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Nicholas Piramal buys up 40 per cent stake in Rhone-Poulenc
Mumbai: Mr. Ajay Piramal’s pharma company - Nicholas Piramal India Limited
(NPIL) has taken up 40 per cent in Rhone-Poulenc India at Rs 875 per equity share. This is
the group’s 12th acquisition since it chose this route for expanding businesses way
back in 1988. NPIL will acquire 18 lakh shares from RPI’s majority stakeholder
Aventis Pharma.
The latest acquisition has made the Piramal Group, number two in the Indian pharma
industry with a market share of about 5 per cent, next to the Glaxo-Wellcome-SmithKline
Beecham combine with a share of 8 per cent. Prior to the latest acquisition, the group was
ranked in the fourth position.
NPIL had sales of Rs 486.5 crore and a net profit of Rs 56.9 crore in 1999-2000. On a
consolidated basis (including joint ventures and subsidiaries), however, net sales were
higher at Rs 624.7 crore with a net profit of Rs 42.5 crore. Rhone-Poulenc India clocked a
turnover of Rs 235 crore and net profit of Rs 36.92 crore during 1999-2000.
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Kopran to merge group
firm with itself
Mumbai: Kopran Industries has proposed to merge group firm - Kopran Pharmaceuticals
with itself. Under the merger plan, the shareholders of Kopran Pharmaceuticals would be
given one Kopran share for every 17 they held in Kopran Pharmaceuticals.
Kopran Pharmaceuticals makes a range of bulk drugs and formulations - including
antibiotics and cardiovascular. Kopran Pharma also markets over-the-counter brands like
cough syrup and lozenges.
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Tisco to
increase stake in special steels unit
Mumbai: Tata Iron & Steel Company Ltd. (Tisco) has announced plans to acquire
55.24 per cent equity in Tata Special Steels Ltd., through an open offer at a price of Rs
27 per share for a total consideration of over Rs 47.27 crore.
- Tisco is already believed to be holding substantial stake
in Tata SSL, at around 44.76 per cent. The fresh acquisition of over 55 per cent stake in
the company could thus, eventually result in Tisco controlling Tata SSL’s entire
equity, paving the way for Tata SSL to be de-listed from the bourses.
- The offer is based on a premium of around 39 per cent, as
compared to Tata SSL’s closing price in the BSE today. The scrip was riding high on
the news of the open offer and touched the 8 per cent upper limit. It opened at Rs 18,
dropped to an intra-day low of Rs 17.60, and quickly bounced back to finish at Rs 19.40.
Over 46,102 shares have been traded at the counter.
Syngenta
India to merge two associate firms
Mumbai: Sygenta India, the Indian arm of global agro-chemicals major Syngenta is
planning to merge two of its associate firms - Zeneca Agrochemicals and Zeneca
Biosciences, next year.
Syngenta India, formed by demerging the agri
business division of Novartis India, last November after the worldwide merger of the agri
business division of Novartis and AstraZeneca. Zeneca Agrochemical and Zeneca Biosciences
were the Indian affiliates of AstraZeneca. Syngenta has 51 per cent stake in Syngenta
India and has a turnover of Rs 428 crore. Zeneca Biosciences was formed in 1998 to
manufacture public hygiene products
Mr. Prakash Apte, managing director of Syngenta India, has said that currently the focus
is on the integration of marketing and branding activities of the two companies. The
group's product line consists of crop protection products and seeds.
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Indian Hotels
bids for two HCI hotels
Mumbai: Indian Hotels Corporation Limited (IHCL) has bid for two Hotel Corporation
of India (HCI) hotels, including the Centaur Hotel, near Mumbai airport, along with two
flight kitchens, Chefair, in Delhi and Mumbai.
IHCL managing director R K Krishnakumar has
said that IHCL, which runs the Taj Hotels worldwide, had evinced interest in buying out
one of the five properties of HCI. HCI has five properties, including the Centaur Hotel in
New Delhi and Mumbai, along with two properties in Srinagar and Rajgir.
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