Shell, BHP OIL not interested in Enron’s stake
New Delhi: Royal Dutch Shell has said on Monday that it was not interested in acquiring the US energy giant Enron International's stake in Panna-Mukta and Tapti oil fields. Mr. Vikram Singh Mehta, Shell India Pvt. Ltd. chairman has said that Shell was more keen on participation in oil and gas fields in Gujarat and Mumbai offshore, which produces around 300 million cubic metres of gas and 29,000 barrels of oil per day.

Enron Oil and Gas India Ltd. (EOGIL), operator of the $900-million joint venture with Reliance and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), which held 30 and 40 per cent stake respectively, has sought to withdraw from the oil and gas field as part of asset rebalancing. BHP Oil of Australia too has shown disinclination for taking Enron's stake. A senior company official is reported to have said that BHP Oil was not keen on the upstream participation.

ONGC, Reliance and downstream refining company Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) are the only three serious contenders now left in the fray for Enron's stake. Cairn Energy of UK, which had earlier shown interest in Panna-Mukta and Tapti fields, too has not made any formal bid.

ONGC's non-binding bid has already been accepted by Enron, which is short-listing companies based on initial expression of interest in the two-stage bidding process. The shortlisted companies would be given access to Enron's data on the oil and gas field, based on which the companies would make detailed financial bid for which a final deadline was yet to be decided.
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Exide plans to set up plant in Bangladesh
New Delhi: Exide Industries Ltd. (EIL) is planning to set up a greenmailed plant in Bangladesh as part of global expansion plan. The company has also identified a few other units for likely acquisition in the targets in the SAARC region and has initiated talks.

The company had recently acquired the Singapore-based Chloride South Eastern Asian Pte Ltd. and purchased 49 per cent stake in Associated Battery Manufacturers (Ceylon) of Sri Lanka. The company is working on a strategy to expand its presence in the region and will be using acquisition as a growth vehicle.

The commercial operations in Bangladesh will start in April this year with supplies of completely knocked down kits from India. The manufacturing unit will be set up over the next nine months. The company is also looking at servicing requirements in other neighbouring countries from the Bangladesh unit.
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Nestle enters bottled water market
New Delhi: The world’s largest bottled water manufacturer – Nestle has entered the Rs 350-crore Indian bottled water business taking on other multinational majors like Danone, Coca Cola and Pepsi, each of whom have launched their own brands. Despite being late in entering the market, Nestle is aiming at becoming the largest player in the Indian bottled water market in the long term.

The company has announced its entry in the mass market under the Nestle Pure Life brand. A one litre bottle is being priced at Rs 12, somewhat higher than its competing brands. Worldwide Nestle registers sales of Rs 18,000 crore from the water business, being about 9 per cent of its total turnover.

A number of major water brands entered the market last year, which is growing by an estimated 40 per cent every year. The market has in fact doubled over the last two years. While Coke launched its Kinley brand of bottled water last year, Pepsi entered the market through its global brand Acqua Fina. Among domestic players, the major entrants include UB and Britannia, which is also expected to be a major player. Nestle too entered the market during this time but in the high end segment, which is a very small component of the total market, with two of its international brands - Perrier and San Pellegrino.
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Rallis India sells Shreya Impex for Rs 49cr
Mumbai: Rallis India has sold Shreya Impex, part of Moscow-based Shreya Corporation, for Rs 49 crore, completing the exit of the Tata Group from the pharma sector. The move forms part of the company's strategy to exit from non-core areas and focus on core agrochemical and seeds businesses. The Tata Group earlier divested its stake in Merind India, another pharma unit some time ago.

The sale agreement envisages a period of 90-120 days for the transfer of the pharma business. The existing 300 employees in the pharma division will be shifted to Shreya Impex. The pharmaceutical division of the Rs 1432-crore Rallis India, with a turnover of Rs 60 crore during the year ended 1999-00, focuses mainly on therapeutic segments like gastrointestinal care, respiratory care.

Rallis India statement has stated that the divestment will help Rallis to strengthen its balance sheet.
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ThyssenKrupp plans two more tie-ups
Chennai: ThyssenKrupp of Germany is planning two more joint ventures in India. The group already has several joint ventures in India in the fields of automotive component, engineering and steel among others. The group operates seven majority owned companies and one additional company in which it holds a 49 per cent stake. The German group has however, not revealed the names of companies under consideration for joint ventures but indicated that proposed JVs are not in the auto-component field.

ThyssenKrupp AG was formed after the 1999 merger of Thyssen and Krupp and has a long-standing experience of doing business in India. The group has just kicked off its joint venture with JBM Group. Krupp JBM in Chennai is of strategic importance for our automotive segment. The joint venture will not only supply the Indian market but will export its products to worldwide destinations.

Mr. Jooss, Board Director, ThyssenKrupp Automotive has said that ThyssenKrupp is operating in several fields and is looking for investment opportunities as and when they arise.
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HM sells earthmoving equipment arm to Caterpilar
New Delhi: Hindustan Motors has sold its earthmoving equipment division including the wheel loader plant to US-based Caterpilar Inc, as part of restructuring drive. The division located at Pondicherry and Tiruvellur near Chennai was sold to the US company on February 9, as per communication sent to Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

The move was part of the restructuring drive of the company, whose net loss mounted to Rs 33.48 crore in the third quarter of 2000-01 against Rs 11.73 crore during the same quarter the previous year. The company board had already decided on the sale of the division for Rs 337.50 crore, including assets of Rs 187 crore in December last, subject to necessary approvals from lending banks, financial institutions and shareholders.
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Sterlite to bid for 74% of Hindustan Cables
Mumbai: Sterlite Optical Technologies is planning to bid for the government-held 74 per cent equity in Hindustan Cables, a public sector undertaking. The company is keen to acquire the public sector cable firm to expand its capacities and enhance its shareholders’ value. This is the first acquisition attempt by Sterlite Optical after its demerger from Sterlite Industries last year. The company group is aiming at a numero uno position in the optic fibre segment in India.

Hindustan Cables being a leading telecom cable manufacturer, several other domestic firms are also expected to join the fray for government stake. RPG Cables and Finolex are among two big players in the segment.

Hindustan Cables has authorised capital is Rs 450 crore and paid-up capital about Rs 411 crore.

During 1999-2000, its turnover was Rs 803.51 crore. The company is planning to achieve a Rs 909.80 crore target during the current fiscal. Hindustan Cables has production capacities of 107 lakh conductor km (LCKM) of jelly filled cables and 70,000 km fibre optic cable per annum. It’s manufacturing facility at Rupnarainpur in West Bengal produces a variety of telephone and computer cords. Hindustan Cables' turnkey project division is engaged in executing external plant network for DoT/MTNL.
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Sun Earth Ceramics on a expansion binge
Mumbai: Sun Earth Ceramics Ltd. is planning to acquire Hyderabad-based Regency Ceramics Ltd. as part of its foray into the southern markets. The acquisition is expected to cost Rs 10.2 crore. The company is also planning to establish a green-field project in Andhra Pradesh at a project cost of around Rs 30 crore. The proposed plant will be manufacturing both wall and floor tiles. Coupled with its acquisition of Regency Ceramics, the company is aiming at capturing a majority share of southern market.

Sun Earth Ceramics presently has three plants - one at Alibagh, one at Bharuch and the other in Karjat. The company is planning to now raise the aggregate capacity to 10 million sq. mt. It has set up a 2.5 million sq mt capacity plant to manufacture premium-end vitrified tiles at its Karjat plant. The company's expansion project of 1.25 million sq mt per annum at its recently-acquired Bharuch plant in Gujarat is also set to start operations.

With the two additional capacities in place, the company's installed capacity for the wall, floor and vitrified tiles would now exceed 10 million sq mt per annum. The expansion projects have been undertaken at a cost of Rs 85 crore and have been financed through internal accruals and debt. Sun Earth Ceramics expects to touch three million square metres by the end of 2001, and nearly 60 per cent of the business will be generated through the sale of vitrified tiles.

The company expects the market share in wall tiles to increase from 18 per cent to 22 per cent, and to 16 per cent from 12 per cent in floor tiles by the end of this year. The company has recorded more than 100 per cent growth in export in the year 1999-2000, by Rs 20 crore as against Rs 9 crore in the previous year.
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