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Iran, India fail to reach pact on gas pipeline
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SABMiller to buy Foster’s
India for Rs 540 crore PSU banks asked to seek approval before rate hike GE Shipping calls off demerger of its offshore unit
IBM to buy MRO Software for $740 million Satyam to expand
base in China Punjab Tractors moves CLB over Swaraj Mazda OVL gets nod to
acquire US firm RIL’s plea for compensation rejected
Airtel slashes fixed line tariff Tata Indicom offer JK Cement to
invest Rs 750 cr
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Iran, India fail to reach pact on gas pipeline New Delhi, August 4 “Considering the differences on gas price, we have agreed to appoint a consultant that will provide us some indicative numbers on the gas price. It will be asked to submit a report within a month. Though it will not be binding on buyers or sellers, but the three nations will meet after a month in Tehran to discuss the report,” Iranian Deputy Oil Minister for International Affairs Mohammad-Hadi Nejad-Hosseinian told reporters at the end of the talks. Meanwhile, India and Iran also failed to work out an agreement on a bilateral $25 billion deal over liquefied natural gas (LNG), due to differences over the price issue. Earlier, the nine-member committee of three nations set up yesterday, failed to work out a mutually agreed price of gas for the pipeline project. Sources said while the Iran wanted India and Pakistan to pay $7.12 per mbtu (million British thermal units), including $5.52 base price of natural gas, $1.20 as transmission cost and $0.4 per mbtu as the gas processing fee for the pipeline. However, India and Pakistan were not ready to pay more than $4.92 per mbtu, which would include $4.42 gas price, $0.3 as transmission cost and $0.2 per mbtus as the gas processing fee. Later, the delegations agreed to continue the talks, after an international consultant submits its report. “We have suggested two companies one from the UK and second from France as one of the consultants. A decision is expected in this regard within a week,” said Mr Ahmad Waqar, Petroleum Secretary, Pakistan. He said in case the countries failed to agree on the report of the consultant, India and Pakistan would be free to explore alternative options. We will have a separate gas pipeline from Iran to Pakistan, if India could not join the project as the bilateral talks are also going on with Iran, he said. Mr Nejad-Hosseinian said, “We know both sides have some options. We can sell LNG and pipeline gas to Europe and buyers to source natural gas and LNG from Iran, Turkmenistan, Qatar and other countries. So we have to compare the options.” After a meeting with Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, Mr Nejad-Hosseinian said though the three nations had failed to reach an accord on price, they were still keen on implementation of the project.
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SABMiller to buy Foster’s India for Rs 540 crore New Delhi, August 4 The company said it has entered into an agreement with the Foster's Group to acquire its India operations, subject to regulatory and other necessary approvals, SABMiller said in a statement. As per the agreement, which is a cash-free and debt-free deal, SABMiller will assume ownership of all Foster's assets in India, including the Foster's brand in the territory, the statement added. "This transaction enhances our existing portfolio in India and provides us with an exciting opportunity to further increase our premium brand offering. The acquisition also supplies much needed capacity to fuel the strong growth we have experienced so far this year," SABMiller Africa and Asia Managing Director Andri Parker said. Foster's India currently operates one brewery in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, with an annual capacity of 350,000 hectolitres. "This is an outstanding deal for the Foster's Group, struck with one of our most important long-term partners. While the Foster's brand has enjoyed great success in India, the opportunity for us to continue to grow the brand profitably from a small production and distribution base in a challenging market structure was limited," Foster's Group President and Chief Executive Officer Trevor O'Hoy said. India is the third largest market for the Foster's brand globally and it has achieved a compounded annual growth rate of 13 per cent since its operations commenced in India in 1998. The company produces, distributes and supports Foster's Lager, Amberro mild and Amberro strong beer brands in the Indian market. SABMiller India would extend Foster's lager nationally through its network of 10 breweries and seek significant cost benefits from brewing and distributing the brand locally. — PTI
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PSU banks asked to seek approval before rate hike New Delhi, August 4 Justifying the decision, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram today said the government was a majority stakeholder in these banks, so they should get the clearance of their Boards. “It is necessary for the banks to consult their Boards before revising lending rates as there are a number of aspects that need to be looked into after the Central Bank raised its benchmark rate last month,” Mr Chidambaram told reporters here. “All that we have done is advice the banks to place before their Boards any decision on (lending) rates,” he said. The industry experts wondered whether government was considering to influence the interest rates on the pattern of petrol and diesel prices, to appease the middle class voters. Official sources said the government was especially worried about the rising home loans, which have increased from around 7 per cent to around 10 per cent within two years. They added since Mr Chidambaram was not happy with RBI Governor’s decision to hike repo and reverse repo rate, so he was intervening through this route. The Finance Minister, however, said that it was up to the banks to decide on interest rates and the government would only give its views. Meanwhile, state-run banks that increased interest rates without their respective Boards’ nod last week are expected to obtain approval now, but none of them are likely to rollback the hike, bankers felt.
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GE Shipping calls off demerger of its offshore unit Mumbai, August 4 Announcing this, the company said the justification given by the Board, which reviewed the status of various approvals from contracting counter parties to material contracts pursuant to the sanction of the Scheme of Arrangement by the Bombay High Court, is that the conditions for arriving at the effective date of the scheme were not fulfilled within the stipulated time of six months from the date of the court order approving the scheme. “So the demerger automatically lapsed in terms of Clause 35 of the scheme,’’ it said. The Board after due deliberations unanimously concluded the above decision at its meeting on Wednesday. In the long term interest of the shareholders, the Board will examine new possibilities, in due course, for restructuring its business in a manner which will achieve maximisation of value accretion to the shareholders, and if necessary, approach them. Commenting on the development, Mr K.M. Sheth, Executive Chairman, said, "On behalf of the Board of Directors, I put on record the immense support and concurrence received from all contracting counter parties both in the government as well as in the private sector, especially ONGC which has been of immense value to us and highly supportive to the business restructuring. On September 15 last, the Board of the company had approved a scheme of arrangement for demerger of the offshore service business into a separate company, Great Offshore, with effect from April 1, 2005.— UNI
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IBM to buy MRO Software for $740 million Boston, August 4 The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter, subject to approval of MRO’s shareholders and regulatory reviews. IBM, which has been a business partner of MRO in recent years, plans to fold MRO into IBM’s Tivoli software unit. Mr Al Zollar, Tivoli’s general manager, told analysts in a conference call that the acquisition was a response to customer demand for ways to integrate management software programmes into single systems capable of handling a broad range of tasks. Examples include helping nuclear plants and refineries efficiently run their industrial operations, such as keeping equipment idle when it’s not needed. “We believe this positions us to address a broader set of client needs,” Mr Zollar said. He said the deal would enable IBM to provide companies “with a single view into all of their assets, helping them to maximise efficiencies, drive productivity, and innovate business processes across the enterprise.” — AP
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Satyam to expand base in China Bangalore, August 4 Though Infosys has not achieved much success in its China venture till now, it has not prevented Satyam from looking towards the country. Its Chairman and CEO Ramalinga Raju said China had a huge pool of engineering talent which could be accessed successfully. Mr Raju said China could provide answer for a further revolution in outsourcing as work from the country could be outsourced at low costs. “That is the essence of outsourcing”, he said. Mr Raju said the company was not averse to the possibility of inorganic expansion as a way of increasing its presence in China. He also indicated that the attrition rate in Satyam was on the decline. “Increase in wages of both onsite and offshore employees in the quarter ended March 31 this year, has translated into a perceptible drop in attrition rate,” he added. |
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Punjab Tractors moves CLB over Swaraj Mazda New Delhi, August 4 In its petition to the CLB, Punjab Tractors has also named Swaraj Mazda executives Y.P. Mahajan and S.K. Tuteja, along with T Yoshimoto, Director of Sumitomo Corporation, as respondents. Punjab Tractors Ltd has also prayed to direct Swaraj Mazda to restrain Mahajan and Tuteja from functioning as Director and Managing Director and to withdraw them from the Board. In its 32-page long petition, PTL also prayed before the CLB to restrain Swaraj Mazda and Sumitomo from appointing any new director on the Board of Swaraj Mazda without its consent and restrain the company from taking any such decision relating to operation and affairs without its approval. The petition has also been backed by four Mauritius-based investors, including CDC Financial Services and Actis Agri Business Ltd. The dispute arose in 2005 when Mazda decided to exit the joint venture after selling its entire stake (26.03 per cent) to Sumitomo. — PTI
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OVL gets nod to acquire US firm
New Delhi, August 4 “The Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs has permitted OVL to go ahead with the acquisition,” Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters after the CCEA meeting. He said OVL would fund the acquisition either from its own resources or with that of its parent company (ONGC). He did not give further details, citing commercial reasons, and added
that only the Petroleum Ministry could disclose further information. However, official sources said OVL had submitted a joint winning bid with China National Petroleum Corp for Ominex De Columbia, which has onshore producing, as well as exploration blocks in Columbia, with net proven reserves of around 157 million barrels. Called Project Amazon, OVL seeks to acquire Ominex’s 20,000 barrels per day onshore oil block in Columbia.
— PTI |
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RIL’s plea for compensation rejected
New Delhi, August 4 RIL is losing Rs 3.37 per litre on petrol and Rs 5.77 a litre on diesel, despite pricing the auto fuels about Rs 2.50 a litre higher than the price charged by PSU firms, who are compensated for the losses through a combination of discounts from upstream companies like ONGC and issue of oil bonds.
— PTI |
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Airtel slashes fixed line tariff Chandigarh, August 4 For top-up charge of Rs 49, Airtel fixed line phone customers in Punjab can now avail an extended pulse of 180 seconds for all calls made within Punjab and to National Capital Region as against a maximum of Rs 1.20 per minute levied earlier. The average effective calling rate would now be 40 paise per minute, a reduction of 66 per cent. Further, the fixed line customers can also call any Airtel mobile or Airtel fixed phone across India at local rates under the plan. Mr. Deepak Pande, CEO, North Circle, said, “In the month that marks the 59th anniversary of our Independence, we are happy to offer our customers an unmatched freedom”. |
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Tata Indicom offer Chandigarh, August 4 Tata Indicom 10 comes with the benefits of cost control with no billing hassles. The instruments are available at prices starting Rs 1,650. The money back offer reimburses 100 per cent of the initial investment in the form of bonus talk time, where in Rs 825 is given for calls to Tata mobiles across the state and an additional Rs 825 for calls to other mobiles across the state. The offer effectively gives the consumer the entire initial investment back in the form of talk time, thus making it a zero initial investment proposition. The offer will end on August 31. The scheme is available only to customers opting for new subscription.
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JK Cement to
invest Rs 750 cr
Mumbai, August 4 JK Cement President (Corporate Affairs) & CFO A K Saraogi said, with this project, it would enter the grey cement market of the Southern region. In this context, he pointed out that the company has already acquired a 100 per cent equity of Group company, JayKay Cem Ltd, for a consideration of Rs 5.25 crore. The Greenfield project is expected to be commissioned by September 2008.
— UNI |
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BSE stake sale Inflation up Forex reserves Idea Cellular SBI ATMs
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