Donnelley may exit Tata Donnelley
Mumbai: R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company, partner in Tata Donnelley, is likely to exit the joint venture. An indication to this effect was given by Xerxes S. Desai, chairman of Tata Donnelley, at the company's annual general meeting on 21 August.

Mr. Desai said the two principal shareholders of the joint venture are holding talks on the future of R.R. Donnelley in the venture.

Mr. Desai told shareholders that there has been a contraction in R.R. Donnelley's active involvement in the operational matters of the company in the past year. This has arisen mainly on account of R.R. Donnelley's new policy of focusing on its domestic US market.

R.R. Donnelly is a 25 per cent shareholder in the venture, with the Tata group owning 25 per cent. Tata Donnelley is engaged in the Yellow Pages business and several special interest publications besides diaries. It also undertakes commercial printing work.

Tata Donnelley also has a 21 per cent stake in RDI Print and Publishing, which markets Reader's Digest in India.
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Zenith plans unified software unit
Mumbai: The Zenith group is consolidating its software businesses -- Zensoft and Zenith Infotech -- into a single entity.

Raj Saraf, chairman of Zenith Computers, said the new entity will continue to exist independently of Zenith Computers. The group will invest about Rs 10 crore in the new unit.

While Zensoft, based in Singapore, has a turnover of $1.4 million on a capital base of $50,000, Zenith Infotech, headquartered in Mumbai, has a turnover of Rs 11 crore on a capital base of Rs 5.25 crore. The unified entity will explore new areas such as data replication, Mr Saraf said.
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Shantha Biotech takes on animal activists
Hyderabad: Shantha Biotechnics has filed a case against the animal rights group Blue Cross and several government departments for obstructing animal tests of its drug interferon alpha.

The company has moved a petition in the Andhra Pradesh high court demanding damages worth Rs 100 crore for the loss of time and investments in the research into indigenously developing the drug.

The animal testing by the National Institution of Nutrition was obstructed to by the animal activists led by Amala Akkineni, a former film actress, and volunteers of the SPCA on 10 August on the grounds that the National Institution of Nutrition did not have necessary clearances of the government.
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New York Times plans IPO
New York: New York Times is considering an initial public offering for its internet unit.

The paper's chairman, Arthur O Sulzberger Jr, said in a staff memo that the company is considering allowing all employees to buy stock at the IPO price in any potential offering.

The company, which publishes the New York Times and Boston Globe among other publications, is one of the many old media companies grappling with prospects of rapid growth in their internet-related business.
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Nestle, Pillsbury in ice cream JV
New York: Swiss food company Nestle has formed a joint venture with US-based Pillsbury, linking Nestle's ice cream unit and Pillsbury's Hagen-Dazs frozen dessert businesses in a bid to snatch a bigger slice of the $11 billion US market.

Nestle and Pillsbury will have equal stake in the joint venture.
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Phelps Dodge aims to be No 1 copper producer
Los Angeles: Phelps Dodge Corp has offered $2.66 billion in stock for Asarco Inc and Cyprus Amax Minerals Company, in a bid to become the world's top copper producer. Asarco and Cyprus Amax Minerals, which plan to merge, had rejected an earlier lower offer from Phelps Dodge.

Asarco, based in New York, declined to comment on the latest offer. The two smaller copper producers, however, said they would move forward with their own merger, which is valued at $1.42 billion based on their stock prices

The combination of Phelps Dodge, currently the No 4 copper producer, with Asarco and Cyprus, ranked sixth and seventh, would outstrip Codelco, the state-owned copper producer of Chile, which is the No 1 in the world.
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Case filed against BAT, Imasco merger proposal
Montreal: A class action law suit has been filed in an Ontario court seeking to block British American Tobacco's planned acquisition of tobacco, financial services and drug store firm Imasco at an estimated C$10.3 billion.

The case has been filed at the superior court in Ontario seeking an injunciton against the offer, arguing that it is inadequate at C$ 40 a share. The suit also claims damages of C$1.26 billion.
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Comsat shareholders approve merger with Lockheed Martin
Bethesda: Comsat Corporation's shareholders approved the proposed purchase of their company by Lockheed Martin.

Comsat said 39.4 million shares, or 99 per cent of total votes were cast in favour of the merger. The overwhelming support came in spite of a decline in the value of the deal since it was announced in September1998.
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Daewoo restructuring to be successful
Seoul: Chairman of Korea's Financial Supervisory Commission Lee Hun-jai said the restructuring of Daewoo group will be successfully conducted.

"Daewoo group will be dealt with promptly," Lee told a newspaper. "To stabilise the financial market, time and speed is very important," he added.
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