Sekhsaria on is vice-chairman of ACC
Mumbai: Gujarat Ambuja Cement is closer to gaining control over Associated Cement Companies. An indication to this effect was made by the appointment of Narotam Sekhsaria, managing director of Gujarat Ambuja Cement, as vice-chairman of ACC. An ACC official confirmed the appointment of Mr Sekhsaria and said Pallonji Mistry continued to be chairman of the company. Earlier the company had acquired a strategic 7.2 per cent equity holding from the Tatas for nearly Rs 450 crore.

Mr Sekhsaria and A.L. Kapur of Gujarat Ambuja Cement were appointed as whole-time directors on the ACC board on 27 December 1999 after the company acquired the equity holding. The Tatas and Gujarat Ambuja Cement now hold an equal 7.2 per cent stake in ACC.

Meanwhile, ACC has reported a net loss of Rs 19.79 crore for the quarter ended 31 December 1999, against a net profit of Rs 34.02 crore in the corresponding period in 1998. The company had a slightly higher turnover at Rs 662.06 crore during this period against Rs 633.58 crore in the previous period. The company has said decline in price realisation has led to the loss.
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Murugappa group plans to unify holding cos
Chennai: The Murugappa group of Chennai, the Rs 3,100-crore diversified conglomerate, is considering unifying two holding companies and merging its fertiliser business companies, EID Parry and Coromandel Fertilisers. The holding companies that control equity in most of the businesses of the group are Parry Agro and New Ambady Estates. The group wants to eliminate cross holdings in the group and fund growth plans of individual companies by selling holdings in group firms to either holding company.
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McKinsey forms an IT incubator
Mumbai: International consultancy firm McKinsey & Co has launched India Venture 2000, an incubator for Indian infotech and e-commerce ventures. The venture intends to incubate 15 to 20 businesses in the next two months and the scheme will be available to students, professionals and existing entrepreneurs at no cost.

McKinsey & Co will do an initial round of short-listing and will help in preparing business plans. It will then help entrepreneurs to interface with "coaches" from respective industry and successful Internet ventures in India. The coaches will be professionals from Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Satyam, Bharti Enterprises and ICICI Venture Funds. The business plans will then be finalised. McKinsey has also set up a venture capital committee comprising leading venture capital companies to be involved in this project.

The consultancy firm says budding entrepreneurs will benefit in three ways – through learning, through the opportunity to network and through building a potential access to funds.
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M&M plans just-in-time tractors
Mumbai: Mahindra & Mahindra is setting up a chain of small plants throughout the country to make tractors at lower costs and facilitate easier deliveries. The first of these plants will be at Rudrapur in Uttar Pradesh, At least 10 more such units will be established across the country. The plants will have flexible production lines turning out "just-in-time" tractors, executive director in charge of farm equipment sector of the company, K.J. Devasia said. The second plant is come up in Madhya Pradesh. Each of these plants will have an investment of around Rs 20 to Rs 25 crore.
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Wipro, Autodesk in CAD alliance
Bangalore: Wipro and US-based software maker Autodesk will together offer solutions to computer-aided design users. The two companies have launched Wipro Grafika Design Pack, a Pentium-based drafting station, Wipro said in a statement. The product will come bundled with Autodesk’s AutoCAD LT2000 software and will be sold through channels of both Wipro and Autodesk.
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Gray Cell receives $4 million investments
Bangalore: Gray Cell Applied Technologies, consumer software startup venture, has received investment offers of $4 million,. The company is planning a second round of accepting investments and Sonera Telecom, the largest cellular phone company in Finland and Net Angels of California have confirmed the investments. Earlier the company had infused $1.7 million brought in by Walden International, Draper International and Exodus.

Gray Cell has launched its software Unimobile, which enables delivery of text content from Internet and e-mail on to mobile phones and text transfer from one mobile phone to another through he Internet.
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Mather & Platt plans demerger
Calcutta: Pune-based Manu Chhabria group company, Mather & Platt, is planning to create three distinct corporate entities, each focusing on specific business interests. The demerger planned will see the creation of two new companies, Mather & Platt Fire Systems and Mather & Platt Pumps. These two companies will focus on their specific operational areas, while the parent, Mather & Platt will handle all the corporate affairs and the business of engineering valves and process machinery. The company has recently entered into a technical collaboration with Bopp & Reuther, a German valve manufacturer. The company’s new chief executive officer Satish Pillai will have overall charge of the three companies. The demerger issue is likely to be brought up at the extraordinary general meeting of the shareholders on 2 February 2000. The company expects the demerger to help various businesses to capitalise on the market potential in each area and provide room for technical tie-ups.
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HCL Infosystems wants to be an ISP
New Delhi: HCL Infosystems is getting into Internet service. The company wants to be an Internet service provider and is planning to raise Rs 125 crore for this venture possibly through a preferential allotment of shares. The board of the company has cleared the plans to reserve Rs 400 crore for acquisitions in the field of information technology services. HCL Infosystems has been providing software solutions to ISPs.
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Novartis targets AHP
London: Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis is said to be eyeing US pharmaceutical major American Home Products, say media reports. The company had made it clear that it is looking at acquisitions in the US. The report also said Novartis is in the process of approaching Pharmacia & Upjohn, the US-Swedish group that has just about agreed to merge with Monsanto of the US.
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Startec acquires Indians Abroad Online
Washington: Startec Global Communications Corporation, a company that provides communications services to ethnic communities worldwide, has acquired SigmaNet Network Corporation, which owns Indians Abroad Online, a web portal that targets the Indians in the US. Startec is owned by an Indian-American, Ram Mukunda, and is based in Bethesda, Maryland. Mr Mukunda said Startec will make use of the staff of Indians Abroad Online located in India to obtain specialised local content including news, sports, cultural information and entertainment,.

Mr Mukunda said Startec will ultimately target ethnic communities like Arabs, Iranians, Indians, Chinese, Turkish, Russian, Polish, Israeli and Latin American.
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Chrysler and Mercedes to share parts
Detroit: DaimlerChrysler’s Chrysler and Mercedes brands will share transmissions, diesel engines and other parts, the company’s chairman James Holden says. The company wants to put the Mercedes W-580 transmission in the Jeep Grand Cherokee sport utility vehicle in Europe and use Mercedes diesel engines in Chrysler vehicles.
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El Paso to acquire Coastal Corp
Houston: El Paso Energy Corporation is acquiring Coastal Corporation in a $9.75 billion sock swap. This will consolidate El Paso’s position as North America’s biggest natural gas pipeline operator and make it the third largest US producer of natural gas. El Paso will also assume $5 billion in debt and $800 million in preference stocks, placing a total $15.6 billion value on the deal.
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