Chandra, McCaw to jointly revive ICO
Mumbai: The rivals are shaking hands now. Subhash Chandra of Zee Telefilms and Craig McCaw of Teledesic are coming together to revive ICO Global Communications, now into bankruptcy proceedings. A Wilmington, Delaware, court in the US has granted final approval to ICO’s refloat package, which it had in a sense brokered. The bankruptcy court  itself evolved a financial arrangement bringing the rivals together to lead the bailout plan, estimated at $1.2 billion. Earlier, Mr McCaw had pipped Mr Chandra to the deal.

In return for the finance, Mr McCaw and Mr Chandra will receive 74 per cent of the stock in the revived ICO. The balance will be shared by creditors and current shareholders. The arrangement involves Mr McCaw bringing in lead finance of up to 62 per cent and Mr Chandra 38 per cent of the equity funding. Mr Chandra is expected to route his funds through his Asian Satellite Communications.
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Piaggio, Singhanias formally end JV
New Delhi: Piaggio and the Singhanias,  partners in scooter venture LML, have terminated their joint venture partnership. A statement issued on 4 December said the concerned partners in the venture have amicably completed the closing of their settlement.
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Gretag, Photoquip in tie-up
Mumbai: Gretag Imaging of Switzerland is entering into a  tie-up with Photoquip India for making and marketing  KilkProlab-812, a small three-in-one photo lab with a built-in film paper processor and a printer. The system requires very little space. Photoquip India is expected to provide marketing support and after sales service. Gretag Imaging has been in the photography business for nearly 50 years.
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SGI India on recovery path
New Delhi: SGI India, the 100 per cent subsidiary of US company SGI Inc, has recorded a revenue growth of 40 per cent in the current financial year. The company, which suffered on account of the US sanctions, said it anticipates a revenue of Rs 115 crore in the year ending 30 June 2000 compared to Rs 83 crore in 1998-99.

SGI is a market leader in super-computers and high-end workstations and servers.
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Cisco plans ties with Nokia, Ericsson
Stockholm: Computer networking systems major Cisco Systems is planning to forge alliances with telecom equipment makers Nokia and Ericsson on the lines of its Internet alliances with Motorola. Cisco Systems says it welcomes a partnership with both Nordic telecom equipment makers, despite the fact that they are competing with Motorola and each other.

Motorola has linked with Cisco Systems to develop wireless Internet services with an investment of $1 billion in a project.
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BASF spurns merger move with Bayer
Frankfurt: BASF has rejected the proposal for a merger with Bayer in the wake of Novartis and AstraZeneca merging their agribusiness to float the world’s No 1 agribusiness company. BASF's chief executive Juergen Strube said size did not necessarily mean strength. Both BASF and Bayer had the potential for growth and to generate increased value by remaining independent, Mr Strube said.
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EntryPoint denies deal for Net Creation
Montreal: EntryPoint, a private Internet news and information firm, earlier called PointCast, denied that it is poised to acquire Quebec City-based software company Net Creation. EntryPoint does not have any intention to  acquire Net Creation, Calvin Flemming, spokesman for EntryPoint said.
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