Nicholas Piramal to exit joint venture with Scholl
Mumbai: Nicholas Piramal India (NPIL) has decided to exit from the 50:50 joint venture with UK-based Scholl Plc and its marketing alliance with Hong Kong-based Stryker Pacific. The domestic pharma major has already informed the two respective managements about its decision.

Piramal decided to part ways because the profit margins from these two alliances were not up to targeted levels. Both the businesses together contributed around Rs 6-7 crore, against NPIL’s projection of Rs 25 crore to the total turnover of the company.

Scholl-Piramal, the 50:50 joint venture was manufacturing and marketing foot-care formulations of Scholl in the Indian market. NPIL’s alliance with Stryker was for marketing latter’s medical equipment in the country. Most of the Scholl products had low volumes and margins and did not contribute much to increasing the bottomline growth. Similarly, medical equipment of Stryker was not up to mark, compared with other products in the market.
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HCI to double turnover through diversification
Mumbai: Hotel Corporation of India (HCI), is diversifying into allied businesses such as leasing out hotels for film shooting and telecom companies, and setting up water parks, entertainment centres and discotheques. The move forms part of HCI’s plan to reduce its fixed cost burden and attract a higher valuation during divestment.

Mr. R C Aggarwal, managing director, HCI has said that the company is targeting to double its revenue from the current levels through the allied activities as against rooms, food and beverages businesses. The diversification plan will be carried out through joint ventures with private players. HCI has tied up with various mobile phone companies for leasing out hotel space. The mobile companies will install their transmission facilities atop the hotels, which will add to signal quality. The company plans to generate around Rs 1 crore per annum through these deals.

HCI also has unutilised space in Delhi, besides the untapped areas at the two properties in Mumbai - Centaur Hotel Juhu Beach and Centaur Hotel Mumbai Airport. HCI is targeting around Rs 3 crore through leasing out the land in Delhi.
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Le Meridien takes to marketing alliance route
Mumbai: Le Meridien Hotels & Resorts is planning to enter into marketing alliances for standalone hotel properties in Kerala. This is for the first time in India that Le Meridien would be entering into marketing alliances for its hotel property without lending its brand name. Le Meridien is presently scouting for 25-50 room hotels or cottages, which it plans to bring under its worldwide offices and reservation systems.

Le Meridien is also investing around Rs 52 lakhs to bring in its international reservation system `Fortres' to India to enable online reservations with all hotels in India to provide real time quotes. Meanwhile, Le Meridien is set to launch its sixth hotel property in March 2001 at Kochi. The Kochi property with 150 rooms also has a convention centre, with nine conference halls which can accommodate 500 to 2,000 people, the largest in South India.

Le Meridien is also coming up with a commercial complex adjacent to its 171-room hotel in Mumbai. This would be its second commercial complex after the one adjacent to its hotel in New Delhi. Hotel Leelaventure has recently opened a similar commercial complex next to its Bangalore property.
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Essar gets approval for Ratnagiri oil field equity
New Delhi: The Essar group has obtained the necessary clearance from the government to take equity in $300-million oil field along with state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). ONGC has 40 per cent stake in the oil field, with Premier Oil Company, the operator for the field holding the remaining 10 per cent stake.

A committee of secretaries had reviewed the Essar’s case after doubts were raised about the Essar capability for taking 50 per cent stake in the oil field in Ratnagiri. The committee, in its report, said there are enough safeguards in the agreement for the field to meet any eventuality. It said that though finances of a participating company are important, investment in such ventures is raised on the basis of established recoverable reserves.
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Jet Airways to expand its Boeing fleet
New Delhi: Jet Airways on a major expansion binge has decided to acquire ten new generation Boeing aircrafts to replace some of its leased planes at a cost of about $422 million. The acquisition plan includes purchase of latest generation Boeing series of B-700s and 800s, to be implemented by May 2003.

The private domestic carrier would be adding two leased Boeings to its fleet in the next few weeks and three more turbo-prop ATR 72-500s within this year. The airline has a fleet of 25 Boeings and five ATRs - a total of 39 aircraft, including eight turbo-props by the end of 2002. Jet Airways has already got approvals for acquisition of three ATRs, for which negotiations are currently on.
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IPCL sells its stake in GE Plastics
New Delhi: Indian Petrochemicals Corporation (IPCL) has said that it was exiting from GE Plastics (India) by selling all its 50 per cent stake to the joint venture partner. The sell-off is part of the Indian entity's programme for restructuring business in the wake of government's decision to divest 25 per cent stake to a strategic partner.

IPCL and GE Plastics of Netherlands have recently signed an agreement for the purpose.

IPCL and its Dutch partner have been at loggerheads fighting over the issue of valuation of Indian partner's stake in the loss-making venture. While GE had appointed Arthur Anderson for evaluation of the company, IPCL was not satisfied with the valuation done by Arthur Anderson and appointed independent auditors for starting the process afresh.
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Max Group sell 21 per cent in MaxGB to DSM
New Delhi: Max Group, the Analjit Singh-promoted company has decided to offload its 21 per cent stake in Max GB, to the Dutch pharma giant- DSM. Max holds 26 per cent stake in Max GB. The deal will reduce Max’s stake in Max GB to just 5 per cent while DSM will have the remaining 95 per cent. Max GB has a 50:50 venture with Hindustan Antibiotics for manufacturing Penicillin G. For the Max group, the latest sell-off signifies exiting its penicillin-based bulk drug joint venture.

This is the second time the Max Group has sold its stake in Max GB, originally a 50:50 venture with GB. Last August, it sold 24 per cent of its stake valued at Rs 26 crore in the JV to Gist Brocades, which is now part of DSM. Max’s decision to sell its stake MaxGB follows its decision to concentrate on IT, healthcare and insurance.
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