Modi Xerox companies to amalgamate
New Delhi: Modi Xerox and Modi Xerox Financial Services will be amalgamating with Xerox Modicorp. The two companies have convened their shareholders’ meetings on November 20. The amalgamation scheme has been approved by the Allahabad High Court.

As per the terms of the scheme, Xerox Modicorp will allot one equity share of the face value of Rs 10  for every one equity share of Rs 10 held by Modi Xerox Financial Services’ shareholders, while the share swap ratio for the shareholders of Modi Xerox has been kept at 2:3.

The amalgamation is expected to consolidate and combine the resources of the three group companies for further growth of their respective businesses. The boards of directors of all the three companies have already approved the proposed scheme.
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Microsoft award for NIIT
New Delhi: NIIT has won Microsoft’s "excellence in CTEC" award. This is the highest award given to a certified technical education centre partner by Microsoft across Asia.

NIIT has been adjudged the best on a host of parameters from among more than 650 certified technical education centre sites in Asia. NIIT, the first independent courseware developer for Microsoft, is currently engaged in developing e-commerce curriculum for the software giant.
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International Seaports gets nod for Re float
New Delhi: Singapore-based International Seaports (India), the main promoter of the Rs 1,402-crore Dhamra port in Orissa, has received the government nod to float Rs 351-crore rupee denominated convertible notes. These notes will be in the nature of foreign direct investment and will be open for subscription by the present equity stakeholders.

The all-weather, deep water, multi-user Dhamra port is being developed through equity participation from International Seaports India, Larsen & Toubro, PSL Shipping of Thailand and Stevedoring Services of America of the US. The convertible notes work out to 25 per cent of the total project cost. The cost of setting up the port would be financed through equity, convertible notes and debt in the ratio of 20:25:55. Total foreign investment in the project is estimated to be Rs 538 crore.
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Satyam in JV with Venture Industries
Hyderabad: Satyam Computer Services has signed a joint venture agreement with the $2-billion Venture Industries of Detroit to set up Satyam-Venture Engineering Services. The new company’s technical operations will be based in Hyderabad. It will provide engineering services to automotive OEMs, tier 1 and other automotive suppliers. The expertise includes CAD/CAM/CAE, simulation and tool design. The company will also provide software development and customisation for engineering design, manufacturing automation and manufacturing processes-related activity.
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Enron, Reliance offer gas to NTPC
New Delhi: Enron and Reliance Petroleum have offered to supply gas to National Thermal Power Corporation’s gas-based power stations. The proposal comes in the wake of Petronet LNG, a joint venture of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Gas Authority of India Ltd and Gujarat Pipapav LNG Co, trying to be a major supplier of gas to NTPC.

Power ministry sources said a final decision on the supplier would be taken only after taking everything into consideration. They said the offer by the two private players is an alternative, which is under consideration.
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Dabur on debt reduction strategy
New Delhi: Dabur India is evolving a plan to reduce its debt burden from the current Rs 226 crore to Rs 75 crore by 2003. With this, the company expects that its annual interest outgo will fall to Rs 10 crore from around Rs 30 crore at present.

P.D. Narang, Dabur's director, corporate affairs,   said the exercise is part of the company‘s strategy to emerge as a zero-debt company. The loan repayment will be financed largely by internal accruals through profits, inventory reduction, and control of fixed assets. The company’s debt portfolio includes ECBs of Rs 105 crore, commercial paper of Rs 65 crore, public deposits of Rs 40 crore, and a UTI loan of Rs 15 crore.
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India Cements to hike equity
Chennai: India Cements says it is planning to raise up to Rs 100 crore via the equity route and another Rs 40 crore by issuing preference shares. The company will also increase its authorised capital to Rs 225 crore from the current Rs 200 crore.

The company has informed the Madras Stock Exchange about these proposals. India Cement’s vice-chairman and managing director N Srinivasan had recently stated that the company proposed to fund its takeover of the Hyderabad-based Sri Vishnu Cements through an equity issue as well as a preference offer. The takeover, completed at a cost of Rs 115 crore, raised the total cement capacity of the company to over 9 million tonnes per annum.
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ABB union plea against Bhel dismissed
New Delhi: The controversy over Bharat Heavy Electricals securing the Rs 1,328 crore boiler contract from the National Thermal Power Corporation’s 2000 MW Talcher super thermal power project in Orissa has been set to rest. The Allahabad high court, where the employees' union of Asea Brown Boveri had filed a case against the award of the contract to Bhel, has dismissed the plea. The employees' union had questioned the bidding process and the decision of NTPC to grant the contract to Bhel. The court rejected the union’s petition saying there is no merit in the case.
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Essar Minerals halts iron ore imports
Visakhapatnam: Essar Minerals, a subsidiary of Essar Steel, is understood to have temporarily stopped importing iron ore fines from Brazil for use at its pelletisation plant, owing to financial problems. Essar Minerals had originally planned to import about 1,20,000 tonnes of iron ore fines per month from Brazil, over a two-year period, because the imported fines had a higher iron content. The first consignment has come in September.

The company hopes to get its second consignment in December, once the financial problems are sorted out.
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Wipro targets PCMM Level 3
Bangalore: Wipro, the first company in the country to introduce Software Engineering Institute’s People Capability Maturity Model. expects to attain Level 3 by December 2000 and Level 5 by December 2002.

PCMM is akin to SEI’s Capability Maturity Model, which is the world’s most sought after software quality certification. PCMM, built on similar lines, helps organisations build, assess and improve employee competencies. PCMM has been introduced at Wipro’s software and services business, which employs nearly 6,000 people.
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Bank of Madura, Satyam float net company
Chennai: Private sector Bank of Madura and Satyam Infoway are coming together in an Internet-based venture. The company, named Ties2India.com, has an initial equity of Rs 12 crore with the two promoters holding 50:50 stake. It is slated to provide e-commerce services to people of Indian origin. Initially to be located in India, and later in the US, the company will offer services like shopping for goods and services for delivery in India and overseas, buying property in India and having it managed by certified property management agencies, investment in financial services, stocks and mutual funds in India, including brokerage, depository and advisory services, investments in gold and jewellery, travel services into and within India, linkages to public, cultural and educational organisations.
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BDL to launch serial production of missiles
Washington: Bharat Dynamics will launch serial production of three indigenously developed missiles -- Nag, Trishul and Akash -- in February 2000, says Defence News quoting a top BDL official. Up to 25 units of each missile will be manufactured annually. The Nag will be produced in two versions -- land version and a version for India's advanced light helicopters. Akash, a surface-to-air missile, has a range of 25 km and can engage more than one target, while Trishul, a quick reaction surface-to-air missile, has a range of nine km.
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Microsoft losing power in webworld
Seattle: Regardless of how the landmark antitrust case against Microsoft turns out, the company’s influence is waning in an Internet-driven world moving rapidly to devices other than personal computers, according to analysts. "I think they face the biggest threat they’ve had in years," says Scott McAdams, president of Seattle-based brokerage McAdams Wright Ragen. "There is a fundamental change going on in information appliance architecture."

Microsoft remains one of the world’s most profitable companies, spinning off $2.2 billion in net income last quarter mainly through its dominance of the market for operating systems and basic applications on desktop computers. But as PC growth has slowed, Microsoft has found itself outflanked in many of the hottest new areas of technology, including devices ranging from cell phones to video-game players destined to become important Internet gateways, observe the analysts.
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News Corp may invest in Healtheon
New York:Health information site Healtheon Corp is in talks with News Corp, and according to reports, News Corp is about to invest $1 billion in Healtheon.

Bloomberg News reported that News Corp is close to investing $1 billion in cash and other assets in Healtheon to distribute and promote the health site’s services via cable television.

News Corp spokesman Andrew Butcher did not elaborate beyond what the two companies had said in a joint release earlier that they are exploring a possible joint venture to provide health and fitness information services over several media.
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Enron sells utility for $3 billion
Houston: Enron, the world’s biggest marketer of natural gas and electricity, is selling its Portland General Electric unit to Sierra Pacific Resources Corp for $3.1 billion.

The sale will help Enron to sharpen its focus on fast-growing, high-margin energy and communications businesses. Enron said Sierra Pacific will pay $2.02 billion in cash. Sierra Pacific, based in Reno, Nevada, will also assume $1.08 billion in debt, preferred stock, and other obligations from Portland General. The deal is expected to make Sierra Pacific one of the largest electric utilities in the western United States, with more than 1.5 million customers in Nevada, California and Oregon.
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Pfizer too campaigns for support
New York: Pfizer began a campaign to win shareholder support for its proposed $74-billion acquisition of Warner-Lambert Co, claiming the deal would make an immediate contribution to earnings. Warner-Lambert and American Home Products Corp (AHP), which agreed to merge last week in a $70-billion deal, had earlier launched their joint campaign with a presentation to Wall Street analysts.
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