Enron to divest majority in Dabhol
Mumbai: In the light of ongoing problems with the Maharashtra government over the power project in the state, US energy major, Enron, is said to be contemplating the divestment of a majority stake in the $3 billion Dabhol Power Company.

Enron, which holds around 65 per cent stake in the project, is in the process of identifying investment banks to lead manage the divestment. The other shareholders in the project are the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (15 per cent) and Bechtel and GE (10 per cent each).

Since the approval of the lenders to the project is required in the event of any pullout, Enron has called for a meeting of its lenders in London on April 23 at which meeting the company is expected to seek such an approval.

Enron was forced to hike its stake to 65 per cent when MSEB refused to buy additional equity and decided to restrict it’s holding to 15 per cent. Its earlier attempts at unloading 15 per cent stake to a minority shareholder had been unsuccessful.

MSEB senior officials, who are unaware of the Enron's plans to sell stake in DPC, said the legal department was closely looking at various options.
Back to News Review index page  

BPL likely to take over Spectranet
New Delhi: The Punj Lloyd-promoted broadband service, Spectranet Communications, which is up for grabs, is likely to go into the BPL stable if the negotiations BPL Communications is having with the Lloyd group fructifies. A team from the BPL group is understood to be in Delhi to assess Spectranet.

According to sources the deal, for which the price is yet to be determined, will be funded partly through cash and partly through equity.

The acquisition is likely to give BPL access to the lucrative Delhi market and also provide it with a platform to offer fixed line and WLL services almost immediately after receiving the licence.

The acquisition would enhance the valuation of BPL Communications and this will help the BPL group, which is reportedly planning to sell majority stake in BCL.
Back to News Review index page  

Dr Reddy’s enters into marketing agreement with US company
Mumbai: Months after the company broke off with its earlier marketing partner in the US, domestic pharma major, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, has entered into an exclusive co-marketing and development agreement with another US company, Par Pharmaceuticals.

The agreement covers fourteen generic pharmaceutical products, which include anti-depressant flouxetine (40mg capsules) and anti-ulcer drug famotidine (20mg and 40mg tablets).

Dr Reddy’s also stated that it believed that it was the first to file an application to market an off-patent version of fluoxetine 40mg capsules in the US and anticipated 180 days marketing exclusivity, which would further strengthen its position in the US generics market.

DRL received the US FDA approval for famotidine, used in the treatment of peptic ulcer, on April 16, 2001 and launched the product in the US on the same day.

Besides approval for marketing four drugs in the US (famotidine, rantidine 75mg, ranitidine (over the counter), and oxaporzin), the company also has approvals for marketing drugs in France, New Zealand and Canada.
Back to News Review index page  

NDTV to launch new channel; gets strategic investors
New Delhi: Prannoy Roy-promoted NDTV is all set to launch its new entertainment channel, NDTV World, by September this year. The new entity has also roped in the ICICI group as strategic investors by offloading between 10- 20 per cent equity to the ICICI Group.

The 24-hour bilingual channel, targeted essentially at the Indian diaspora, to start with, will be available in the United States and the United Kingdom. While the channel is expected to be free-to-air in India, it will be on the DTH platform in the US and the UK.

NDTV’s move to launch a new entertainment channel comes in the wake of a good demand for Indian movies and soap operas among expatriate Indians.

Earlier investors in NDTV include Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Alliance Capital, Jardine Fleming and Lazard.
Back to News Review index page  

Mercedes India launches latest product
Mumbai: Luxury carmaker, Mercedes Benz India, today announced the launch of its latest product, the new Mercedes-Benz C class car with an extensive package of technical innovations.

The car, to be launched in May 2001, is fitted with a powerful C-180 petrol and C-200 CDI diesel engine and is a technological trailblazer in its segment.

The ex-showroom price in Mumbai (excluding octroi, registration, insurance and other levies) for the introductory model C 180 Classic line will be Rs 19.9 lakh, he added.
Back to News Review index page  

Dalal Consultants to change management control
New Delhi: Leading Indian engineering consulting firm, Dalal Consultants, may see its management control change hands. Mott McDonald, a global engineering consulting major, is understood to be buying out stake with management control in Dalal Consultants.

The UK company, which sees this as part of its efforts to enter India in a big way, has already submitted an application to the FIPB. Mott is, at present, involved in two projects in the country including the Bihar-based Matreeya Project funded by the Matreeya Foundation of UK and the Delhi metro rail project, where the company is looking after the mechanical engineering aspects of the project and is a sub-vendor.

Dalal Consultants has been on the look out for an equity alliance with foreign partner with a long-term perspective on India. It appointed Ernst & Young (Indian partner S R Batliboi) for scouting the services of a suitable partner.
Back to News Review index page  

Dutch firm to transfer Indian holding to employees
Mumbai: Dutch chemicals giant, DSM Fine Chemicals, is planning to transfer to its employees for free its 51 per cent holding in its Indian venture, Alpha Drugs, a small loss-making intermediate based in Chandigarh that produces anti-infective trimethoprim.

The stake will be transferred to a newly formed holding company, the Alpha Employees Holding Company Private.DSM would give an interest free long-term loan of Rs 4.2 crore ($897,440) to Alpha Drugs in addition to a larger grant.

The Alpha Employees Holding Company has received an exemption from Indian stock market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India from making an open offer to minority shareholders, normally required in a takeover.

The sell-off by DSM is part of a restructuring of its Indian operations.
Back to News Review index page  

UB to launch herbal product to help weight reduction
Bangalore: Domestic liquor major, United Breweries, is all set to launch a herbal product for weight loss.

The product, called Hydroxycitrisol, has just been introduced in Europe and is said to have been well received. It may hit the Indian market in smaller easy-to-use packages of 100 gm, costing about Rs 300. The consumer is required to have 1.5 gm of the powder every day.

The product, which is the result of a decade-long research by the Vittal Mallya Research Foundation, has already been patented in the US and India, besides receiving interim patent protection in 100 other countries.

The product is a soluble salt derived from the fruits of Garcinia for weight control. Due to its soluble nature, Hydroxycitrisol can be readily incorporated into beverages, chocolates and other food formulations. The product will be marketed by the UB group company, UB Global Corporation.

The product is thermostable and neutral pH (neither acidic nor alkaline), which is required for making it soluble in other forms of beverages. "Another important component of the product is the calcium content. This reduces the side effects," the official added.
Back to News Review index page  

Max New York Life Insurance launches operations
New Delhi: Yet another private sector insurance company, Max New York Life Insurance, launched its operations in eight cities in the country and became, in the process, the first private life insurer to have a national footprint.

The company is a joint venture with 74 per cent being owned by health care and information technology company Max India and 26 per cent being owned by New York Life International, one of the biggest insurance players in the United States.

There are no official estimates of India's insurable population, but industry estimates put it at about 400 million, more than three times the 115 million people insured by state-owned giant Life Insurance Corp of India.

Max New York Life has 250 employees and is capitalised at Rs 105 crore.
Back to News Review index page  

Ranbaxy moves in fast to stem executive loss
New Delhi: Soon after facing an exodus of senior executives, leading domestic pharma company, Ranbaxy Limited, announced the appointments of four leading executives, all of who joined from leading FMCG companies.

Besides, the pharma major is Ltd is expanding its presence in the global and domestic over-the-counter (OTC) and nutraceutical product segments.

The company has already inducted Atul Malhotra from Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) as head (global OTC) and regional director for Middle East. Udai Upendra, earlier with HLL and Colgate Palmolive, has joined as vice- president (global HR). Lalit Ahluwalia has left Gillette to join Ranbaxy as director (business finance) while Sanjeev Dani has been hired from J&J as director (marketing).

There has been a lot movement with in the organisation as well, according to Ranbaxy president Dr Brian Tempest. The head of Australia and New Zealand operations has been shifted to head German operations, the head of Thailand operations has been moved to South Africa and there is new head of Vietnam operations. The country manager of Ranbaxy’s Vietnam operations has been made managing director of Ranbaxy UK Limited and Ranbaxy Ireland Limited.
Back to News Review index page  

Tata Ryerson to commence new steel service centre in Pune
Jamshedpur: Tata Ryerson, the steel joint venture between Tata Steel and the US-based Ryerson-Tull, is all set to commission a new Rs. 40-crore cold rolled steel service centre at its factory in Ranjangaon in Pune.

This would be the company’s second cold rolled steel service centre in the country, the first such unit being located adjacent to the Tata Steel’s 1.2 million ton cold rolling mill. The first steel service centre has the capability of handling 3.2 lakh tonne of CR steel annually.

The company has estimated a requirement of over 1.6 lakh tonne per annum (tpa) by the automobile, appliance and control panel manufacturers in and around the Pune region, and plans to provide a world class quality through its new service centre. To meet the stringent quality requirements of the specific industries it is targeting, Tata Ryerson has gone for imported processing lines. Company sources said while orders for the slitting line have been placed with Pro Eco, Canada, orders for the cut-to-length lines have been placed with Red Bud Industries, US.

Tata Ryerson, now in its fourth year of operations in India, is into the business of supplying steel to its customers’ specifications after processing it at its service centres.
Back to News Review index page  

Amrutanjan unveils anti-diabetic drug
Chennai: In an attempt to move away from its perceived image of only a pain balm manufacturer to being know as a major health care organisation, Amrutanjan Limited, has launched Diakyur - an ayurvedic anti-diabetic capsule in the market.

The company is also planning to introduce 16 more health care products into the market over a period of time.

The new anti-diabetic product is said to be able to arrest all early symptoms of diabetes as it helps in controlling and maintaining the blood sugar at normal levels. Trials have also been conducted at the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences to test the hypoglycemic and toxicity effects of the product, he added.

The company is also said to be actively looking at exporting the product as a food supplement to foreign countries especially to the US and European markets. It has already tied-up with the US-based DSQ Medicals for the purpose and is initiating talks with several other foreign players. However, in India, the product will be marketed through the company’s 2600-odd stockists and also through ayurvedic practitioners, he added.
Back to News Review index page  

Torrent sells eye-care product to Allergan
Mumbai: Allergan India, the a joint venture between Nicholas Piramal India and Allergan Inc of USA, recently bought out Glucomol, an eye-care product from the Gujarat-based Torrent Pharmaceutical, for an undisclosed amount.

A leading product of the Torrent portfolio, Glucomol is used for ocular hypertension and currently has 16 per cent market share in the eye-care segment.

ORG Marg figures show that, during the last one year (February 2000 to March 2001), Glucomol had a market value of Rs 2.68 crore.
Back to News Review index page  

Apollo to stop investments and shift focus to franchise, consultancy
New Delhi: Leading healthcare company, Apollo Hospitals, has decided to stop all fresh investments in new hospitals after the completion of its on-going projects.

Instead, the company will enter into franchise agreements and provide project consultancy to external projects.

The country's largest private hospital group has also set up a new arm, Apollo Health & Lifestyle Clinics, which targets 500 day-clinics at district-levels across the country within the next three-four years. These clinics are expected to be linked electronically to main Apollo hospitals.

Apollo will, besides extending its brand name to these joint projects, will extend management support to the franchisee.
Back to News Review index page  

Sony and Ericsson plan joint efforts for cellphone operations
Tokyo: Japanese consumer electronics major, Sony Corporation and Swedish telecom major, Ericsson, are considering the possibility of business co-operation in the portable phone field to expand their global market share.

Earlier, industry reports had stated that the two companies had agreed to merge their cell phone businesses into a yet-to-be-formed company in the UK. Reports had also stated that public broadcaster NHK television, will help the two companies conduct research and development of a next-generation high-speed cellular phone.

If this joint effort comes through, it will be the first time in the world that leading manufacturing companies separated their core cell phone operations from their parent companies.

With the tie-up, the two companies aim to reduce cell phone development costs on a third-generation portable phone that can transmit moving images and music, while trying to increase international market share.
Back to News Review index page