Silverline acquires Hong Kong software company
Mumbai: Silverline Technologies, an NYSE listed company which is on an acquisition spree, has closed its third acquisition deal in less than six months. It has bought Hong Kong-based software services company, Sky Capital, in a $22 million all-cash deal.

According to Mr. Shankar Iyer, chief executive of Silverline, the acquisition of Sky Capital, a 140-employee company with revenues of $24.3 million in 1999-00 and projected revenues of $30 million in 2000-01, will help Silverline establish a presence in Hong Kong and Japan.

In its bid to expand into the west, Silverline is believed to be in talks with two Dallas-based IT consultancy companies for acquisitions. If these come through, these will primarily be stock deals. Silverline is said to be looking at an IT consultancy firm to increase its domain expertise and enhance its margins.

According to Mr. Grahame Simmons, founder and chairman of Sky Capital, who owns more than 95 per cent of the company, "Size is important for growth and we found that it was better to be merged with Silverline to have a more robust growth in the future."

The valuation of the company has been done by Price Waterhouse and fairness opinion provided by Saloman Smith Barney.
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Raymond pips the post in the ColorPlus acquisition race
Mumbai: Beating other serious contenders like Grasim Industries and Indus League, the Singhania-family controlled Raymond Ltd won the race in acquiring ColorPlus, the flagship brand of the Chennai-based ColorPlus Fashions, which has a 25 per cent market share of the premium smart casual segment.

A memorandum of understanding to acquire the brand for Rs 35 crore is understood to have been signed between the two companies.

Raymond, which has gone through a lot of restructuring and is in the process of becoming a completely debt-free company, will pay for the brand through its internal accruals.

The acquisition of the brand fits in with Raymond’s new strategy of concentrating on its core competencies and expanding its range in branded wear for the retail segment. It is evaluating a foray into the branded women’s wear. Raymond’s existing portfolio includes Park Avenue formal wear, Parx casual wear and Manzoni, a premium range of shirts and ties. The company is also likely to launch a Park Avenue range of women’s clothing.
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Frito-Lay snaps up Uncle Chipps
New Delhi: In yet another instance of a domestic producer being unable to sustain growth, home-grown snack food brand, Uncle Chipps, which gave multinational brands a good run for their money, is being taken over by Frito-Lay India, the snack food subsidiary of PepsiCo Inc.. Uncle Chipps and Frito-Lay are the two biggest brands in the Rs. 130-crore organised branded potato chip market.

The brand, which is part of the Delhi-based Amrit Banaspati group, is being acquired for an undisclosed price.

According to sources, Frito-Lay will initially buy only the brand and is currently negotiating to acquire the two facilities of Uncle Chipps Company Ltd in Noida near Delhi and in Silvassa. The two units manufacture potato chips for the company.
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Sumitomo sells 4 per cent stake in Hikal Chemicals
Mumbai: Sumitomo Corporation, Japan’s large trading group, recently sold 4 per cent stake in Hikal Chemical Industries to its promoters for Rs 6 crore. Mumbai-based Hikal Chemicals is jointly promoted by Kalyani group and Hiremath family.

With this sale, Sumitomo’s stake in the company comes down to 11 per cent from 15 per cent resulting in the promoters’ stake going up to 74 per cent from 70 per cent. The sale, made in alignment with the Japanese giant’s global strategy, fits into the local promoter’s consolidation process.
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Mitsubishi enters Indian cellular market
New Delhi: Launching its handsets under the brand name, Trium, Mitsubishi Electric of Japan made its entry in the Indian cellular market. The company believes it can get a marketshare of 10-15 per cent in the first year.

Trium would be available in the Indian market through Mitsubishi's Israel-based distribution company H A T Trade, currently marketing Trium mobiles in Israel, Romania, South Asia, Bulgaria and Saarc countries.

The company is also planning to enter into strategic alliances with cellular operators in all metros for joint promotions of the handsets. The three models carry price tags of Rs 9,810, 14,499 and Rs 26,300, respectively.

Mitsubishi Trium, claiming a 28 per cent marketshare in Japan, 8 per cent in Europe and about 9 per cent in Asia, is selling about 20 million handsets annually across the world.
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