abandoned
the well.
Subsequently,
while accepting the discovery, the DGH had said that if
ONGC makes a re-entry in the well located in KG-DW-98/2
block and carries out the required tests, discovery or
potential commercial viability could be accepted.
ONGC
holds 90 per cent interest in the KG block, with rest
being held by Cairn.
The
company said it does not plan to re-enter the ultra deepwater
well (UD1) where it has found hydrocarbons and may undertake
conventional testing for one of the appraisal wells in
the block, as the feature of the area is very large.
This
would be subject to availability of rigs. The company's
rigs however are already deployed in other blocks.
There
is an acute shortage of such rigs worldwide, and apart
from spiralling of charter rates most of the rigs are
overbooked.
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Trent
enters into pact with The Xander Group
Mumbai: Trent has entered into a pact with the US-based
global private equity firm The Xander Group Inc.
The
company said The Xander Group Inc. through one or more
of its fund vehicles will invest in the development of
an institutional retail real estate portfolio in India
in partnership with high quality Indian developers.
The
company would have anchor tenancy rights and obligations
and would participate with Xander in the management of
such portfolio and its growth.
The
arrangement will be of considerable help to the company
in its growth plans in the retail sector, including through
its current formats like Westside, Landmark and Star India
Bazaar, the release added.
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Birla
sugar mills to complete Rs800 crore expansion
New Delhi: The Birla group of sugar mills will soon
complete its Rs800 crore expansion works in November this
year. The company is diversifying into allied sectors
like ethanol production and co-power generation.
Oudh
Sugar Mills chairman and managing director Chandra Shekhar
Nopany said the expansion was started one and a half years
ago and it was at an advanced stage of completion. Birla
group already has seven sugar and distillery units --
four in Uttar Pradesh and three in Bihar.
Apart
from setting up an ethanol production unit and co-generation
power plant, Birla group has also increased the capacity
of existing units under the expansion plan.
Oudh
Sugar Mills' greenfield 7,000 tcd capacity sugar unit
at Hata in Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh at a cost
of Rs336 crore is nearing completion. Another of the company's
17 MW co-generation power plant, situated at the same
place, will star operating by November, 2008.
The
company has also completed expansion of its UP-based Hargaon
and Narkatiaganj sugar factories, which commenced operations
for the crushing season 2006-07.
After
completion of all the expansion programmes, Oudh Sugar
will have total crushing capacity of 28,700 tcd, captive
power generation of 30 MW and two distilleries of 130
klpd.
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