Gujarat Ambuja plans to acquire 75% in DLF Cement
Mumbai: Gujarat Ambuja Cements has acquired a 31 per cent stake in DLF Cement from its promoters for Rs 82.3 crore. This is the first part of GACL's  Rs 350-crore plan to secure nearly 75 per cent of DLF Cement's equity. It is now about to announce an open offer to acquire 20 per cent of DLF from the market at Rs 13.85 per share, against the Rs 12.65 per share it paid to DLF Cement's promoters. In addition to the above, the company will also subscribe to a preferential allotment of equity by DLF Cement at Rs 13.85 per share at a total cost of Rs 208 crore.

With the acquisition of DLF Cement, Gujarat Ambuja Cement’s capacity will go up by 1.5 million tonnes per annum to nearly 9 million tonnes per annum. The company plans to expand to 15.5 million tonnes per annum by 2002.
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Ispat to pledge holding for loan
Mumbai: The Ispat group has offered to pledge its 51 per cent equity holding in Ispat Energy to financial institutions as security to obtain a Rs 642-crore loan to part-finance the Rs 1,470-crore, 363-megawatt power project the company is setting up at Dolvi in Maharashtra. In addition, the Mittals, the promoters of the group, will also give an undertaking against disposing of the balance 49 per cent held by them in the company.

The financial institutions had sought the entire holding of the Mittal family in Ispat Energy besides the Ispat group’s stake as security. The financial institutions providing the funding are,  ICICI  (Rs 188 crore), Industrial Development Bank of India (Rs 212 crore) and IFCI (Rs 215 crore).  The project is, essentially a captive plant for Ispat group companies.
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Proton to seek DGFT approval for car
New Delhi: Pursuing its proposal to introduce its cars in India, Malaysian carmaker Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Bhd (Proton) will make a formal proposal to the directorate general of foreign trade in this regard soon. The Malaysian company has already signed a memorandum of understanding with Hindustan Motors for a possible joint venture to assemble the cars in India from CKD kits. The model identified for India is Proton Wira.

A team of officials from Proton had recently held talks with DGFT officials. They had also visited Hindustan Motors’ facilities at Chennai.
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Hutchison buying holding in Sterling Cellular
Mumbai: Hutchison Telecom, part of the Hong Kong-based $8-billion conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa, is all set to enter the cellular telephone service field in Delhi. It is about to finalise the deal with Swisscom and non-resident Indian, C. Sivasankaran, to acquire their holding totalling 49 per cent in Sterling Cellular, the Delhi cellular service provider. At present, Swisscom manages the company and under the deal this will pass on to Hutchison.

The Essar group holds the balance 51 per cent in the company and Hutchison is likely to make an offer to the Ruias of the group to buy out this equity too. The deal with Swisscom and Mr Sivasankaran is said to be worth Rs 600 crore, which Hutchison is paying in cash overseas.

Hutchison currently manages the Max Touch service in Mumbai.
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Shyam ACeS, Lockheed Martin plan gateway
New Delhi: Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications and Shyam ACeS (India) are jointly building a $30 million gateway in India to bring the Asia cellular satellite (ACeS) services to the country. Under an agreement signed recently, Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications will provide a satellite gateway that will connect Shyam ACeS (India) subscribers to public telephone networks and global satellite mobile cellular networks in India. The ACeS system will be capable of delivering mobile voice and data communications services via one of the world’s most powerful commercial mobile communications satellites by mid-2000. Shyam ACeS claims its retail services will be available at less than $1 per minute throughout the ACeS-covered area. ACeS is the first regional system of its kind able to operate via satellite and terrestrial GSM cellular network as well as the public switched telephone networks.
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Max group to en ter Internet business
New Delhi: Analjit Singh’s Max group is planning to enter Internet-related business. The group is ready for setting up international gateways and to provide Internet services in the country. These businesses will be handled by the group’s joint venture company Comsat Max. The government has recently cleared Comast Max’s investment plans for the Internet business and the company is about to seek a licence. Comsat Max, the 49:51 joint venture between the Max group and  the US-based Comsat is, at present, a VSAT service provider.
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Command to provide Internet connectivity
Calcutta: Cellular telephone service provider in Calcutta, Command Cell Phone Service, and Caltiger.com are joining hands to launch a direct Internet connectivity under the brand name Caltiger.Command. The service will enable Command subscribers to surf the net through the Caltiger network via cellphones. They will not have to depend on telephone lines. Caltiger.com is one of the Internet service providers in Calcutta, while Command is owned by Usha Martin Telekom.
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Chuo Senko sells stake in Indian ad JV
New Delhi: Japanese advertising firm Chuo Senko has sold its 50 per cent holding in Percept Chuo Senko India to another Japanese company Hakuhodo. Chuo Senko has been eyeing for a majority stake in the company and wanted to acquire the stake from Percept Advertising, which has 50 per cent equity holding in the joint venture. Percept does not want to sell its holding.
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Global Telesystems ties up with HDFC, Citibank
Mumbai: Global Telesystems is tying up with HDFC Bank and Citibank for its Internet payment gateway services. The company has already set up a payment gateway and the two banks will act as prime settlement banks. Global Telesystems is now commissioning a gateway system for Tata Finance and Telco’s dealer network.
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Wipro gets nod for merger of Wipro Computers
Bangalore: Shareholders of Wipro approved the merger of Wipro Computers, formerly Wipro Acer, with the company. The merger will take retrospective effect from 1 April 1999.
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General Motors in talks to get Daewoo
Seoul: General Motors Corporation is in a last effort to convince creditors of crumbling Daewoo group that it is the best suitor for Daewoo Motor. General Motors’ senior executives are in Seoul representing the company’s case to Korea Development Bank, the principal creditor of the group. The renewed efforts gain importance in light of the fact that  a number of auto majors, including DaimlerChrysler and Fiat, are reported to be interested in Daewoo Motors and Korea Development Bank spokesmen have hinted at a global auction for the company.
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Ciba sells polymers unit
Basle: Ciba Specialty Chemicals is selling its Performance Polymers unit to Morgan Grenfell Private Equity, a division of Deutsche Bank. The $1.17 billion deal will be completed in the first quarter of 2000. Performance Polymers is ranked as one of the world’s top three epoxy resin manufacturers and its products have a strong position in speciality applications such as advanced tooling, adhesives and photo polymers.
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Merck selling imaging unit
Frankfurt: German pharma major Merck says it is selling its share in the X-ray contrast imaging joint venture to Italy’s Bracco family for DM1.7 billion. The Bracco family will also run Merck’s Italian operations for some time under a co-marketing agreement. The fund infusion after the sale will increase Merck’s capital by 25 per cent and lower its debt by about a third.
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Nortel plans new Net services.
Toronto: Nortel Networks will introduce a series of services that will help sale and rental of software over the Internet. The services will help companies that provide services over the web to certify, deliver and support applications. Nortel has entered into an alliance with Hewlett-Packard and three other software firms to introduce the services, which are expected to be available in the first quarter of next year.  
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