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Arvind Mills plans spin-off
Ahmedabad: Arvind Mills has decided to
spin off its garment and telecom business into two subsidiary
companies as part of the restructuring of the company's
current business portfolio.
The Rs 987-crore company
is expecting that private equity funds or strategic investors
will participate in the equity of these two subsidiaries.
Later there will be an initial public offer to help raise
cash for cotton textile businesses.
Arvind Mills at present
owns the right to market two international brands -- Lee
and Arrow -- in India through its subsidiaries Arvind
Fashions and Arvind Clothing. These companies are proposed
to be made into an unified garments division.
The telecom division manufactures
small EPABX machines under the brand name Syntel and also
provides public mobile radio trunking services.
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BPL
Telecom to lay cables along tracks
Mumbai: BPL Telecom will undertake a
project to lay fibre optic cables along railway lines
to set up a telecommunication infrastructure in the country.
The company has signed a memorandum of understanding with
Rail India Technical and Economic Services, an Indian
Railways subsidiary, for this purpose.
The company plans to be
an internet service provider by December 1999 in 11 cities
and the project will help it in this venture. It will
also set up independent gateways in Mumbai, Delhi and
Bangalore. The company is looking at mobile phone-to-internet
connectivity in cities where it has cellular phone presence.
In the first phase, cables
will be laid in the Mumbai-Chennai sector and later the
network will be extended to the whole of the country.
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Navneet
transfers 3 brands to listed company
Mumbai: Three popular products of the
Navneet group of the Galas will be transferred to the
group's listed company, Navneet Publications (India) without
any compensation. The three brands will be Navneet, Vikas
and Gala.
The group is a major player
in the educational books and stationery items and the
three brands account for more than 90 per cent of the
company's aggregate sales of Rs 115 crore in 1997-98.
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Monsanto
to bring rice bran oil to India
New Delhi: Multinational company Monsanto
plans to introduce branded rice bran oil in India. The
company will enter the domestic food market through
its Indian subsidiary.
Monsanto will invest around
$40 million in the project. The oil will be produced through
a unique patented technology.
The residual fibre and soluble
matter will be exported to Japan, Korea and China, where
these are used as additives in health foods.
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IOC
shareholders give nod for buyback
Mumbai: Indian Oil Corporation's shareholders
have approved a buyback of shares. An enabling resolution
to this effect was adopted at the annual general meeting
of the company on 2 September.
The actual quantum and price
of the buyback will be decided at the time of buyback.
The company's board approved
a 1:1 bonus issue of shares.
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Tata
group to get Rs 211 crore in IBM divestment
Mumbai: The Tata group is expected to
receive Rs 211 crore from the divestment of its stake
in the two joint ventures with IBM, the Business Standard
in a report said
The group had decided to
divest 49 per cent of its 50 per cent stake in Tata IBM,
retaining a token one per cent stake. It has also divested
its 10 per cent stake in IBM Global Services in favour
of the global major. IBM will have 99 per cent stake in
Tata IBM, while its holding in IBM Global Services will
be 90 per cent.
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Skoda
plans entry next year
New Delhi: Czech carmaker Skoda Automobilova, a subsidiary
of Volkswagen of Germany, will set up a 100 per cent subsidiary
in India. It plans to sign a memorandum of understanding
with the directorate general of foreign trade for this
purpose.
Skoda will offer Octavia
as its first model in India. The car will be launched
next year. The company plans to set up a greenfield manufacturing
plant in the country.
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Plea
to block exit of Kirloskar from KIFL
Bangalore: Some of the investors of Kirloskar
Investments and Finance have requested the Reserve Bank
of India and the Company Law Board not to accept the resignations
of Vijay Kirloskar and P.M.S. Malik as chairman and vice
chairman respectively of the company, following the sale
of the Kirloskar group's stake in the company to the Ahmedabad-based
Champavats..
These investors have represented
that KIFL, which used the logo "Kirloskar" to
attract depositors cannot allow the Kirloskar promoters
to resign from the board now. The investors in the company
are mostly retired persons who have invested in the company
knowing its reliability and good administration, the representation
added.
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NTPC
order to Bhel stayed
New Delhi: The Calcutta high court has
stayed the decision of National Thermal Power Corporation
to award the Thalcher boiler contract to Bharat Heavy
Electricals. The court has intervened in the matter on
a plea by the ABB Employees Union.
NTPC had awarded the contract
to Bhel in spite of a lower quote from ABB, citing that
the ABB bid was unresponsive.
The workers' union has now
impressed upon the ABB management to support the petition.
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Kodak
eyes software sector
Bangalore: Kodak is looking at software
development in India.
The company has already
partnered with companies like Intel, AOL and Picture Vision
for the purpose and it intends to become a significant
player on the internet.
David Swift, chairman and
president, Greater Asia region of Eastman Kodak, said
the company is looking for partners in the software industry
in India.
The company will consider
investing in a shared partnership and does not intend
to acquire any existing company.
Meanwhile, the company intends
to set up photo kiosks all over the country, where one
can get an instant photo, create greeting cards with one's
face on it or get a photo enlarged or digitised and stored.
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Distributor
sues Thomson
Mumbai: An Indian firm engaged in multi-media
post-production work, has taken the French multinational
Thomson Broadcast Systems to an international court of
arbitration for breach of trust.
CMM, the Indian company,
is Thomson's exclusive agent in India.
Thomson makes a range of
consumer products.
The case has been filed
in the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris alleging
"breach of trust, obstruction of process of law,
conspiracy and collusion with an employee in stealing
or destroying valuable agreements, illegal assignment
and transfer of assets, non-payment of commission and
various other breaches of the terms of the agreement.
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Modicare
to have own cosmetics brands
New Delhi: Modicare, the direct marketing
company, will manufacture its own colour cosmetic and
skincare products soon. The products include lipsticks,
mascara, and foundation and nail enamel and moisturisers
and cleansers.
Modicare has also tied up
with Walt Disney to market Disney educational books as
well as storybooks.
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McDonald's
offers ESOP
Mumbai: McDonald's India employees will
be entitled for stock options in the form of shares of
the US-based parent. The company is listed on the New
York Stock Exchange.
Amit Jatia, managing director
of Hardcastle Restaurants, one of the joint ventures McDonald's,
said all the employees in McDonald's ventures in India
will be offered the stocks. Besides Hardcastle Restaurants,
McDonald's has another joint venture in India, Connaught
Plaza Restaurants. McDonald's Inc has 50 per cent stake
in the joint ventures which together have an investment
of Rs 400 crore.
Employees will have the
option to buy the stock at fixed prices and sell it at
the prevailing price on the New York Stock Exchange at
a later date, Mr Jatia said.
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Hilton,
Promus plan merger
Los Angeles: Hilton Hotels Corporation
and Promus Hotel Corporation are planning a merger to
create a group that will have 1,700 hotels ranging from
budget rooms to luxury suites.
Hilton confirmed the talks,
but declined to give any details.
The merged entity will generate
over $2.8 billion in annual revenue and $450 million in
net income, based on 1998 figures. Brand names like Hilton,
Conrad International Doubletree and Embassy Suites will
all now come under one management team.
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IBM
plans network chips
New York: IBM said it will introduce
a new family of network processor chips and related strategies
as part of its effort to become the No 1 supplier in the
communications microelectronics field in the world.
The world's largest computer
maker is planning to increase its role as a supplier of
technology parts in computer, communications and consumer
electronic makers.
The company intends to introduce
a new family of programmable communications chips for
data networking produces like routers, hubs and switches
that can be enhanced using software rather than hardware
upgrades.
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Thomas
Cook plans image build-up
London: Thomas Cook says it will spend
$320 million in five years to upgrade its fleet of aircraft
and revamp its image.
The group controlled by
Preussag of Germany says its research had shown 40 per
cent of customers were not seeing their expectations fully
met and some 80 per cent of British package holiday makers
did not return to the same operator every year.
The company will also group
most of its tour operating and airline interests under
one brand called JMC, derived from the initials of John
Mason Cook, son of the company's founder Thomas Cook.
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Iridium
hires restructuring specialists
Washington: Iridium LLC, the global satellite
telephone company that has filed a bankruptcy petition,
says it has hired a team of specialists to help it restructure
its operations.
The company's chief financial
officer Leo Mondale has resigned.
The company, owned by a
consortium headed by Motorola said it has hired Alvarez
& Marsal of New York, who are specialists in returning
ailing companies to financial health.
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