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Duphar Interfran sells pharma business
to Solvay
Mumbai: Duphar Interfran is spinning off its
pharmaceutical business into a separate company, which will now be managed by Solvay, the
$8.7 billion Belgian drug major. Solvay has a 38.8 per cent holding in Duphar
Interfran. The Indian promoters of Duphar Interfran, managing director Vasant Kumar and
family, will retain control of the company and run it as a chemicals business. Solvay will
hold a 60.5 per cent stake in the new company, which will be named Duphar Pharma
initially, but will be renamed Solvay Pharma after the formalities are completed. Mr Kumar
and associates will have a 60.5 per cent holding in Duphar Interfran.
Mr Kumar said Duphar Interfran will focus on vitamin D3 bulk drug,
of which it is the only producer in India. The company is also planning entry into
software and e-commerce. In addition to the stock deal, Mr Kumar will assign Vertin and
Colospa, two brands owned by him, to Solvay.
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Crisil acquires Infac
Mumbai: Credit rating agency Crisil has announced
that it has acquired Information Products and Research Services, a company engaged in
business information research, and its brand Infac, for Rs seven crore. Information
Products and Research Services is a major provider of research information on Indian
industry, covering more than 30 industries in India. The company's client list includes
financial institutions and Indian and foreign banks. Initially, it will function as a
subsidiary of Crisil and some of Crisil's research will be outsourced to it.
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Godrej Soaps may spin
off chemicals business
Mumbai: Godrej Soaps, continuing its recast
operations, is about to get back its FMCG tag. It is planning to demerge its chemicals
division and make it a separate company. The company wants a truly FMCG tag, says Adi
Godrej, its managing director. The chemicals division makes fatty acids, alcohol and
glycerine, and contributes nearly 40 per cent of the Rs 900-crore turnover of the
company.
Henceforth, Godrej Soaps will focus on two areas, personal
care, and household care, and future investments will be concentrated in these two
businesses.
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Continental, Ceat,
JK in bid for Modi Rubber
New Delhi: Continental of Germany, JK Industries,
Ceat, and promoters B.K. Modi and V.K. Modi in their individual capacities have bid for
the 44 per cent holding held by the financial institutions in Modi Rubber. The financial
institutions will examine the techno-financial proposals and prepare a short list of
bidders.
The promoters of the company, the Modis, who own 20 per
cent stake of the company's equity, have been trying to scuttle the financial
institutions' plan to divest their holdings in Modi Rubber. The Unit Trust of India, Life
Insurance Corporation, and General Insurance Corporation and its subsidiaries, the
Industrial Development Bank of India, and Industrial Finance Corporation of India together
own around 11 million shares in the company, part or all of which they want to sell to a
strategic investor.
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Visteon allowed
trading in compressors
New Delhi: Ford Motor subsidiary Visteon Automotive
Systems India has been permitted to trade in CFC compressors as a test case. The
government has given this permission in spite of a prevailing restriction on
foreign-controlled companies' trading activities.
Visteon has sought the government’s permission to
import CFC compressors, a sub-assembly component for climate control systems, sold to car
markers as sub-assemblies. These compressors account for about 30 per cent of the climate
control system’s total cost. The company manufactures Powertrain control systems,
instrument clusters, climate control systems and interior and exterior plastic parts of
cars. Its parent company makes components for sub-assembly like hose discharge, condenser,
receiver, drier, radiator, heater, and blower. Visteon supplies its sub-assemblies to
Hyundai Motor India and Ford India.
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Decision on Rossel
acquisition deferred
New Delhi: The Foreign Investment Promotion Board
has deferred a decision on Unilever’s proposal to acquire a 74 per cent holding in
Rossel Industries. The deferment came at the instance of the commerce ministry, which is
yet to give a formal recommendation on the proposal. Unilever proposes to acquire
74,88,035 shares from both the promoters and domestic retail investors at a cost of Rs
129.5 crore.
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Elmer becomes part of
Elmcrest group
Hyderabad: Elmer Software of Hyderabad has become a
group member of the UK-based Elmcrest Group for acquisition and implementation of
IT-related projects in India. Elmer Software is into mapping conversions, electronic data
management and implementation of IT projects. The alliance is initially proposed for
Elmcrest projects in India, but it will later be extended at global level.
The Elmcrest group consists of Elmcrest Engineering and a
joint venture between Elmcrest Engineering and BKH Consulting Engineers of the
Netherlands. The group is engaged in urban and rural infrastructure development and
management, water and water-related projects and development.
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Orix picks up equity in
IL&FS venture
Bangalore: Japan’s $45 billion
financial services company Orix Corporation is picking up a holding in Investmart India, a
retail finance and advisory company promoted by Infrastructure Leasing and Financial
Services. Orix will bring in around Rs 20 crore ($5 million), of which Rs 8 crore will be
the face value of equity, and the balance the premium on the equity. Orix also owns 20 per
cent equity in IL&FS.
Once Orix is given the equity, a strategic ally of
Investmart India, the K. Raheja group of Mumbai, will become entitled to 10 per cent
equity in the company, which will have to be offered at the same price as that given to
Orix.
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HAL now making Seracell
Pune: Public sector Hindustan Antibiotics is now
producing Seracell, a plasma volume expander, in technical collaboration with the Serum
Institute of India. The company is using spare capacity in its IV fluid line to make
350,000 bottles of Seracell per annum. The marketing of the product is being jointly done
by HAL and the Serum Institute.
HAL has invested Rs 25 lakh in the new product and the
Serum Institute has contributed equipment.
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Glaxo, SmithKline
announce merger
London: Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham
Pharmaceuticals have formally announced that they are merging – to create the
world’s biggest drugs company worth $187 billion. The two companies said the deal
will give them the scientific and financial edge to be the most efficient discovery and
marketing entity in the industry. The new company will be called Glaxo SmithKline,
headquartered in London, and operated mostly from a base in the US. It will have a market
share of 7.3 per cent in the global drug industry.
The merger, once aborted two years ago due to certain
reasons, is structured as an offer by Glaxo for SmithKline, with 0.4552 new shares swapped
for each SmithKline share. Glaxo shareholders will own 58.75 per cent of the new company
and SmithKline investors 41.25 per cent. The merger will be effective from the summer of
2000.
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Transmeta coming out
with wonder chip
San Francisco: Tansmeta Corporation, one of Silicon
Valley’s most secretive start-ups, is coming out of its hiding with a new processor
for mobile computing devices. The Santa Clara, California-based company will unwrap its
Crusoe chip on 19 January. The chip is reported to have the potential to bring about a
fundamental change in the world of Internet-based computing.
The chip will be aimed at notebook computers and Internet
applications, but it can later be adapted for use in cell phones and other devices. The
company was founded in 1995 by David Ditzel, a well known figure in the semiconductor
industry and a former key architect of Sun Microsystems’ SPARC processor. He has been
working on chips using reduced instruction set computing technology.
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Vivendi, Scoot plan JV
London: British Internet directory company Scoot.com
says French media group Vivendi is investing $180.7 million in their proposed European
joint venture. Scoot and Vivendi are forming a 50:50 joint venture covering all of
continental Europe, and Vivendi is expected to promote Scoot’s yellow pages directory
services.
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Bertelsmann eyes
Sony Music, EMI
Frankfurt: Bertelsmann of Germany is reported to be
considering purchasing Sony’s Sony Music or EMI Group. Newspapers in Germany said
Bertelsmann is eyeing Sony Music or Britain’s EMI, as the firm wants to be No 1 in
the music business.
Last year Bertelsmann was approached by America Online for
a possible merger, but the company’s shareholders blocked the proposal.
Bertelsmann’s BMG is second in terms of album sales growth after Sony Music.
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Hyundai selling off 7
units
Seoul: Korea's Hyundai group is restructuring,
shedding at least seven of its 30 subsidiaries in the process. The firms on the chopping
block include Inchon Iron Steel Company, Hyundai Pipe, Hyundai Energy, Hyundai
Petrochemical, T-Zone Korea, Hyundai Space Aircraft and Daehan Aluminium. The
restructuring is being done on the basis of advice following the collapse of the Daewoo
group.
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