Hutch to consider only bids above $14bn
Mumbai: The Hong-Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa has indicated that it will only accept bids in excess of $14 billion (over Rs60,000 crore) for Hutchison Essar. This means that the likely Indian bidders would have to raise more funds for the proposed acquisition. The Essar group which owns 33 per cent stake in Hutchison Essar has made an offer to buy out Hutchison group's 67 per cent stake in venture. At this valuation Essar would have to pay more than Rs40,000 crore for the proposed stake. Reliance Communications, which would have to acquire 100 per cent of Hutch-Essar, would have to pay much more. Finally the only bidder which has announced its intention to acquire majority stake in Hutch-Essar, is UK-based Vodafone.
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Nagarjuna Construction bags three new orders
Hyderabad: Nagarjuna Construction Company Ltd (NCCL) has secured three new orders aggregating to Rs370 crore. The first order valued at Rs282 crore is for water supply at Ajmer in Rajasthan. The project completion period is 24 months and operation and maintenance period is for five years.

The second order valued at Rs65 crore was obtained from Sahara India Commercial Corporation, for construction of 72 villas at Amby Valley City near Pune. The project completion period is 18 months.

The third order valued at Rs23 crore is from the Military Engineer Services, Chandigarh, for augmentation of water supply of Ambala Cant. The project completion period is 24 months, a company release said.
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Dr Reddy's gets USFDA nod for Ondansetron
Hyderabad: Dr Reddy's Laboratories has received the final approval for Ondansetron Hydrochloride, the generic equivalent of the blockbuster drug `Zofran', from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), as well as a 6-month marketing exclusivity. The company said the USFDA has granted final approval for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Ondansetron Hydrochloride Tablets in dosages of 4mg, 8mg, 16mg and 24mg.

As the first company to file an ANDA containing a paragraph IV certification for this product, the company has also been awarded a 180-day period of marketing exclusivity, a press release from the company said.

The company's Ondansetron Hydrochloride tablets are the AB-rated generic equivalent of GlaxoSmithKline's `Zofran' tablets, a product indicated for the prevention of nausea and vomiting associated with cancer treatment.

The product has annual IMS sales of approximately $639 million. Dr Reddy's will commence the shipment of this product shortly said G.V. Prasad, vice-chairman and CEO of the company.
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Apollo production halts due to strike at Premier Tyres unit
Kochi: The Apollo Tyres (ATL) management has stopped production of truck tyres at its second unit, Premier Tyres at nearby Kalamassery, following despatch halt by workers who are on strike since December 22 demanding hike in wages. The workers went on strike on the directions of the trade unions at a time when the negotiations were going on for reaching a long term settlement, senior management sources said.

Sources said the company decided to set up an Ayurveda hospital and resort on its six acres of land in the area, which was bought by the earlier management for construction of staff quarters. The trade unions are blocking it to use it as a `trump card' to demand higher wages at the discussions for the long-term wage settlement.

The trade unions alleged that the company management had adopted a strategy to utilise the land for other purposes aimed at making more profits and even the plans to shift the tyre factory to Irapuram near Perumbavoor are part of it.

The previous long-term wage settlement expired one year ago and yet the management had not come forward to renew it so far.

The management is demanding now the trade unions' consent for utilising the six acres of land for setting up the ayurveda hospital and resort, which has no relation with the long-term wage settlement, they alleged.
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Videocon, Biyani's Future Grp tie up for sourcing
Mumbai: Videocon and Kishore Biyani's Future Group have tied up for sourcing of consumer durables. Under the agreement, the Future Group company Home Solutions Retail India (HSRIL) will source electronics and home appliances from Videocon for its in-store brands, Sensei and Koryo.

The products will be retailed exclusively from their formats - E-Zone and Electronics Bazaar.

HSRIL will also give preferred vendor status to the Videocon brands. HSRIL will stock and sell all Videocon products at all their outlets. The tie-up covers the entire basket of Videocon's products and may also include Electrolux appliances in the future.
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Fresh@ to expand presence
Hyderabad: Heritage Foods, the Rs292-crore Hyderabad based dairy company in which former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu's family own over 30 pc stake, is planning to expand its fresh food and grocery retail chain, Fresh@, to 100 stores in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai in the next six months.

The company is also looking at the wholesale model — selling to retailers — along the lines of Reliance's proposed Ranger Farms format.

The Kuppam district, the constituency of Chandrababu Naidu, is likely to be the backbone in terms of sourcing and supply chain of the retail venture. Strategically located near Bangalore and Chennai, the company has identified over 5,000 acres in Kuppam for sourcing fresh produce.

Chandrababu Naidu's wife N Bhuvaneswari holds 21 pc in the company, while their son N Lokesh has about 12 pc Heritage Foods and plans to invest Rs150 crore in the first phase of its retail plans.

The company has plans to scale up its dairy operations from its Rs18-crore facility in Kuppam and has already set up an R&D centre for agriculture to support farmers. With the back-end linkage in place, the company is looking at supplying to other players and also at exports.
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UB sets aside $1bn for overseas acquisition
Kolkata: The UB Group has set aside $500 million to $1 billion for an overseas acquisition as part of its strategy to boost global and domestic spirit sales.

UB is said to be looking at the acquisition of Scottish firm Whyte & Mackay with an investment of about $500 million to $1 billion. UB officials said the group needs to have a Scotch whisky in its portfolio as more and more Indians have started switching to premium segment.

Besides this the group is also focusing more on the premium segment to further improve its topline.

The UB Group is gradually including premium vodka brands in its product portfolio and wine is another niche segment it is eyeing as a growth a driver.
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Whirlpool is now top selling refrigerator, LG gets second slot
New Delhi: For the first time Korean consumer durables leader LG has been relegated to the number two spot in the mass category of refrigerators having been overtaken by Whirlpool for the last two months running.

The ORG GFK data for retail sales in October and November puts LG behind Whirlpool in value market shares for direct cool refrigerators. Moreover, Whirlpool is just a kissing distance from LG for volume market shares for direct cool refrigerators.

What's more, Whirlpool has gained market shares against LG on a month-on-month basis in November over October. Direct cool (DC) category, a mass product, accounts for about 70 pc of the overall unit sales and more than half of the value of refrigerators sold in the country.

Company sources at LG India attribute this to the company not having any products in the higher capacity of DC category like its competitors and to the fact that margins in the low end are meagre. Whirlpool says it has gained gained due to the success of its new DC range Genius launched last year.
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Bhagyanagar India plans Rs120-crore IT park
Hyderabad: Bhagyanagar India is planning to set up an IT park in Hyderabad with an investment of Rs120 crore, the company told the BSE on Wednesday.

The IT park will come up in a six-acre plot with a built-up area of 8 lakh sq.ft and would include a shopping centre and entertainment complex.

The company recently sold an adjoining 6-acre plot to Mumbai-based Himadri Enterprises for a sum of Rs53.52 crore. The proceeds of the sale will be used for the IT park project, the company said.
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KPR Mill to diversify into sugar
Coimbatore: Enthused by the upswing in the sugar industry, the Rs450 crore integrated textile and apparel company, KPR Mill plans to set up a 5,000 TCD sugar mill at a cost of Rs250 crore by December 2007sugar mill in Bijapur district of Karnataka.

The project cost would be funded through a mix of bank loans and internal accruals. The mill, to be promoted by KPR Sugar Mills, would have a command area of 16,360 acres covering around 39 villages and the crushing season would be for 180 days initially.
The company is also planning to set up a 24 MW co generation facility.

KPR Sugar Mills is also exploring the possibility of importing raw sugar so as to enable the extension of crushing period at a later stage.
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