Sterlite recasts businesses, demerges telecom
Mumbai: Coming close on the heels of its loss of the deal to acquire Indal, the Sterlite group today announced great plans to make it a global player in telecom and non-ferrous metals.

The board of directors of the company today adopted a report prepared by noted consulting company, Arthur Andersen, where they had recommended the demerger of its telecom division into a separate company, with the objective of becoming a global total telecom solutions provider. Parallely, the company would integrate its aluminium and copper divisions to create a global scale non-ferrous metals and mining giant. This would mean merging group company, Madras Aluminium Co – which recently acquired India Foils – with it.

The company has also decided to divest its paper project in which it had invested Rs. 109 crore, and Arthur Andersen has been vested with the responsibility of finding a buyer for the project. The company will also not go ahead with its greenfield aluminium project in Orissa. The 75-MW captive power plant with its subsidiary, Malco, will be hived off into a separate joint venture.
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IDBI plans net broking with the mother of all net brokers
Mumbai: Even if it lost the lead into these areas to its relatively younger kin, ICICI and HDFC, the country’s largest development bank, IDBI, is now forging an alliance with two of the world’s most respected US-based institutions. This alliance, with Charles Schwabb and e-trade, is to help IDBI enter the retail stock broking market through the internet. The joint venture is planned through IDBI Capital Markets, and the internet banking technology support will be given by IDBI Bank
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Hindustan Petro bitten by IT bug
Mumbai: Hindustan Petroleum, that was once a symbol for conservatism and cautiousness with a traditional hard-nosed and narrow approach to business, has also been bitten by the IT bug.

The company, which already employs over 100 persons in various IT projects throughout the company and which is seeking to boost its non-oil revenues substantially, has decided to form a joint venture for its IT foray.

According to Mr. H. L. Zutshi, chairman of the company, the e-commerce opportunities for a company like HPCL with its infrastructure and reach are tremendous. The company will plan to leverage on its huge retail presence through over 4,500 petrol pumps and link them through an IT backbone for commerce purposes.
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Tata Steel takes M&A route to touch Rs. 10,000 crore top line
Jamshedpur: Steel major and Tata group company, Tata Steel, today announced that it was looking aggressively at acquisitions as a route to getting to the magical Rs. 10,000 crore turnover figure in the next three to four years. The company’s turnover is currently at Rs. 6,000 crore.

Laying out these plans, the company’s managing director, Dr. J. J. Irani, said that the company would concentrate on flat products and export markets, especially the US, as the core of its marketing strategy. The company was also looking to investing in a titanium mining project.
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HFCL repays loans, saves on interest costs
New Delhi: Flushed with funds the company received from Australian maganate, Kerry Packer who recently picked up 10 per cent in the company, Himcahal Futuristic Communications Limited (HFCL) today repaid all its outstanding loans to the tune of Rs. 396.25 crore. This will result in the saving of interest cost to the tune of Rs. 75 crore in the current financial year.

The loans were taken by the company with various repayment dates that went on till July 2003. The company believes that repaying the loans will now help it concentrate and focus on growth. The company is actively seeking to reposition itself as a technology and a telecom company, rather than a mere telecom company.
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Caltex plans M&A to consolidate
New Delhi: The US-based Caltex Oil Corporation is injecting fresh equity capital of Rs. 180 crore in its Indian venture, Caltex Lubricants India, in an attempt to consolidate its operations and position in the country. The company plans to do this through strategic business opportunities, including mergers and acquisitions.

The FIPB has cleared the proposal of Caltex to expand through mergers and acquisitions on the condition that the company will seek prior government approval.
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