Mysore Cements may talk to Lafarge
Bangalore: Birla-group company, Mysore Cements, is said to be talking to French cement major, Lafarge, after its earlier talks with UK cement major, Blue Circle Industries, collapsed.

Lafarge, which has been on a buying spree in order to establish its presence in the country, is reportedly getting very ambitious and is rumoured to be eyeing the cement unit of engineering giant, Larsen & Toubro.

L&T had earlier announced its intention to hive off the cement business into a new entity and offer a 25 per cent strategic stake in the new entity to an established multinational.

Lafarge, which made a late entry into the cement business in India, recently took over the cement division of Tata Steel and with the acquisition of Raymond’s cement business has close to seven million tonnes (installed capacity). It has paid over Rs 1,300 crore to buy up this capacity.
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Voltas to exit robotics, will sell stake in Fanuc India
New Delhi: The Tata group consumer electronics company, Voltas Limited, has decided to exit from Fanuc India, its joint venture with the Japanese controls systems and robotics major Fanuc. Voltas currently holds 35 per cent equity stake in the Bangalore based joint venture and will sell out its equity to its Japanese partner.

Fanuc is one of the leading manufacturers of computerised numerical controls and robots in the country and supplies its products to all the leading auto companies.

This is the second major business area from which Voltas is exiting in the recent months, as part of its restructuring exercise to get out of non-core business. Earlier, the company had, last year, exited from the refrigeration business by selling off its refrigeration division to the Swedish white goods multinational Electrolux.

It is also understood that the third partner in Fanuc, IGE India, which holds 15 per cent stake in the company, is exiting the company after selling its stake to the Japanese giant.

Voltas is expected to use the proceeds from the stake sale in Fanuc for strengthening its core businesses including airconditioners, engineering, etc.
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Mangalore Breweries set to enter Shaw Wallace stable
Bangalore: It is understood that, as part of its strategy to aggressively enter the Karnataka market, liquor major, Shaw Wallace & Co., has nearly signed an agreement that will bring Mangalore Breweries and Distilleries Limited into the Shaw Wallace fold.

At present, the company is utilising Khoday Breweries in Bangalore to manufacture and bottle beer and has a capacity of 20 lakh dozens per annum, he said and added that the Mangalore Breweries has a capacity to bottle 12 lakh dozens per annum and has capacity to expand further.

Shaw Wallace is shifting its focus from manufacturing mild and medium beer to strong beer.
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Electrolux works hard on turnaround strategy
New Delhi: Swedish multinational, Electrolux, is pulling out all stops to turn around its two subsidiaries in the country -- washing machine manufacturer Electrolux Intron Limited and refrigerator manufacturer Electrolux Kelvinator Limited.

The restructuring being carried out has already ensured that Electrolux will break even its refrigeration company by the end of the year. The brand has already got to a double-digit market share, up from a very poor single-digit figure. In the refrigerator segment, with all its brands put together — Electrolux, Kelvinator and Allwyn — it is the largest player in the market today (28 per cent market share). In terms of a single brand, Electrolux is now number two next only to Whirlpool.

To enhance its presence in the marketplace, the company is planning the introduction of new products; entry into new segments like air conditioners, cooking ranges, microwave ovens, vacuum cleaners and complete overhaul of the Allwyn range.

The company’s chief executive officer, Mr. Ram Ramsunder, is talking to the parent company to turn its Indian operations into a global sourcing base for its products.
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Metal Box land to be put up for sale
Calcutta: Once a blue chip company, Metal Box India, which finds itself in the battle for resurrection at the courts of the BIFR, has finally secured permission to sell its prime property, situated in Mumbai.

The land measuring some 1.79 lakh square feet in Mumbai’s prime commercial district, Worli, has been assessed by S R Batliboi at Rs 43 crore. In an order issued by the Appellate Authority for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction, Rs 43 crore has been set as the reserve price. The proceeds from the sale are to be used for the rehabilitation of the company.

But the rider is that if tender bids fail to match this, the difference between the highest bid price and the reserve price would have to come from the promoters to meet any shortfall in the Rs 108 crore sanctioned rehabilitation package.

In a ruling, the Delhi High Court has set a deadline of mid September for the sale of the Worli property and November 14 for implementation of the package.

Failing this, AAIFR would seek management change to get the ailing company back on the rails.
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Zee to sell its stake in publishing subsidiary to group companies
Mumbai: While not exiting the publishing business altogether, Zee Telefilms has taken a decision to sell its entire stake in fledgling publishing subsidiary, Zee Publishing, to some other Essel group company.

While control would still be retained by the promoter group, the decision to divest in favour of a group company was in view of the government restrictions on cross-media holdings. The group will hold 97.3 per cent of the equity, with the balance 2.7 per cent stake in the ailing Zee Publishing is held by Deepak Shourie, the high-profile chief executive officer of Zee News.

The group’s publishing business currently includes two magazines—film magazine Zee Premiere and TV World, a trade magazine. The long gestation period in print media is another reason Zee Telefilms was divesting the stake.

The scrip has been battered in recent times and the move is being seen by analysts as one to prop up the shareholder value. The company had ventured into the publishing business with a view to harness the synergy between content and publishing. However, it has not been able to exploit the potential.

For long-term success, the group would also have to make large scale investments, analysts said. The publishing subsidiary had posted losses of Rs 75.24 lakh on a total turnover of Rs 32.77 lakh. On a share capital of Rs 41.1 lakh, the company has total unsecured loans of Rs 1.31 crore.
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Recent survey rates Ranbaxy as best pharmaceutical company
New Delhi: According to a recent survey conducted among doctors by a leading research agency, Ranbaxy Laboratories has outshone its competitors like Glaxo-Wellcome and Cipla, to be rated the best pharmaceutical company in terms of product quality, popularity and service in India. Ranbaxy has also been rated high in terms of familiarity and overall impressions.

The study, which aims to access the corporate image of pharmaceutical companies amongst the medical fraternity, elicits the doctor's opinion on the recent trends in the pharma industry regarding mergers, acquisitions, co-marketing and switches to OTC marketing. The survey carried on an all-India basis with 1,045 doctors in various categories including general practitioners, consulting physicians, gynecologists, orthopedic surgeons, pediatricians and general surgeons.

Ranbaxy has also been rated extremely high on its promotional efforts. The most highly rated promo-tool related attributes were the standard of detailing materials, educational material, adequacy of product samples and usefulness of leave-behind literatures.

Prescription of a particular product depends a lot on the company making it as quality is associated with the manufacturer. There is a strong preference for an Indian product vis--vis an MNC product as Indian companies are perceived to offer drugs of a similar quality at a cheaper price.

The study brings to light that product attributes are the most important factors. A good quality, reasonably priced and availability of products along with reliable effective medicines and good quality control are some of the key factors contributing to the making of a good pharma company.
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Nissan secures agreement for 24-hour production
London: Japanese automaker, Nissan, reached a momentous agreement with its workers at its Sunderland plant to introduce the UK's first round-the-clock assembly line. It is expected that the agreement will safeguard the plant's 5,000 jobs and secure the carmaker's 200m investment to produce its new-model Micras in the UK.

The new agreement would also ensure that plant’s capacity would be doubled to 500,000 cars a year, making it the biggest car factory in the UK.
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Daimler set to gain management control of Mitsubishi Motors
Tokyo: German auto giant, DaimlerChrysler looks set to gain more management control at troubled Mitsubishi Motors Corp (MMC), after a scandal over the Japanese firm’s cover-up of customers’ complaints.

According to reports appearing in Japan, the German automaker is set to lift its stake to 40 per cent from 34 percent and take a fourth seat on the board of the Japanese automaker. MMC said in a statement on Monday it was in talks with DaimlerChrysler about big changes to its organisation.

Other Mitsubishi group companies, which are also major shareholders in the Japanese automaker, are not likely to oppose any move by DaimlerChrysler to boost its holding.
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