Nevin John, Shivani Shinde &Amp; P B Jayakumar

Stories by Nevin John, Shivani Shinde &Amp; P B Jayakumar

Mikati nod for RCom-MTN reverse merger

Mikati nod for RCom-MTN reverse merger

Rediff.com   6 Jun 2008

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.

Ispat eyes stakes in Global Steel mines

Ispat eyes stakes in Global Steel mines

Rediff.com   4 Jun 2008

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.

Aegis eyes Philippine BPO

Aegis eyes Philippine BPO

Rediff.com   3 Jun 2008

Aegis BPO Services, an Essar Group business process outsourcing (BPO) company, is close to acquiring an 8,000-seater BPO firm in the Philippines. The exact size of the deal is not clear.Aegis has been bullish on inorganic growth as its races to reach a turnover of $500 million (around Rs 2,000 crore) by 2010.

IPL: Now, Mallya bats for rival teams

IPL: Now, Mallya bats for rival teams

Rediff.com   29 May 2008

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.

Firstsource suitors eye Temasek's holding

Firstsource suitors eye Temasek's holding

Rediff.com   28 May 2008

US-based buyout fund Carlyle, Providence Equity Partners, Warburg Pincus and Blackstone are understood to be exploring a buyout of Temasek's holding in Mumbai-based pure-play business process outsourcing firm Firstsource. The news triggered the company's share price to rise 6.76 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) to close at Rs 43.45 on Tuesday. Warburg Pincus has a stake in WNS, a BPO company, while Blackstone has a majority stake in Intelenet.

Videocon set for operational rejig

Videocon set for operational rejig

Rediff.com   26 May 2008

"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.

RPower, GMR to bid for Singapore plants

RPower, GMR to bid for Singapore plants

Rediff.com   26 May 2008

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.

BPOs design in-house curricula to train staff

BPOs design in-house curricula to train staff

Rediff.com   24 May 2008

The broad idea is to help freshers and high-potential employees develop soft skills not generally taught at universities, and simultaneously increase retention rates in an industry that has attrition rates between 30 and 50 per cent. The industry, according to Nasscom estimates, accounts for almost $11 billion and employs slightly over 700,000 professionals (in terms of direct employment).

Videocon plans major global retail foray

Videocon plans major global retail foray

Rediff.com   23 May 2008

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.

Bharti Airtel, SingTel to float SPV for MTN buy

Bharti Airtel, SingTel to float SPV for MTN buy

Rediff.com   20 May 2008

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.

Wanbury eyes contract research firms in US

Wanbury eyes contract research firms in US

Rediff.com   16 May 2008

"We are looking at targets with a bottom line of Rs 50-60 crore (Rs 500-600 million) to expand our CRAMS business in various markets," said Ashok Shinkar, director, Wanbury. The company plans to increase its turnover to over Rs 900 crore (Rs 9 billion) within the next three years.

Pharmaceutical firms opt for inlicensing

Pharmaceutical firms opt for inlicensing

Rediff.com   15 May 2008

According to analysts, Indian drug makers are forging alliances with overseas companies such as CD Pharma, Gnosis SpA, Crawford Healthcare and Syrio Pharma to sell drugs for chronic and acute cases. According to analysts, Indian drug makers are forging alliances with overseas companies such as CD Pharma, Gnosis SpA, Crawford Healthcare and Syrio Pharma to sell drugs for chronic and acute cases.

Tata moves to secure key companies

Tata moves to secure key companies

Rediff.com   15 May 2008

To up stakes in 'globally active' firms by 3 to 4% this year.

Reliance to use closed fuel outlets for malls

Reliance to use closed fuel outlets for malls

Rediff.com   12 May 2008

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 looks for raw material in Brazil

Tata Steel looks for raw material in Brazil

Rediff.com   7 May 2008

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.

L&T, Birla eye out-of-court deal

L&T, Birla eye out-of-court deal

Rediff.com   7 May 2008

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.

Growth pangs for mid-cap IT firms

Growth pangs for mid-cap IT firms

Rediff.com   5 May 2008

Sluggish volume growth and mark-to-market losses have affected the performance of a majority of mid-cap information technology companies in the January-March 2008 quarter. Analysts expect that growth will continue to be sluggish in the next two quarters.

Novartis' Voveran regains top position

Novartis' Voveran regains top position

Rediff.com   5 May 2008

Voveran, Novartis India's flagship pain killer medicine, has become the largest selling domestic drug with sales of more than Rs 11 crore (Rs 110 million) in March 2008, displacing Pfizer India's cough and cold syrup Corex, which had sales of Rs 10 crore (Rs 100 million). Cipla, on the other hand, maintained its leadership position as the largest domestic pharmaceutical company edging out Ranbaxy Laboratories with a market share of 5.24 per cent.

No cut in variable pay this year: TCS

No cut in variable pay this year: TCS

Rediff.com   28 Apr 2008

India's largest IT firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) will not announce a cut in variable pay of its employees this year , despite the company reporting a negative net profit on sequential basis.Last quarter, the company had announced a reduction in its staff variable pay as it did not achieve the internal targets.

Bad times for pharmacy chains in India

Bad times for pharmacy chains in India

Rediff.com   28 Apr 2008

Even as a heated debate goes on in the corridors of power and academic circles on the impact of large retail chains on small shops, in one sector it is clear that the big players are close to biting dust. At least two large pharmacy chains are up for sale, industry sources said. Some others have shaken up their top management, while a few have cut back on their expansions. One is trying to rediscover its business model by looking at rural markets. And all are woefully short o