Madura Coats to sell four brands
Mumbai: Madura Coats’ four valuable brands in the readymade garments sector are up for sale, as the company has decided to exit retail distribution business. The brands are Louis Phillipe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly and Byford. The parties understood to be bidding for the brands are, Grasim of the Aditya Vikram Birla group, Arvind Mills of the Lalbhais and Indus League, a new outfit formed by onetime president of Madura Garments, Sriram Srinivasan. It is estimated that the brands will fetch Madura Coats nearly Rs 300 crore. The company’s decision to come out of the retail business is in line with parent Viyella’s worldwide strategy.
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Rhone-Poulenc Agro to be 100% Rhone arm
New Delhi: Rhone-Poulenc Agro Chemicals (India) will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rhone-Poulenc of France. The Foreign Investment Promotion Board has approved a proposal of the French company to acquire 14,71,000 shares of Rs 10 each comprising 49.5 per cent equity of Rhone-Poulenc Agro Chemicals India held by Rhone-Poulenc India at a price approved by the Securities and Exchange Board of India and the Reserve Bank of India. The remaining 50.5 per cent is held by Rhone-Poulenc Agrochimie of France, which is again a 100 per cent subsidiary of Rhone Poulenc. The Indian company will now make and export technical grade fungicide, called Promuconazole, under licence from the French parent.
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Essel World in for expansion
Mumbai: City-based entertainment and amusement park Essel World is poised for further development and expansion. Promoter Subhash Chandra is planning to raise nearly Rs 500 crore for a three-phase programme which includes projects targeted at world tourists, a science park cum entertainment centre and a three-dimensional theatre and exhibition centre with resort and hotel. Mr Chandra is toying with the idea of approaching some strategic investors and even private equity funds to raise the amount required. It is likely that the project will link the Mumbai centre with Fun Kingdom at Jaipur, also owned by Mr Chandra’s Zee group. The entire project is being conceived to turn the entertainment complexes into a business cum holiday destination.
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LNG project planned in Orissa
Mumbai: A UAE based petroleum company, Al Manhal, is planning to set up a liquefied natural gas project in Orissa. Al-Manhal is a well known group in the Gulf with interests in shipping besides petroleum products. The Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Orissa, a state government undertaking, will participate in the project and will have equity holding in the company. It has already set up a special purpose vehicle for the project. The complex will have a LNG terminal, gas-based power plant and other refinery related plants. Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh will get the gas produced here. It is understood that Petronet and Gas Authority of India are likely to have holdings in various arms of the company. The project is, however, yet to get clearance from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board as Al-Manhal is expected to bring in foreign direct investment.
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IBM India shifting to Mumbai
Mumbai: IBM India is likely to shift its activities from Bangalore to Mumbai. As a first step it is locating its managing director and chief executive officer Ranjit Limaye in Mumbai’s Nariman Point sometime in the first quarter of 2000. Observers feel the company will subsequently shift its entire corporate office to Mumbai. Mr Limaye is managing director and chief executive officer of two IBM entities in India, IBM India and IBM Global Services India.
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Coffee planters set up venture fund
Bangalore: Two leading coffee planters from Karnataka have set up an angel investment company with a corpus of Rs 10 crore. The company, Success Corporate Services, will fund information technology start-ups, especially those connected with Internet. Some more coffee planters are expected to join the company as promoters and it is also expecting foreign institutional investors to bring in funds.
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Taj to take over Krishna hotels in Hyderabad
Mumbai: The Taj group is taking over Krishna Oberoi and Holiday Inn Krishna of Hyderabad. The two hotels are promoted by the GVK group of industries. Krishna Oberoi is at present managed by EIH Ltd of the Oberoi Hotels group. From March 2000, the two hotels will be under the Taj brand. Indian Hotels Company, which owns and manages the Taj brand will have an equity holding of 26 per cent in the venture, GVK Industries 40 per cent and the rest with the public.
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Eicher plans new commercial vehicles
Mumbai: Eicher Motors is planning to roll out medium and heavy commercial vehicles. The company is all set to launch a first batch of medium commercial vehicles developed on a new platform in January 2000, while heavy commercial vehicles will be out in March 2000. The engines used in these vehicles will be Euro compliant and made indigenously. At present the company makes the Canter range of vehicles with capacity of six to nine tonnes.

Eicher Motors is investing Rs 100 crore for setting up the required manufacturing facilities for the heavy commercial vehicles and around Rs 15 crore at its Pitampur plant to make the medium commercial vehicles.
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Telia-Telenor merger off
Stockholm: The proposed merger between state-owned telecom groups of Sweden and Norway will not materialise. Nationalist feelings seem to have defeated the plan. The two governments in a joint statement said the plan to create Europe’s sixth largest telecom operator and launch the Nordic region’s biggest share flotation was in ruins and they have decided to break off the work to merge Telia AB of Sweden and Telenor AS of Norway. The statement said neither side will demand compensation for the failure of $47 billion deal.
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Hyundai keen to have Daewoo's Polish plant
Seoul: Hyundai Motor Company has expressed its interest in taking over a Polish plant of Daewoo Motor. Hyundai’s president Lee Kye-ahn said, the company considers it important to have a production base within the region. He, however, said Hyundai is not capable of buying out the entire company, Daewoo Motor, and is not interested in its Korean plants.
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Bell Atlantic may get long distance approval
Washington: Bell Atlantic is likely to get Federal Communications Commission’s approval for long distance services in New York. If the approval comes, Bell Atlantic will be the first of the Baby Bells to secure approval to operate long distance communication services, estimated to have a market size of nearly $90billion.
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World Access to buy Long Distance
Atlanta: World Access, telephone service and equipment provider, is planning to buy Long Distance International in a deal worth $185 million, The company confirmed it has signed an agreement to pay about $185 million in preferred stock and assume some liabilities held by Long Distance International. The deal is part of World Access’ plans to offer enhanced retail telecommunication services throughout Europe. Long Distance International operates its services under the name NETnet.
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