Modi Spinning to sell off group holdings
New Delhi: Modi group’s second oldest company, Modi Spinning and Weaving Mills, is planning to sell off its holding in group companies, Godfrey Philips India (which manufactures cigarettes) and Modi Rubber, as part of its revival strategy.

The two factions in the family – the KK Modi faction and the KN Modi faction – will be given the first right of refusal and will be allowed to buy these shares at the maximum available price.

The sell off is part of a rehabilitation package approved by the BIFR, which envisages the payment of liabilities of Rs. 73.7 crore by selling surplus assets and investments.
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DCM announces group company mergers
New Delhi: As part of the ongoing restructuring exercise being carried on by the Bharat Ram group, the group IT arm, DCM Data Products, is being merged with flagship company, DCM Limited.

The ambitious restructuring program envisages raising a total of Rs. 460 crore through sale of assets and investments, which amount will be used to retire debts over a five year period. The company proposes to spin off its controversial real estate development program to a separate company, DCM Estate and Infrastructure, in which a Singapore-based NRI consortium is said to be participating.
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Tractabel to get pipeline contract
Ahmedabad: Tractabel, the Belgian company with interests in oil and gas, has been awarded the consultant-cum-project management contract for the 135-kms, Rs. 2,800 crore Mora-Dahej section of the LNG gas grid project in Gujarat.

The contract, which envisages the building of a large grid in Gujarat for distribution of gas under high pressure and which is a high-tech area with a number of safety issues involved, was awareded to Tractable based on its competitive bidding and its previous operating experience in such projects.
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RPG music company to float e-comm arm
Calcutta: MusicWorld Entertainment, a RPG group company, is likely to float an e-commerce arm by end-May this year.

According to Mr. Raghu Pillai, chief executive officer, the logistics for the operations are being finalised and the central warehouse for the operations is likely to be in Bangalore. The company is planning to tie-up with courier giant, DHL, for the logistics management of distribution. The company plans to use this arm to concentrate on the ethnic community overseas, which still demands a lot of Indian music.
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Shaw Wallace wins polls on resolutions
Calcutta: The financial institutions which forced a poll on two resolutions -- the passing of the accounts of the company for 1998-99 and the appointment of Manu Chhabria as non-retiring director for life – lost poll.

The FIs’ which do not hold a significant majority in the company were expected not to win the polls. Both resolutions were passed with over 65 per cent of votes in favour of the resolutions.
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Hinduja group to sell Fascel stake to Hutchinson
Mumbai: The Hinduja group, which holds the license for the Gujarat circle for cellular operations, will sell a 49 per cent stake in their cellular company, Fascel, to Hutchinson Telecom. The group plans to do this by first picking up the stakes of Shinawatra of Thailand (33 per cent) and Bezeq of Israel (16 per cent) in Fascel, and then off-loading this to the Hutchinson company, thus giving the latter a 49 per cent stake in the company.

Yet another investor in Fascel, Himachal Futuristic, is selling back its stake of 10 per cent in the company to the Hinduja and Kotak Mahindra, who is a strategic partner in the company.

While officials have kept quite on the deal, it is common knowledge that the Hutchinson group, which is aggressively looking to expand its presence in the Indian cellular business through acquisitions, is talking to the Hinduja group for the stake which will give it access to the lucrative Gujarat circle.
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IBM launches new facility at Bangalore 
Bangalore: IBM today launched a $5m web-application support facility in Bangalore. This facility will be one of 10 such IBM facilities worldwide.

The new facility equipped with a porting laboratory where ISVs’ can run their applications on IBM’s leading web technologies like Websphere and Domino, which will help them gauge performance of their applications in a simulated environment. These applications can also be certified for Java compatibility at the IBM studios located at the facility.
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RPG to sell off agrochem division
Mumbai: The RPG group has decided to sell off the agro-chemicals division of group company, RPG Life Sciences, formerly know as Searle India Limited. The division, which clocked sales of approximately Rs. 140 crore in 1998-99, has not been doing fairly well in the recent years as a result of eroding margins due to stiff competition.

While the company itself denies any move for the sale, reports state that I-Sec, the investment banking arm of ICICI, has been given the mandate to find a buyer for this division. The same report suggests that Monsanto Chemicals or Bayer may be interested in the purchase of the unit.  

The RPG group is said to be considering the use of these funds to expand the pharma business of RPG Life Sciences.
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Ford may export the Ikon
Bangalore: While the company is making efforts to clear the six weeks waiting period in the domestic market, Ford India Limited is considering exporting its latest product – the Ikon – through completely knocked down kits plant to be set up at Tamil Nadu later this year.

The company, which announced the stoppage of sales of its Escort model in December 1999, said that there are over 5,000 Ikons already on Indian roads. The company’s Chennai factory had a capacity of 50,000 vehicles which could go up to 100,000 vehicles when new products are introduced.
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Barings to increase stake in Jyothy Labs
New Delhi: The venture capital fund of the ING group, Barings India Investments, has decided to increase its stake in Jyothy Laboratories Limited, manufacturers of the Ujala brand of fabric whiteners, marginally to 9.96 per cent by bringing in Rs. 1.66 crore in the company. 

The money being brought in as part of the venture fund’s commitment to the company is being used for expansion purposes.
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Yokogawa Blue Star to get into IT
Bangalore: With the IT mania sweeping the Indian industry, yet another Indian company has decided to add IT as part of its business strategy. Yokogawa Blue Star Limited, a process control systems company, is setting up a subsidiary for offering IT solutions to its clientile both in the domestic and global market.

The company is expecting a revenue of over Rs. 50 crore from the subsidiary. The company already has a team of over 40 professionals who have been trained in the internet technologies. The company has also taken up expanding its sales force in an effort to expand its coverage of the markets. According to a senior company official, all these efforts only go a long way in bringing to light a new focus at the company – that of being a total solutions provider.
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ICICI Bank to set up Net kiosks
Pune: ICICI Bank, one of India’s most technologically advanced private banks, is to set up a chain of Internet kiosks for those customers who do not have independent access to the Internet from home or from office. These kiosks are to be launched on a trial basis in Mumbai in a couple of months. If successful, this experiment is to be replicated across the country.

The touch screen terminal kiosks will allow account holders to operate and utilise all the net based services of the bank. The kiosks will be connected to the Internet around the clock. These plans were disclosed at the inauguration of an ATM at a Pune brance. The total number of ATMs planned for the city of Pune is 15.
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Alstom to buy out ABB in JV
Paris: Power major, Alstom SA, announced that it would be buying over the stake of Swiss giant, ABB, in the recently created joint venture, ABB Alstom Power Company. The two companies had formed the joint venture by getting their power generation businesses together. Recently, differences had arisen between the partners on how to account for the risk associated with the joint venture in their respective balance sheets.

This deal, which is to be consummated at $1.19 billion, will give Alstom complete control over the joint venture company.

ABB plans to use the funds received from this divestment to enhance its position in the business-to-business e-commerce arena, as well as expand into power distribution and financial services.
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Pearson to buy over Dorling Kindersley
London: International media group, Pearson, today announced the take over of British educational publisher, Dorling Kindersley, in a $494m all cash deal. DK, which is best known for its pop-up educational books and CD Roms, crashed suddenly when it over invested in the Star War books.

While the new owner has promised to keep the DK business as it is, the DK CEO, Mr. Peter Kindersley, will step down to take on responsibilities as Pearson’s head of online education business.
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