"The entry of other players in this segment will help in reiterating the benefits of the cash-and-carry concept to Indian customers," Metro India Managing Director Martin Dlouhy says. It may be the first time anywhere in the world that Wal-Mart and Metro square off in the cash & carry format. Dlouhy's apparent nonchalance can't hide the fact that Metro may be facing one of its most difficult challenges in the country.
Kingfisher Airlines is looking to roll over close to Rs 800 crore of its short-term debt, even as it finalises the paperwork to borrow another Rs 1,500 crore from a few Indian public sector banks.
Redevco, one of Europe's largest real estate investment and development firms, with a $10 billion portfolio, is understood to be looking at investing around Rs 300 crore in various projects of Bangalore-based Sobha Developers.
The present offer is a third of Homeland Mining's initial valuation. GMR Energy, a part of GMR Infrastructure, had valued this coal mining firm at $310 million when it acquired a small stake in April 2008. "In our due diligence, we have found out that we had valued this firm much higher based on various factors such as how many layers one has to mine to access the worthwhile coal," a GMR Group official said.
The JV TACO Sasken Automotive Electronics has been called off and over 100 people working for the JV have been asked to quit. In January 2007, Sasken and Tata AutoComp Systems had formed the JV with a focus on automotive electronics products in the areas of telematics, infotainment and occupant convenience. However sources say that even two years after its formation, the JV could hardly make any progress.
The Indian Hotels Company, the Tata Group firm which runs the Taj Group of Hotels in the country, is set to expand its offerings by getting into serviced apartments business and by widening the portfolio of its wildlife resorts.
UB Group's other businesses are being aggressively being ramped up. The group recently entered apparel exports to add to its leather exports business. These are in addition to a sturdy fertiliser arm, an engineering construction firm and a property development business which is getting into building high-end apartments.
The US-based global financial company is understood to have shown a "keen interest" in helping the hospital, which has 140 acres in its land bank, to unlock the value of its real estate assets.
While the company does not report segment results for the foods business until a specific vertical reaches a threshold limit, its entire FMCG business during the last financial year has reported revenues of Rs 2,523 crore. The food segment, which is still in the investment mode, crossed the Rs 1,000 crore revenue mark in FY 08 and is losing on an average close to Rs 60 crore on a yearly basis, accumulated losses of Rs 700 crore over the past seven years.
The deal values the stock exchange at $3.3 billion.
According to sources in the company, a review of the JV is under way and a decision to separate is likely to be taken soon. Sanyo wants to focus on LCD and plasma televisions and other industrial equipment such as heavy-duty air conditioners, coolers and the like, while not being saddled with the conventional colour television segment, which is the strong point of BPL.
Germany-based Beiersdorf AG, the maker of Nivea skin creams, is entering the women's fairness cream market in India, almost a year after it began selling fairness cream for men locally in a bid to take on rivals including Hindustan Unilever, L'Oreal and other players.
"It is challenging and difficult. But one or two challenging years are not a big deal. This too will come to an end. We are not running the business on a month-to-month or quarter-to-quarter basis. Yes, it is hard to actually generate consistently high margins, but this is what leadership is all about. To manage and deliver when things aren't going too smoothly," says Bali.
Canara Bank, India's second largest public sector bank, is all set for an aggressive play in the venture capital business.
With the objective of increasing its presence in China, Indian software training company NIIT has signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese real estate developer Shui On to set up training operations in at its upcoming Dalian Tiandi Software Hub. NIIT already has a presence in China with 172 locations in 65 cities with about 50,000 students graduating from NIIT centres in China every year.
D E Shaw, a global private equity firm with $36 billion in assets, is understood to be planning around $200 million investment in the Indian education sector by taking up strategic positions in companies offering e-learning, distant learning, vocational training and the like.
Tata Tea, which sold its stake in US-based Glaceau last year, plans to begin selling a low-priced bottled water in the country through its unit Mount Everest Mineral Water, to take on global rivals such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo in the Rs 1,500-crore packaged drinking water market."We want to do it quickly,'' Pradeep Poddar, managing director and CEO, Mount Everest, said. "The market is still very young and we can evolve it further through marketing new offerings."
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.
India's advertising industry is facing a serious manpower shortage, especially on the creative side of the business. Pressure on agencies' earnings has affected salary hikes, creating an opportunity for the burgeoning entertainment sector (TV and films) to poach on the limited talent pool. The shortage is mostly among the junior and mid-level executives. In advertising, money for creative people does not start flowing in till they are two to three years into the profession.
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