Bajoria set to dig into Bombay Dyeing
Calcutta/Mumbai/New Delhi: Mr. Arun Bajoria the Calcutta-based jute tycoon, who has acquired 14 per cent stake in Nusli Wadia flagship Bombay Dyeing through market operations, is all set to dig his heels in. He is also understood to hold another two per cent in the company through friends and relatives.

While the company has moved the Company Law Board and Sebi to prevent the shares being registered in his name, Mr. Bajoria has stated that he he had merely made an investment since the shares were undervalued and denied that he was making a bid for the company.

Bombay Dyeing has approached the Securities & Exchange Board of India on the grounds that the acquisition was in "violation of the takeover norms." It has also moved the Company Law Board, asking it to cancel Bajoria’s name from the list of shareholders on the ground that he had violated the terms of the takeover code.

While stating that he was in no mood to stage a corporate battle, Mr. Bajoria said he wanted to be a "silent investor" unless the Wadia group provoked him to react by denying his right to the holding. He stated that, were he forced to do so, he would come out with a public offer to purchase another 20 per cent of the shares of the company.

Market sources, however, state that Mr. Bajoria had offered to sell the shares back to Mr. Nusli Wadia, chairman of the company, for a price not less than Rs. 250 per share.

Mr. Bajoria’s logic in picking up this stake was based on his assessment that the company was a "fundamentally a sound firm which could stage a turnaround on the bourses with a slight improvement in the textiles industry".

He maintained that "Bombay Dyeing, which was sitting on liquid cash of over Rs 450 crore, had not been properly treated in the stock markets. The intrinsic value of the scrips should be over Rs 170 at the end of this year. If the company manages a good show this year, the share price may go up to Rs 250 in the next year".
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Infosys reports higher H1 results
Bangalore: Despite having reported results that beat market expectations with a 122.3 per cent surge in first-half profits, the shares of Infosys Technologies fell on profit-taking. The share fell 1.5 per cent or Rs 109.85 to close at Rs 7,289 after initial gains of 1.1 per cent when the results were first posted.

The firm, which has the heaviest weighting in the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex, posted a net profit of Rs 281 crore ($60.9 million) in the April to September period from Rs 126 crore a year earlier.

The company stated that the huge jump in earnings was driven by continued demand for its internet services and said it did not expect a slowdown in the next few quarters as predicted recently by global technology companies. Infosys chairman and chief executive N R Narayana Murthy said the whopping growth in the company's earnings was driven by business from large global corporations that were extending their traditional businesses to the internet.

The company has signed up several heavyweight new clients, which include, US-based Eastman Chemicals, logistics firm Fritz Cos, networking giant Cisco Systems, sports goods firm Reebok, US retail leader J C Penney and Germany's BHF Bank.
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Philips announces open offer to hike stake in Indian arms
Mumbai: In its bid to increasing its shareholding in its Indian subsidiaries, Royal Philips Electronics NV of the Netherlands, announced open offers to the shareholders of its Indian subsidiaries, Philips India and Punjab Anand Lamp.

Meanwhile, Philips Netherlands has made an open offer at Rs 105 a share to acquire an additional 23 per cent stake in Philips India. If it succeeds in acquiring the additional shares, its holding in Philips India will increase from the present 51 per cent to 74 per cent.

The Dutch parent has announced the offer price of Rs 95 per share for Punjab Anand, a company in which it already owns 51 per cent of the equity, to increase its stake further by 25.5 per cent. Philips India holds another 23.5 per cent in Punjab Anand. If Philips Netherlands succeeds in acquiring the entire public shareholding, the group’s stake in Punjab Anand will increase to 100 per cent. In such an event, Punjab Anand shares will be de-listed.

Both the open offers are scheduled to open on November 13 and close on December 12.
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GE acquires software arm of Citadel Healthcare
Hyderabad: Citadel Healthcare Informatics, which has developed a full-fledged enterprise resource planning for healthcare and medical insurance, has sold its software division to General Electric of the US.

The company has also signed a joint venture agreement with the US giant, for setting up a healthcare informatics system company, to be christened GE Citadel.

Citadel has implemented its 39-module ERP package at Jahangir Hospital, Pune, and Apollo Hospitals, Vizag. The company is currently implementing ERP package at Deccan Hospitals in Hyderabad.
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Volvo AB keen to forge closer ties with Indian software companies
Bangalore: Swedish transportation giant, Volvo AB, is said to be planning to forge closer ties with software companies in India, mainly to the giant’s own IT requirements-operations and infrastructure and application development.

Currently, Volvo cars was the single biggest customer of the IT division of the company.

In India, Volvo has been able to introduce latest products, the response for which has, according to the company, been very enthusiastic.

The company has sold close to 1,500 marine and industrial engines. The low floor bus, which the company recently introduced, has drawn good response from Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh authorities besides Karnataka.
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Holding company to for Birla investment in Ennore project
Mumbai: The Aditya Vikram Birla Group is to set up a separate holding company to invest the proposed Dakshin Bharat Energy, an LNG-cum-power project at Ennore in Tamil Nadu.

Around two years back, the Birla group, along with CMS Energy of the US, Unocal, Woodside Development and Siemens, formed a consortium - Dakshin Bharat Energy - for setting up a 2.5-million tonne LNG-based power project and a 1,800-mw power project. The consortium has tied up with Rasgas for supply of LNG for the project.

The group’s investment is now planned to be made through the proposed holding company, and flagship companies, Grasim and Hindalco, would not make any fresh investment in the proposed project.
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