Reliance Industries has signed agreements with nine fertiliser and power companies for gas sales from its field in the Krishna-Godavari basin over the past three months. India's largest private sector company has signed memorandums of understanding with Nagarjuna Fertilisers, GVK Industries, Konaseema Power (all in Andhra Pradesh), Kribhco, Chambal Fertilisers, Iffco, Torrent Power (all in Gujarat), Tata Power and Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilisers in Maharashtra.
Anil Ambani has won Lebanon-based M1 Chief Executive Officer Azmi Mikati's approval for a possible merger of Reliance Communications and South Africa's MTN Group following a meeting between the two.
Global Steel owns 70 per cent stakes in iron ore mine in Brazil and two coal mines in Columbia and Mozambique. The company is setting up three special purpose vehicles for isolating financial and regulatory risks. Ispat will purchase the stakes in these SPVs, which are held by Global Steel. The iron ore mine has an estimated reserve of 500 million tonne while the coal mines hold reserves of 120 million tonne.
Vijay Mallya has ensured that his brands do not fall out of Indian Premier League (IPL) viewership, though his team Royal Challengers Bangalore bowed out of the tournament. After RC's series of defeats, the UB Group chairman decided to cash in on his smaller investments in rival teams such as Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Daredevils, Chennai Superkings and Mumbai Indians.
"The factories need consolidation and control as they operate independently with different human resource (HR) and logistic policies. The segmented operations cannot have power and focus on quality," K R Kim, vice-chairman and CEO (global operations), Videocon, who steered LG to market leadership in his earlier stint, told Business Standard.
The Singapore government-controlled Temasek Holdings, which controls over 90 per cent of power generation and distribution in Singapore, will soon call for bids to privatise the two companies. The Indian companies are exploring various options to bid for these assets, said sources familar with the developments. Spokespersons of both Reliance Power and GMR Infrastructure declined to comment.
Videcocon Industries plans a major consumer electronics retail foray across West Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America under the brand name "VC" to raise global revenue shares from the current 2 per cent to 50 per cent by 2011.
Indian firms, including Tata Steel, in the past have formed SPVs to acquire foreign companies to protect local operations and also to avoid legal hindrances. The SPV may be registered in a tax-haven country, like Mauritius or Bahamas, the sources said. The move to float an SPV will help Bharti Airtel to continue being listed on Indian stock exchanges, while MTN's promoters will be given a stake in the SPV.
To up stakes in 'globally active' firms by 3 to 4% this year.
Reliance Industries Ltd, India's biggest firm by market capitalisation, is drawing up plans to convert its fuel retail outlets, which were recently closed owing to unviable operations, into malls and multiplexes.
Tata Steel, the world's sixth-largest steel maker, is looking to acquire Brazilian iron ore assets of the United Kingdom-based London Mining, which will help ensure raw material supply for its Anglo-Dutch subsidiary, Corus. The valuation of the asset is yet to be completed, but analysts said that it would be in the range of $2 billion.
Engineering giant Larsen and Toubro and Aditya Birla group firm Grasim Industries are set to settle their long-standing dispute over the sale of cross-holdings out of court. Both the companies are believed to be in consultation with Chennai-based chartered accountant S Gurumurthy to act as arbitrator.
Israel's pharma firm, Teva, is planning to invest Rs. 4000 crores in India.
Govt has given the medicine price regulating body a freedom to control prices of medicines.
Indian Pharma majors are looking at different strategies to boost their global business.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), the country's leading public sector company, is planning an initial public offer of ONGC Petro-additions Limited (OPaL), the special purpose vehicle formed for the Rs 13,500 crore (Rs 135 billion) petrochemical complex at Dahej in Gujarat.
The Kurkumbh unit, which manufactures MEG from industrial alcohol, has 90 employees on its rolls and another 250 contract labourers.
Medicine Shoppe India, the Indian arm of the largest pharmacy chain Medicine Shoppe International, owned by the US-based drug trading major Cardinal Health, is planning to add about 500 medical stores in India within two to three years.
Small scale pharmaceutical units in the country are facing an imminent closure owing to lack of business opportunities and hostile regulatory policies.
Orchid Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals has announced the formation of Orchid Research Laboratories, a subsidiary that will house all of Orchid's research and development activity.