Taj group of hotels in expansion spree
Mumbai: Yet another Tata group company, this time Indian Hotels Limited which owns the Taj chain of hotels, is in the news. The hotel chain is considering aggressive expansion outside India. On the anvil is the acquisition of a 200-room quality property in downtown Manhattan in New York.

The purchase of this property in the US, after the group had sold off its earlier hotel, the Lexington Plaza in New York, signals the group's philosophy that it should position itself as a key premium property in key international destinations. In keeping with this newfound philosophy, the group is also said to be looking for properties in San Francisco and Atlanta (in the US), continental Europe and Dubai and Bahrain (in the Middle East)

It is also considering setting up full fledged marketing offices in New York, London and Singapore. Besides this, the group is also beefing up its global ad campaigns.

Back home in India, the group is spending a huge amount either acquiring properties or renovating existing properties to improve its image. It has already added 700 rooms in the last 12 months including properties in Pune, Hyderabad, Jodhpur and Goa.
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Usha Martin to begin shake out in cellular industry
Calcutta: In an industry that has been recently characterised by mergers and acquisitions, the shake out in the cellular telephony industry is gathering steam.

In a report carried by the Business Standard, the Usha Martin group, which had got into the industry through its holding in Usha Martin Telekom Limited -- a joint venture with Malaysia Telekom -- is considering pulling out of the company. The cellular joint venture provides cellular services in Calcutta under the brand names, Command and Yes.

According to the report, BPL Mobile and Bharti Cellular are in the forefront for acquiring the stake of Usha Martin in the cellular joint venture.
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Tata-Birla-AT&T deal may be bigger
Mumbai: The recently announced three way merger between the Tata group, Birla group and AT&T to merger their cellular business, may just be the tip of the iceberg, if a report in Business Standard is to go by.

AT&T is bidding for Media One -- a large cellular operator in the US -- which owns US West which, in turn, controls 49 per cent of the BPL-US West cellular operations. The BPL led combine controls the cellular operations in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Kerala circles.

Should this Media One deal go through, AT&T would like all its ventures in India to be working together, rather than competing with one another. This would also bring about obvious operational advantages for the combined entity.

In this event the Tata-Birla-AT&T-BPL combine will control the cellular operations in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Tamil Nadu and Kerala - virtually the entire of south India.
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Creative Eye plans to go public
Mumbai: In keeping with the general boom in the media sector, yet another television software house, Creative Eye, promoted by former film star Dheeraj Kumar. The company, which is planning to raise Rs. 120 crore, will utilise this money to launch a 24-hour teleshopping channel, expand its studio facilities and build a few information and entertainment portals.

The company recently made a preferential allotment of 6.1 lakh shares (amounting to 24 per cent) to ICICI Capital Ventures at a premium of Rs. 65 per share.

As a content provider to the national broadcaster, Doordarshan, the company has around 120 hours of programming every week on air.
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Hinduja group to form net venture
Mumbai : The Hinduja group is set to make an entry into the broadband segment with the announcement of a three-way joint venture with Pacific Internet and the Singapore-based Thakral group.

The new company, to be christened Pacific Internet India, will provide internet narrowband, dial up services and broadband connectivity over the 130 kms of the Hinduja controlled cable network in the city.

Commercial services are expected to begin in six weeks from the signing of the memorandum of understanding between the three parties.
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Dun & Bradstreet to pick up stake in credit bureau
Mumbai: The proposed credit information bureau to be set up by State Bank of India, HDFC and the US based Trans Union, has a new partner. Information services major, Dun & Bradstreet has decided to pick up a 20 per cent stake in the proposed venture.

The proposed bureau, which is expected to be capitalised at Rs. 15-20 crore, will begin operations in nine months. D&B is expected to contribute in terms of technology and management expertise in association with Trans Union.
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New partner for Sundaram Home Finance
New Delhi: Sundaram Finance group company, Sundaram Home Finance, is likely to get in a new partner for its joint venture. Netherlands based financial institution, Financier Maatschappij Voor Ontwikke, is likely to step in with a 15 per cent stake in the company. Washington based, IFC, already holds 20 per cent in the company.

The company is engaged in providing long term housing finance to individuals for construction or purchase of residential homes in the country. The company has also entered into a strategic alliance with United India Insurance company for providing its borrowers with a low premium insurance cover for the properties they are acquiring.
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Subex picks up US company
Mumbai: Bangalore based software company, Subex Systems, has recently acquired a US based telecom software company -- Fourth Generation Inc. -- for an estimated $6.7m all cash deal.

The US firm, with current revenues at $6m, has been made a wholly owned subsidiary of Subex Systems and has been renamed as Subex Technologies Inc. The new acquisition will help Subex expand its activities in the US.

Subex Systems is also considering listing its shares in the National Stock Exchange at Mumbai and has initiated the necessary steps for this purpose.
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Max India to pump in money in IT
New Delhi: Cash rich company, Max India, which has made its mark in the telecom sector, is now making aggressive moves to enter the IT sector. It has earmarked Rs. 125 crore in the current year for this activity.

It has identified vertical trade portals, IT solutions and IT-enabled services as the three key areas in IT that it is planning to enter. The company, besides looking at acquisitions, is talking to several foreign players for tie-ups in these areas.

The company also proposes to act as an incubator for several small start-up companies by providing them with finance and managerial skills that will help the companies prepare the business plans and take on other players.
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Infosys largest electronically held company
Mumbai: As a result of taking direct interest in meeting with investors and convincing them to dematerialise their shares, Infosys Technologies has become the largest Indian company to be electronically held. Nearly 96 per cent of the company's shares are currently held in demat form. This high level of demat also helped the company credit shareholders with their splits within one day of announcing the splitting of shares.
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Ashok Leyland seeks technology for Euro-I, II and III
Chennai: Commercial vehicle major, Ashok Leyland of the Hinduja group, has tied up with Iveco of Italy, ZF of Germany and Meritor of the US to seek technology that will enable its products to be Euro-I, II and III compliant.

According to Mr. R. Seshasayee, managing director of the company, while the company will have to be Euro-I compliant by April 2000, it is looking at the II and III compliance issues now only since it does not want to get bogged down with huge investments in the future.
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Levi's in class action suit
Honolulu: Levi Strauss Co. the world's biggest jeans manufacturer is one among five large US companies being embroiled in a class action suit in the US courts. The companies, which include Brooke Brothers, Abercombie & Fitch, Talbots and Woolrich are being brought to book by Global Exchange -- an activist group -- for bad labour practices in its factories in the US territory of Saipan.

The suit which alleges that more than 13,000 workers employed by these companies in Saipan work for more than 12 hours a day, for seven days a week without adequate compensation.

Nine other companies which were originally in the suit, settled out of court by agreeing to set up a $1.25m fund to help monitor the conditions of work at these centres and compensate workers adequately.
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Threat of boycott faces Coke
Atlanta: Coca Cola Co, the US based world's largest soft drinks company, currently facing allegations of racism being followed in its US offices, faces the threat of boycott in the US market -- the largest of its markets worldwide.

The company has consistently denied any charges of racism against its black employees and has also sacked several employees who were allegedly following such practices.

The boycott call was given by the National Association for Advancement of Coloured People, a body formed to track racial discrimination in US companies.
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