Battering on markets results in Wipro lowering ADS price
New Delhi: India’s leading software company, Wipro Limited, which began its roadshows for a debut in the American capital markets, has has lowered its projected price for a US initial public offering to $52.48 per share from $63.86.

This revised price was based on the October 10, 2000, the closing price of the company’s shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange. With the lowering of the price, Wipro is expected to raise about $136.3 million (or $157 million if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) down 18 per cent from the previous expected amount of $166.2 million, the prospectus said.

Wipro has made this ADS to acquire businesses and other general corporate purposes, like increasing the company’s working capital, creating a public market for its shares in the US and facilitating its future access to public equity markets and provide it with increased visibility in the US.
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Tatas in talk with AIG to get balance 10 per cent stake in Tata Cellular
Calcutta: With the completion of the Tata Cellular and Birla-AT&T venture at stake, the Tata group is said to be at an advanced stage of negotiations with erstwhile partner, American Investor Group (AIG), for the divestment of AIG's 10 per cent stake in Tata Cellular in favour of the Tatas.

It may be recalled that AIG, which holds 10 per cent of the equity in Tata Cellular, had not agreed to sell-off its holding. This had resulted in the completion of the merger with Birla-AT&T being put on hold. Each of the three partners in the Tata-Birla-AT&T venture will hold 33.33 per cent.

If AIG does not pull out, it would hold a three per cent stake in the Birla-AT&T-Tata consortium at the cost of the Tatas, whose share would then come down to 30 per cent, which, it is understood, the Tata group is reluctant to do.

The Birla-AT&T-Tata combine, which is already operating as a consortium, recently acquired 100 per cent stake in the RPG Group's cellular operation in Madhya Pradesh. The combine is now pitching for 49 per cent stake of RPG's cellular operation in Chennai.
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Production hit as MUL workers go on strike
New Delhi: With the employee stir unresolved, workers at Maruti Udyog have gone on a boycott of work in response to an ultimatum issued by the management. A management notice binds workers to a signed assurance that they would not indulge in any kind of agitational activities.

While Maruti produces more than 1,200 cars per day, the boycott saw differing versions from the management and the workers. The management claimed that 200 cars were produced, while the union claimed that production came to a standstill.

The company management made it mandatory for workers to sign an undertaking not to resort to any activity that would adversely affect production, and those workers not signing the undertaking were to be refused entry into the factory.

Six central trade unions including AITUC, CITU, INTUC and UTUC have condemned theMUL management’s action of demanding an undertaking from the workmen and have demanded its withdrawal. They’ve extended their support to the MUEU.
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Rajan Raheja to increase stake in Prism Cement
Mumbai: Construction and media baron, Mr. Rajan Raheja, is all set to increase his holding in cement company, Prism Cement, through a two-step deal, following which his holding in the company will increase to 57.3 per cent from 46.5 per cent now.

In the first stage, the company is to issue Mr. Raheja shares, on a preferential basis, that would convert his unsecured interest free loan worth Rs 41.15 crore to the company, into equity shares.

In the second stage, Prism will also make another allotment to Raheja of 2.38 crore equity shares of Rs 10 each, which may also include his relatives and associate companies, for cash. After the second round, the promoter's stake is set to go up to 57.3 per cent.
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Sanyo to hike stake in BPL joint venture
Mumbai: Earlier media reports that the BPL group was planning to reduce its relations witht the 21-billion Japanese transnational Sanyo, have been proved wrong. The Japanese giant has just committed to pump Rs 40 crore into BPL Sanyo Utilities -- the merged entity of BPL Refrigerators and BPL Sanyo Utilities and Appliances – thus increasing its stake to 25 per cent in the company.

Additionally, the company is also said to be in talks with the BPL group for a substantial increase in its stake to around 40 per cent. Currently, Sanyo holds 11 per cent in the home appliances company. Subsequently, BPL's stake will come down to 51 per cent from 60 per cent in the present dispensation.

BPL's home appliances business comprises refrigerators, washing machines, microwaves, cooking range, gas tables, dish-washers and vaccum cleaners. The company is aggressively looking at introducing air-conditioners in their product portfolio by next year.
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Ciba to quit performance polymers by Q1 2001
Mumbai: As part of its global restructuring, Ciba Specialty Chemicals, is planning to get out of its performance polymers business in India by the end of the first-quarter of calendar 2001.

The company, which is Ciba’s listed subsidiary, has already sold the marketing rights for its performance polymers, which includes the brand Araldite, to private equity fund, Morgan Grenfell, for Rs 40 crore. The company is now planning to dispose off its 76 per cent stake in Petro Araldite — a manufacturing joint venture with Tamil Nadu Petro Products — to Morgan.
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Telco to launch Indica in Italy by month-end
Mumbai: Commercial vehicle major, Tata Engineering, is all set launch its Indica premium car in the Italian market, by this month end.

According to Mr. Rajiv Dube, this export was largely to seed the European market. The company already has a dealer network in place for European market. As part of its South Asian foray, the company is to ship the petrol-carbonated version of Indica to Bangladesh for its air-conditioned taxi segment.

The company has so far sold 81,660 Indicas till date after its launch in December 1998 and claims to have a market share of 14.4 per cent in the domestic small car market.
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TVS Suzuki pulls out of auto majors’ B2B portal
Chennai: In what could be a significant blow to the new b2b portal being planned by automobile majors, TVS Suzuki one of the original promoters of the portal has pulled out of the consortium.

The venture, announced in July to cater to the automobile industry and help the auto majors in supply chain management, was promoted, besides TVS, by Ashok Leyland, Bajaj Auto, Hero Group, Hindustan Motors, Maruti Udyog, Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Engineering. The plan for the portal came close in heels of the announcement of Covisint, an internet marketplace for General Motors, Ford, Daimler Chrysler, Renault and Nissan along with IT companies Commerce One and Oracle.

The eight-member consortium accounted for over four-fifth of the vendor-OEM auto business in India. According to company sources, its decision to pull out was largely influenced by its program of implementation of ERP across the company.

TSL is reportedly apprehensive that the benefits accruing in the initial stages would be minimal and hence doesn’t want to commit lot of resources till ERP is implemented.

If TSL wanted to implement ERP, why did it join the initiative in July, the industry sources questioned.
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Ranbaxy to get $5 million from Bayer
New Delhi: Ranbaxy Laboratories is all set to receive $5 million from Bayer this month as the second milestone payment for the novel drug delivery system of the antiinfective drug, ciprofloxacin, that it is developing for the German pharma major.

With this payment, the company would have received a total of $15 million so far, out of the $65 million license fee the pharma major is to receive from the German giant. This trance is being made on the successful completion of the phase 1 trials of the drug in the US by Bayer. Recently, Ranbaxy had successfully scaled up to commercial size, the NDDS of ciprofloxacin and Bayer has used the samples from the scaled up batches for trials in the US.

The company had, originally, received $10 million from Bayer as the signing fee when the two entered into the joint development agreement mid-last year.

According to company sources, the company is hopeful of getting the third milestone payment from Bayer early next year, now that the various phases of the drug trial are expected to progress fast.

Under the agreement with Bayer, Ranbaxy gets the right to market the product — ciprofloxacin — in India and the CIS countries, while Bayer will have the marketing right for Europe, USA and Japan. In China, both Bayer and Ranbaxy will co-market the product.
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