Ranbaxy appoints Khanna, Brar
New Delhi: In the true traditions of professionalism espoused by late Ranbaxy Laboratories chairman Parvinder Singh, the company's directors met and elected Tajendra Khanna, former lieutenant-governor of Delhi, as chairman of the company and D.S. Brar as managing director and chief executive officer for a five-year term.

The board's decisions were endorsed by Dr Singh's sons, Malvinder and Shivinder, who issued a joint statement. "We are both fully supportive of the ideals and principles that Dr Singh cherished, and in particular of Mr Khanna and Mr Brar succeeding him in their respective positions. We both believe this to be in the best interest of all shareholders," they said

Khanna will head the management, science, finance and audit committees of the board and give special attention to research and business ethics, while Brar will handle the day-to-day management of the company.
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Lupin may shelve Max unit acquisition plan
Mumbai: Lupin Chemicals' proposed takeover of Max-GB's cephalosporin C and 7-aminocephalosporic acid units situated in Punjab is understood to have been called off. An Economic Times report said the decision was taken in the context of falling international prices of 7ACA, a key input in a string of cephalosporins.

Lupin had intended to shift the units from Toansa near Chandigarh to Tarapur in Maharashtra. The company now finds that it is cheaper to import the raw material than to produce it.
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Reliance wants war insurance cover for refinery
Mumbai: Reliance Petroleum has reportedly approached insurance companies for a war insurance cover for its refinery and petrochemicals complex at Jamnagar. Although the situation in Kargil has eased, the company is said to be unwilling to take any risks on its huge refinery. The complex has conventional insurance cover.

Insurance sources said war cover is not offered by insurance companies in India. Reliance officials have denied that they are in search for war cover insurance.
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Hindustan Lever, Industrial Perfumes to merge
Mumbai: The shareholders of Hindustan Lever approved the merger of its subsidiary, Industrial Perfumes, with the parent company at an extraordinary general meeting. There were some dissenting voices, but the proposal was adopted by a majority.

At a subsequent meeting of shareholders convened by the Bombay High Court, a poll was taken. The results will be announced on 6 July.

Some shareholders said the ratio of two shares of HLL for every five shares in IPL was unfair to non-promoter shareholders. Industrial Perfumes is a former Tata Oil Mills Company subsidiary that came into the Hindustan Lever fold after Tomco was merged with Hindustan Lever.

The shareholders also approved the sale of HLL's dairy business to Nutricia (India), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nutricia International BV of the Netherlands.
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Videocon to sell CTVs at Rs 6,000
New Delhi: The Videocon group has tied up with a leading Chinese colour TV manufacturer to market a budget-line range of colour TVs in India.

Company officials did not divulge details of the brand, but industry sources indicated that the TV could be Chang Hong, the second largest selling colour TV brand in China. The product is likely to be priced at Rs 6,000.

The new tie-up may directly affect another Chinese colour TV manufacturer, Konka, which has recently entered India. Both companies intend to launch their products in September.
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Pentafour to have units in 8 countries
Chennai: Pentafour Software and Exports will float fully-owned subsidiaries in eight countries to strengthen its overseas operations.

V. Chandrasekharan, chairman and managing director of the company, said that besides the US, the company wants to reach Europe, South East Asia and West Asia. It will set up subsidiary companies in London, Dubai, Amsterdam, Singapore, Bangkok, Tokyo, Malaysia and Australia. The Reserve Bank of India has given permission for investment of  $15 million in these subsidiaries.

Mr Chandrasekharan said the company is also preparing for investments in mergers and acquisitions abroad.
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ABB hiving off power unit
New Delhi: Asea Brown Boveri announced that it is hiving of its power generation division, Powerco, in India into a separate company. All the assets and liabilities will be transferred to the new company.

The Company Law Board has given clearance for the proposal.
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Indian Oil to raise funds
Mumbai: Indian Oil Corporation is proposing to raise $100 million through a bankers' acceptance facility at 19 basis points over the London inter-bank offered rate. The deal, which has been arranged by Bank of America, has a six-month maturity with bullet repayment.

The bankers' acceptance facility is in the nature of a short-term advance.

The current pricing is lower than the 1997 and 1998 deals which were contracted at 24 basis points over the London inter-bank offer rate, or Libor. The public sector IOC will use the funds to finance oil imports.
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Bharat Forge will raise funds
Pune: Bharat Forge, the Rs 486-crore, Pune-based Kalyani group company, is seeking approval from shareholders for raising funds through a combination of preference shares, non-convertible debentures and term loans worth Rs 240 crore. The funds will be used mainly for modernisation, normal capital expenses and augmenting long term resources.
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NTPC contract deal is controversial
Calcutta: Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd and two multinational companies -- ABB-CE and Foster Wheeler -- are in the fray for the Talcher-II steam generator contract of the National Thermal Power Corporation. NTPC is likely to take a decision on the contract sometime this month.

Talcher-II (4x500 MW) has become controversial as NTPC, after the first round of bidding, invited snap bids. Bhel emerged as the lowest bidder in the first round, but NTPC decided to invite a second round of bids.

It is alleged that ABB-CE and Foster Wheeler have deviated from several bidding clauses, but their bids have not been rejected. Bhel has strongly protested NTPC's decision to go in for a second round of bidding.
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ITC to merge investment units
Calcutta: ITC Ltd is planning to consolidate its investment companies into a single activity. The management has brought three principal investment companies, Sage, Summit and Pinnacle, under one roof.

Russel Credit is the parent company, which will house the three key subsidiaries. Russel, which had little connection with the cigarette major, was recently acquired for the purpose of the merger.

ITC has also decided to either close down some other investment companies or merge them with Russel Credit.
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NTC to sell off stake in Swadeshi Polytex
New Delhi: The National Textile Corporation (UP) and financial institutions have decided to sell their entire 48.8 per cent stake in Swadeshi Polytex. The financial institutions include the Industrial Development Bank of India, the Unit Trust of India and the Life Insurance Corporation.

The sale will be subject to approval from the government and the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction. The Swarup family, which owns 25 per cent equity in the company, has decided against bidding for the shares. Instead, the family will sell its equity.
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Datapro in deal with Verio of US
Pune: Datapro group has entered into a strategic partnership with Verio Inc of the US to get into web hosting and designing, training, selling space and sites in domain name and e-commerce.

Datapro will offer the web-related services in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal .
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BSES plans foray into transmission
Mumbai: Power supply company BSES Ltd is planning to get into the electricity transmission business. It is seeking shareholders' approval for this purpose.

The company is considering various options, including acquisitions, for getting into this sector. It also intends to acquire, maintain, operate and manage power generation stations and transmission lines.

The transmission sector has been thrown open for private participation in the last one year. Before that it was the exclusive preserve of state and central government undertakings.
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Dunlop presents revival plan to Basu
Calcutta: Dunlop India has presented a revival plan to West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu. The company's directors Komal Chhabria Wazir and Yogesh Lumba presented the plan to Basu.

Wazir later hoped that with the combined efforts of the state government and the management of the company the factory gates at Sahagunj in West Bengal and Ambattur in Tamil Nadu would open soon.

Basu is understood to have told Wazir and Lumba to first convince the banks, the BIFR and the trade unions of their good intentions before seeking concessions and cooperation from the state government.
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Apollo to market HP products
Bangalore: Apollo Consumer Products, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hewlett Packard, is launching its products in India.

The company offers low-end computer peripherals based on HP technology. It has signed Wipro as the national distributor for the products.

The company intends to sell the Apollo P1200 series of colour inkjet printers, priced around Rs 5,000, as the initial product.
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TotalFina seeks to acquire Elf
Paris: France's largest oil company TotalFina launched a $42.97 billion stock bid for French rival Elf Aquitaine. In a move described as hostile, TotalFina offered four of its own shares for three in Elf.

Elf said the offer was not in the interests of its shareholders. Elf recently attempted to buy Norwegian exploration and production group Saga Petroleum but was outbid by an alliance of two Norwegian companies.
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Coca-Cola talks with Cadburys for S. African unit
Atlanta: Coca-Cola is negotiating to acquire the South African beverage unit of Cadbury Schweppes after failing to secure its beverage operations in other parts of the world.

The purchase would give Coca-Cola almost total control of the  soft drinks market in South Africa in which it currently has an  83 per cent share.

Coca-Cola bottlers in South Africa already pack and distribute Cadbury Schweppes brands, including Dr Pepper and Seven Up.

In Mexico, Australia and several European countries, regulators had expressed concern over Coca-Cola's acquisition of Cadbury Schweppes saying it would give an unfair control for the company in the local markets.
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Punch hikes offer to acquire Allied Domecq
London: Punch Taverns added 75 million to its offer for Allied Domecq pubs in an attempt to outbid rival Whitbread. Punch said it is now offering 2.925 billion for Allied's 3,544 pubs, a share in off-licence chains and a soft drinks business.

Punch is now giving Allied shareholders the option to take 79 million new shares in Bass plc, a firm that is backing Punch, instead of cash.
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Glaxo says restructuring will take time
London: Glaxo Wellcome said it would be some months before a decision is taken on restructuring its manufacturing activities. The company was responding to reports that it is planning to cut jobs in a restructuring exercise.
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