AV Birla group buys US web company
Mumbai: The Aditya Vikram Birla group has acquired a controlling stake in LearningByte International, a Minneapolis, US-based "e-learning" company that offers corporate training programmes over the Internet. The stake has been bought by a newly-established group company, New Millennium Investments, based in the US. LearningByte International is valued around $200 million. 
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Skycell too in Bharti fold
New Delhi: Bharti Enterprises has finalised its acquisition of 51 per cent equity holding in Chennai’s cellular telephone operator Skycell. The group paid around Rs 125 crore for the stake – 40.5 per cent held by Crompton Greaves and 10.5 per cent held by DSS Enterprises – in Skycell. The other equity partners in the venture are Milicom and Bell South.

With Skycell under its fold, Bharti Enterprises will have a footprint from Himachal Pradesh in the north to Chennai in the south. The group will have to make additional investment of around Rs 25 crore immediately to upgrade the network and services of Skycell.

Bharti Enterprises has recently acquired controlling stake in  JT Mobile, the cellular and basic telephone service provider for Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka circles.  
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Apollo Hospitals merging 3 group firms
Chennai: Apollo Hospitals Enterprises is merging three group companies -- Indian Hospitals Corporation, Deccan Hospitals Corporation and Om Sindhoori Hotels into itself. The merger, on an advice by ICICI Securities, will integrate the healthcare facilities of the group, making it  the largest healthcare provider in Asia. The capital base of the group after the merger will be Rs 37.56 crore, up from Rs 15.59 crore and  turnover  Rs 287.89 crore against the present Rs 120.89 crore.

Under the restructuring plan, Sindhoori Hotels, the Chennai branch of Om Sindhoori Hotels, situated adjacent to the hospital complex, will become part of the hospital, whose bed capacity will go up by 125 beds. Another hotel under the Sindhoori banner, Sindhoori Central, will continue to be in the hospitality business.  
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IndiaWorld deal stays, says Satyam
Mumbai: Satyam Infoway is not looking back on its deal to acquire the portal, IndiaWorld, owned by IndiaWorld Communications, in spite of charges of alleged violation of trademark laws. The company said there is no dispute regarding the internet address of "indiaworld.co.in" or the sites operated by IndiaWorld Communications, which it had acquired. The dispute pertained to the service mark "IndiaWorld", the company said. 
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HPCL, Gail in deal for gas pipeline
Mumbai: Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Gas Authority of India have signed a memorandum of understanding to transport liquefied petroleum gas through pipelines from Mangalore to Madurai. The proposed Rs 60-crore project involves laying a 700-km pipeline, a work expected to be  completed in three years. The pipeline will enable carrying  LPG sufficient to fill two lakh cylinders per day. These will be for distribution to households in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. In addition to LPG from Hindustan Petroleum Corporation’s import facilities in Mangalore, Gail will also transport   gas from the Mangalore Refineries.  
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Intel, GE Cap pick up stake in TSN
Mumbai: Unilazer group’s Total Shopping Network has got GE Capital and Intel to buy equity in the company. Total Shopping Network is into direct and Internet-based shopping and it has recently set up a web portal, tsnshop.com, to offer business-to-consumer shopping facilities on the Internet.. Two venture capital companies, Walden Nikko and Draper International, together own 45 per cent equity in the company. Media personality Ronnie Screwvala owns majority holding in Unilazer group. 
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IFB group divests in finance arm
Calcutta: The IFB group of Bijon Nag has sold 15 per cent equity held by it in finance company IFB Finance to Hyderabad-based B. Vijayakumar & Co. The group says the sale is part of a restructuring plan. Mr Nag will now hold 40 per cent equity in the company while the management control of the company has been passed on to the purchaser.

IFB group is now concentrating on its core business of auto components, agro industries and home appliances and is in the midst of a financial recast.  
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Shareholders okay India Cements' float plan
Chennai: India Cements has received the shareholders’ approval for equity and preference share issues to raise Rs 140 crore to finance its takeover of Sri Vishnu Cements. The shareholders passed resolutions at the company’s annual general meeting giving permission to the company to raise Rs 100 crore through an equity issue and. Rs 40 crore through a preferential issue. The company has already made payments to the promoters of Sri Vishnu Cements from funds raised through bridge loans. The loans will now be repaid with funds coming from the issues.  
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IL&FS, Obayashi forming JV
New Delhi: Obayashi Corporation of Japan and Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services will set up a joint venture company in the construction sector. The Foreign Investment Promotion Board has recently approved the proposal to set up the company, with an initial authorised capital of Rs five crore. Obayashi will bring in equity in foreign exchange amounting Rs 80 lakh. The FIPB has directed that the company will not undertake any activity related to real estate and housing. The new company will be named Obayashi India Pvt Ltd, and will essentially offer services in engineering, consulting and design.  
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GE not to sell NBC
Hartford: General Electric says it has no plan to sell its television network NBC. GE’s chairman Jack Welch said the company is expanding its overseas operations and has set out $25 billion for acquisitions.  
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No Ericsson-Nokia merger planned
Paris: There is no prospect of Swedish telecom group Ericsson merging with Finnish company Nokia Oyj as speculated. Ericsson’s president Kurt Hellstrom said there is no basis for rumours on the merger. He pointed that a merger of the sort proposed may not be acceptable to European regulators as the merged entity will be dominant in many markets.  
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Motorola to licence Palm Pilot system
Chicago: Motorola is planning to license the operating system used in 3Com’s Palm Pilot range of hand-held computers for use in Motorola products, especially, its wireless devices used on the Internet. The company intends to take a minority shareholding in 3Com’s Palm Computing, which is coming out with an initial public offering.  
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No deal in Microsoft case
Washington: The US government denied rumours that an agreement has been reached on the contentious Microsoft anti-trust case. A justice department spokesman said the rumours are unfounded. Meanwhile, Microsoft officials met judge Richard Posner, chief of the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, who is mediating in the case. 
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Pfizer seeks to oust Warner board
New York: Pfizer has confirmed that it is filing documents with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to oust Warner-Lambert’s board of directors. Pfizer is proposing a seven person board in place of Warner-Lambert’s 10-member board. The plan forms part of the US drug major’s unsolicited $7-billion acquisition bid on Warner-Lambert.  
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