Adani Group firm completes acquisition of Australian port

AHMEDABAD: Mundra Port and SEZ , a Adani Group firm, today announced it has completed the acquisition of Australia's Abbot Point Port Coal Terminal (APPCT) for AUD 1.829 bn (Rs 8,900 crore) in an all-cash deal.

The deal, completed in a record 28 days period, marks one of the largest outbound acquisitions by any Indian company overseas in the last fiscal.

"The acquisition of APPCT has been completed today. We have paid the entire amount of AUD 1.829 bn to the Queensland treasury and have taken over the ownership and operations of the port," MPSEZL Chief Financial Officer B Ravi told reporters here.

"The port has been re-christened Adani Abbot Port Coal Terminal (AAPCT) Pty. Our directors have joined the board of the new company and a team is in place there and has started to operate the port from today," he said.

The Ahmedabad-based Group, after being declared a successful bidder by the State of Queensland, Australia , had signed a sale and purchase agreement in Brisbane for the port on May 3.

The short-term acquisition financing for the project has been done by the State Bank of India (SBI) and Standard Chartered bank, Ravi said.

"The short-term funding will be replaced with an assest-based financing (long-term) for which we have $ 1.5 bn worth assets in the new company (AAPCT Pty).

"We can go in for long-term asset-based debt of up to $ 1.3 bn based on the assets of AAPCT. Secondly, there would be MPSEZL-level debt either through convertible bonds or some other financial instrument which is yet to be decided," he said.

Vodafone pays $1.9 billion for buying Essar stake in JV

NEW DELHI: UK-based Vodafone today paid USD 1.9 billion to Essar as first tranche for buying 22 per cent stake, held by offshore entities belonging to Ruias in their telecom joint venture Vodafone-Essar.

The 22.03 per cent stake, held in the JV by offshore entities of the Ruias-led Essar, is valued at USD 3.8 billion.

"We have made the first tranche of payment to Essar," a Vodafone spokesperson said.

Of Essar's 33 per cent stake in the JV, 22.03 per cent is owned by the company's overseas entities, while the remaining 10.97 per cent is held by the group's Indian firms and is valued at USD 1.2 billion.

According to sources, Vodafone has now paid USD 1.9 billion to Essar and the remaining USD 1.9 billion would be paid in November.

To sell the remaining 10.97 per cent in the telecom joint venture, Essar has approached the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for approval.

When contacted, Essar spokesperson declined to comment.

Sony announces launch of world's biggest singing show in India

MUMBAI: Sony Entertainment Television today unveiled 'X Factor India' the Indian version of the No.1 singing show globally X Factor.

A worldwide phenomenon, THE X FACTOR is a competition series developed by Simon Cowell that gives viewers the opportunity to help choose the next musical megastar.

THE X FACTOR is a runaway hit in 24 countries with over 500 million viewers, the Big Daddy of all singing shows in size and scale.

The show will showcase Xtraordinary talent from across the length and breadth of the country like never seen before.

The X Factor India , a show, lavishly mounted in exotic locales and spectacular sets raises the bar and takes the initial auditions to an exciting and explosive new level as the hopefuls will audition not only for the judges, but also in front of a live audience of thousands in venues across the country.

The concert-like atmosphere will bring a new dimension to the performances, giving the contestants an opportunity to prove they have the whole package - vocal ability, charisma and stage presence - from the moment they step on stage.

Those contestants who survive the first auditions graduate to "boot camp" and will then be divided into three categories: 16 - 25 years, individuals over 25 years and groups.

Produced by Freemantle India, THE X FACTOR proven ratings success story, across the globe with the recent U.K. finale capturing a phenomenal 20 million viewers.

Taj enters into management contract with Morocco's JK Hotels

MUMBAI: Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces today said it has entered into a management contract with Morocco's JK Hotels to manage 'Taj Palace Marrakech', which will increase the company's global portfolio to 17 hotels.

With this, the Taj Group has now established its presence in North Africa and will now manage Taj Palace Marrakech , which is set to launch in autumn 2011, the company said in a statement here.

"Taj Palace Marrakech, is our latest venture into the African continent and is in sync with our strategy to continue our vision of growth in key international destinations," Indian Hotels Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Raymond N Bickson , said.

This hotel will fit perfectly into the company portfolio with its meticulously crafted and vivid blend of Moroccan, Indian and Asian themes, he said.

"Taj Hotels' is a legendary chain and we are delighted with this association. Under the Taj management, our guests will experience the most exacting standards of world class hospitality. We look forward to a mutually rewarding relationship," owner of JK Hotels Jaouad Kadiri said.

ISS India plans to double its revenue to Rs 850 cr in CY 11

MUMBAI: Leading global facility service company ISS is eyeing to double its revenue to about Rs 850 crore this calender year (CY) in India in line with its growing operations in the country.

"Looking at the growth in demand for world-class service, we are expecting to double our revenue to Rs 800-850 crore in CY 11 in India. We are also targeting an organic growth of 20-25 per cent in CY 12," the Denmark-based company's Country Head, Jolly Kochery , told PTI here.

ISS Group recorded a total revenue of USD 14.1 billion in 2010, up 7.3 per cent over the last year, while operating profit increased 27 per cent to USD 800 million.

The company has operations in 53 countries in Europe, Asia, North America, South America and Australia and provides local and global standard for cleaning, catering, property services, office support and security services.

ISS Facility Services India began operations in 2005 with an investment of Rs 350 crore, and India has become the biggest growth driver for the firm in Asia Pacific as well as global level with increasing demand for world-class outsourcing services, Kochery said.

"We are competing with the unorganised sector and we expect 2012 will be as positive as 2011."

The company, which currently enjoys 1.5 per cent market share of the total organised Rs 700-billion segment, is planning to raise it to 3.5 per cent by 2014, he said.

The total employee strength of ISS India is 47,000 and the company is planning to add another 8,000-10,000 to its rolls in CY 11 in line with its expansion.

Anil Ambani group's Reliance Capital to hire 3,500 managers, 50,000 insurance agents

NEW DELHI: Having witnessed a dip of over 4,500 staff from its headcount in last fiscal, Anil Ambani group's financial services arm Reliance Capital will hire over 3,500 managers for its various businesses this year.

Besides, the company also plans to hire 50,000 insurance agents in the current financial year ending March 2012, Reliance Capital CEO Sam Ghosh told media.

The large-scale hiring plans comes on the back of the company witnessing a decline of 4,550 people from its headcount in its insurance, mutual fund and other businesses during the fiscal ended March 31, 2011.

The company's total headcount stood at 18,069 as on March 31, 2011, down from 22,619 employees a year ago on March 31, 2010, as per its financial presentations for the two fiscals. Reliance Capital now plans to increase its headcount to near 21,000 people in the current fiscal, Ghosh said.

Reliance Capital is the financial services arm of the Anil Ambani group, which also has presence in businesses like telecom, power, infrastructure, media and entertainment.

The group employee strength also dipped by around 10,000 employees between May, 2010 and March, 2011, but latest figures are not available for across-the-group headcount.

As per a Reliance Capital investor presentation in March 2011, ADAG had "120,000 young, trained and motivated people" across its various group companies, as against a figure of "130,000 young, trained and motivated people" mentioned in a previous presentation dated May, 2010.

The sharp decline in Reliance Capital's headcount during 2010-11 was mainly due to life insurance business, while asset management, broking and destribution and general insurance segments also saw their staff strength declining in the year.

Asked about the decline in staff strength, Ghosh said it was largely because of a cyclical movement of people in life insurance business and the company has already started a major hiring drive.

"The fluctuation in headcount last year was predominately on account of cyclical movement of sales managers seen in life insurance business. We have already started hiring sales managers for our life insurance business and will be crossing the 12,000 headcount mark by July," Ghosh said.

"In addition, we also plan to add 50,000 agents in our insurance business during this fiscal," he added. The insurance agents are not included in the company's headcount.

Across the various businesses, Reliance Capital will hire more than 3,500 managers and take the total headcount to near 21,000 people, Ghosh said.

"Reliance Capital plans to hire over 3500 managers and ramp up its head count to around 21,000, across businesses, in this fiscal," he noted.

Lupin signs licensing deal with Sydney company

MUMBAI: Drugmaker Lupin Ltd said on Wednesday it signed a licensing agreement with Sydney-based private speciality lifescience company NeuClone Pty Ltd for cell line technology .

"This agreement and such similar agreements, coupled with our own pipeline will go a long way in helping us address the impending opportunity and develop a substantial differentiated biological pipeline," President Cyrus Karkaria, said in the statement

Lincoln sales rise 49% for the financial year 2010-11

AHMEDABAD: Ahmedabad-based pharma company , Lincoln Pharmaceuticals Limited (LPL), registered sales growth of 49.72% for the financial year 2010-11. For the next financial year 2011-12, the company plans to pump Rs 5 crore for its inhouse research and development (R&D) on its new drug pipeline.

On Wednesday, the company informed the exchange that it maintained its growth momentum. Its consolidated revenue rose to Rs 189.73 crore as against Rs 126.72 in the previous years. Net profit registered minimal growth as it stood at Rs 6.22 crore compared to Rs 6.04 crore in previous year.

Talking to ET, Rajani G Patel, joint managing director of Lincoln said : "The company would spend Rs 5 crore for the FY 2011-12 for carrying out clinical and bioequivalence test on new products". The company already has an R&D unit in Ahmedabad , and would spend the fund on developing five to six new drugs. The products are for orthopedic, gynecology and paediatric segment.

The fund would be raised from internal accruals. On Wednesday, Lincoln's stock price rose by 0.59%, closing at Rs 34.The company also recommended dividend of 6% per equity share, subject to shareholders approval at the AGM.

Torrent Power Ltd to enter renewable energy sector

AHMEDABAD: Country's largest electricity distributor Torrent Power Limited is entering the renewable energy sector with wind and solar projects of 50 MW each which would be operational by December, a company source said. The company has already tied up with Enercon for setting up 50 MW wind power project and signed a power purchase agreement with a solar power firm for 50 MW early this year. Torrent Power's tie-ups are expected to attract investments to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore for wind and solar power projects in Gujarat.

Meanwhile, KfW Bank of Germany paid Rs 100 crore to Torrent Power for Certified Emission Reduction that it has been generating since its 1,147 MW gas based SUGEN plant became operational in 2009 in South Gujarat. KfW has issued close to two million CERs to SUGEN project and the cumulative carbon emission reductions between 2009 and 2019 is estimated at 31.89 million tonnes. According sources close to the development, Rs 6,834 crore Torrent Power will garner close to Rs 400 crore a year from CERs. Torrent Power spokesperson did not respond the emailed questionnaire.

Torrent Power caters to over 3 million customers annually in Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Surat, Bhiwandi and Agra in three states. Soon it will take over distribution assets in Kanpur city of Uttar Pradesh. According to the market sources, Torrent Power has gas and coal based generation facilities and it has not been able to purchase electricity from renewable resources to meet its obligation, as mandated by the regulator.

"Recently, Torrent Power requested the Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC) to reduce the minimum percentage of renewable purchase obligation target. Torrent Power attempted to invite bids to procure electricity from renewable power developers but it could not attract desirable quantum. As a result, the company has decided to venture into renewable energy arena on its own," said a source familiar with the developments.

According to GERC mandate, the distribution licensee has to purchase electricity to the extent of 5% of the total consumption of its consumers including T&D loss in a year. Torrent Power is projecting to cater 9,805 million units of electricity in its license areas of Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar and Surat.

Torrent Power is expanding its SUGEN power plant as peak demands in Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar and Surat is estimated at 1,650 MW, which is its total generation capacity today. Torrent Power is also commissioning 1,600 MW gas based generation unit at Dahej in South Gujarat. The company is expected to generate significant CERs at its proposed Dahej unit too.

JSW Energy scraps deal with CIC Energy

NEW DELHI: JSW Energy today scrapped a deal for acquiring Canada's CIC Energy, saying the Toronto Stock Exchange-listed firm did not fulfil the buy-out conditions within the stipulated time frame.

" CIC Energy has not fulfilled all the conditions for the acquisition. They have not asked for any extension as well. Hence, the deal stands cancelled," JSW Energy Chief Executive Officer L K Gupta told media.

JSW Energy had announced last November that it has entered into an agreement with CIC Energy Corp, a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands and listed on the Toronto and Botswana stock exchanges, to acquire all of its shares for a a total consideration of around USD 439 million.

JSW Eenergy had earlier exuded confidence that the deal would be completed by the final quarter of the last fiscal. However, after several extensions, the last agreed date, by both the parties, for the merger was on May 31, 2011.

CIC, which is developing Mmamabula Energy Complex at its Mmamabula Coal Field in Botswana, has an exportable surplus of up to 20 million tonnes per annum over the next 40 years.

JSW Energy has 1,430 MW power generation capacity and an additional 1,710 MW capacity is in advanced stages of completion. The company is targeting an aggregate generation capacity of 12,070 MW by 2015-16.

Meanwhile, Gupta said JSW Energy continues to look for suitable coal assets acquisitions across the globe, but did not divulge any further.

Godrej Appliances on product launch spree, to introduce TV sets

LUCKNOW: Godrej Appliances is on an aggressive launch drive and plans to introduce atleast one new product or model every four months.

With a number companies entering into the home appliances segment, Godrej has taken course to launching newer models and innovative products in the home appliances segment to beat the clutter and grow its market share.

Assistant Vice President, Godrej Appliances, Rajeev Dube said that they are present in all kinds of home appliances and are also testing the market for colour televisions, which was one gap in their portfolio.

"We have soft launched TV sets in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and parts of Maharashtra. We are testing the market response and have got encouraging response" said Mr Dube.

The company plans to launch either a new product or a technologically superior and innovative model of existing products very four months, he said.

The latest offering by the company has been the music-enabled refrigerators. The Edge SX Muziplay refrigerators besides working as a fridge would bring FM, MP3 music to kitchens and one can also recharge mobile sets through gadgets provided in the refrigerator.

Also Godrej plans to have its own exclusive showrooms across India and plans are underway to open them in the next couple of months.

With large number of consumer products the group would be opening showrooms, which would market all kinds of home appliances, decor, furniture under the Godrej brand name, said Mr Dube.

Schneider Electric to buy 74% in Luminous for Rs 1,400 crore

NEW DELHI: France's Schneider Electric will buy 74% in inverter-maker Luminous Power Technologies for Rs 1,400 crore, making its eighth acquisition in two years in the rapidly-growing market.

Luminous Power would continue to operate with the same management and brand. Luminous had debt of Rs 240 crore at the end of March, earned Rs 1,100 crore revenue during the year, and employs about 3,000 people at nine sites in India and China.

ET had first reported Schneider's approach on April 1.

Schneider Electric India managing director Olivier Blum said the joint venture would provide the company a strong platform to reach out to Indian consumers that is growing at 20% every year. The company plans to piggyback on Luminous brand to launch electrical appliances including switchboards in India. Luminous at present has presence in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nigeria. Blum said the deal would help Schneider tap Luminous' 25,000 retail outlets. The company seeks to foray into Middle East , Africa and Asia markets.

Post acquisition, Luminous would continue to function as a separate entity, Blum said. Following the deal, India would become seventh largest market for Schneider in the world. Together, Schneider and Luminous would have around 11,500 employees in the country. Schneider earned revenues of about Rs 4,500 crore from its India operations in 2010. Schneider has made eight acquisitions in India in the past 24 months. Two transactions of APW President and Digilink were completed this year.

Havells to enter small home appliances business

NEW DELHI: Electrical equipment maker Havells India will start selling small home-andkitchen appliances from July, hoping to profit from a Rs 5,200-crore market currently dominated by Philips, Panasonic, Morphy Richards and Bajaj.

Havells' product line-up will include mixers, irons, hand blenders and cooking and brewing appliances.

"The small home appliances segment is all set to boom," said Havells India joint managing director Anil Gupta said, adding that Havells would use its brand recall in the lighting segment to position itself in the home appliance space.

Havells will outsource 70% of manufacturing to local vendors and the rest to its partners in China , where its design centre will be responsible for developing the products.

The company, 30%-owned by QRG Enterprises, plans to invest Rs 70 crore in marketing its small appliances range over the next two to three years. A part of investments will also go into research and development.
Sales of domestic home appliances are growing at 15-18% every year. Premium appliances, which contributes a fifth to the total market, are growing even higher at 30-35%.

Gupta said the products would be priced competitively and will be comparable with those of Philips and Panasonic.
Some other prominent players in the segment include Usha and Maharaja Whiteline.

Havells products will be initially sold in top 40 cities through some 4,000 outlets retailing electrical goods. The products will also be sold through 115 exclusive Havells Galaxy stores, which will be increased to 200 by the end of this financial year.

The company also plans to export its products to Latin America and Thailand using the distribution channel of Sylvania, which it bought in early 2007. This acquisition had catapulted Havells into the top league of lighting equipment makers, behind Philips, Osram and GE.

Havells, which clocked a turnover of. Rs 5,600 crore in the year ended March'11, also sells fans and launched its water heater range in October last year.

Titan Industries to merge Titan Properties subsidiary with self

BANGALORE: Watch-to-jewellery major Titan Industries will merge its wholly-owned subsidiary Titan Properties with it, a company filing in the Bombay Stock Exchange said. The Bangalore-based company incorporated the subsidiary to develop a Titan Township for employees at Hosur in Tamil Nadu.

The company had achieved the objectives for which it was formed and has decided against undertaking further developmental activities, Titan Industries said, explaining the rationale for amalgamation. Titan Properties would file the requisite petition with the Madras High Court, it said on Wednesday.

Titan also has a factory manufacturing jewellery for Tanishq at Hosur. In March this year, the jewellery division Tanishq was also merged with its parent.

Titan Industries posted a 71.94 % increase in standalone net profit to Rs 430.42 crore for the year ended March 31, 2011 from Rs 250.32 crore in the year-ago period. The company also undertook a stock split, subdividing equity shares of the face value of Rs 10 each into 10 equity shares of a face value of Re 1 each.

IndusInd Bank to add 150 branches in FY 12

MUMBAI: Private sector lender IndusInd Bank today said it plans to open nearly 150 branches in the country during FY 12 to take its total network strength to over 450 branches.

"IndusInd Bank plans to touch 450 branches in India by March 2012," a release issued by the bank, after the inauguration of its 301st branch in central Mumbai's Prabhadevi, said.

During the current fiscal, the bank will be focussing on distribution, branch expansion and providing universal banking solutions, the release said.

"The bank is stepping up its branch expansion momentum and this branch will be one more step in our journey to become a universal bank. The focus for us will be to provide unique banking experience to our customers," the bank's Managing Director and Chief Executive, Romesh Sobti, said in the release.

The Prabhadevi branch will be open across the year, including Sundays and other holidays and also has an automated teller machine, which allows customers the freedom to choose notes from a mix of Rs 100, Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations, the release said.

Not chasing to match Hero Honda's production capacity: HMSI

TAPUKARA (Rajasthan): Two-wheeler maker Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) today said it will not be chasing to match Hero Honda's production capacity but would rather focus on improving products and service quality to become a market leader in India.

"My target is not the numerical positioning but (improving) products quality and service quality. Otherwise, it is not so easy to be number one by 2020," HMSI's new President and CEO Keita Muramatsu told PTI here.

In March this year after Honda finalised breaking off from Hero Honda, Muramatsu's predecessor Shinji Aoyama had said HMSI was aiming to be number one in India in the next decade.

Admitting that there is a huge gap in the production capacity between HMSI and Hero Honda, Muramatsu said: "I don't think we will be looking at (matching) the capacity of Hero Honda but what we are looking at is the growth of the market and we have already opened our second plant".

HSMI's second plant, which was opened here today, will have a total annual capacity of 12 lakh. It is investing a total of Rs 860 crore on the plant. The firm's current plant at Gurgaon has an annual capacity of 16 lakh units.

Besides, the company will also invest Rs 1,000 crore to set up a third plant in Karnataka that will have an annual capacity of 12 lakh units by 2013.

On the other hand Hero Honda's annual capacity is 61.5 lakh units as on April this year.

Muramatsu said there is good business prospect in the long term in India and HMSI is looking to improve its position.

"Currently we are at number four, we have high possibility of improving. Our focus area is on addressing the dissatisfaction of customers like back orders and service quality," he said.

Commenting on the significance of HMSI's second plant, Honda Motor Co President and CEO Takanobu Ito said: "Our new plant is not only important for India but very significant for the whole global operations. India is a very important market for us".

The plant will employ around 3,200 people in total. It will start production by July with the rolling out of scooter Activa and 110cc (rpt) 110cc bike CB Twister.

Muramatsu said with the third plant in Karnataka coming up the company will be able to cover the vast Indian market, along with the two plants in Haryana and Rajasthan.

TVS Motor May sales rise 18% to 185,930 units

MUMBAI: TVS Motor Co , India's No. 3 two-wheeler maker, said on Wednesday its total sales in May rose over 18 percent on year to 185,930 units from 156,980 units a year ago.

Total two-wheeler sales grew 18 percent with sales of 181,891 units in May compared with 154,667 units recorded in May last year, TVS said in a statement.

Exports grew 42 precent, recording a total sales of 26,168 units in May.

Mercedes-Benz sales increase 36% to 561 units in May

NEW DELHI: Premium car maker Mercedes-Benz India today reported 36 per cent rise in its sales for May, 2011 at 561 units.

The company had sold 411 units during the corresponding period last year, Mercedes-Benz India said in a statement.

During the January-May period, the company's sales soared by 60 per cent to 3,233 units from 2,015 units in the year-ago period, it added.

"Mercedes-Benz performed extremely well in both in the sedan segment as well as in the SUV segment...We will continue with our robust performance for the rest of 2011 and create new benchmarks," Mercedes-Benz India Director (Marketing and Sales) Debashis Mitra said.

Bharti Africa inks network expansion deal with Huawei

NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel has awarded a contract to Chinese telecoms gearmaker Huawei Technologies to expand and manage its mobile network in Africa, the companies said, in a deal that two sources said was worth about $400 million.

Bharti said in February that Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Networks and Huawei would be its network partners in Africa.

Huawei will design, upgrade and expand Bharti's second- and third-generation (2G and 3G) mobile networks in Africa and would also manage operations and maintenance, the companies said on Wednesday, without disclosing financial details.

One of the two sources said Huawei had been given about 40 percent of the total Bharti Africa network contracts. Both sources confirmed that deals with Ericsson and Nokia Siemens would be announced later.

A Bharti Airtel spokesman declined to comment beyond the statement.

Indian mobile market leader Bharti last year acquired mobile operations in 15 African countries in a $9 billion deal, and currently operates in 16 African countries.

Bharti has forecast capital expenditure of $1-$1.2 billion for the African operations for the current financial year to March 2012.

India could be world's third largest economy by 2030: StanChart

MUMBAI: India could be one of the largest economies in the world in the next two decades, according to an official from the Standard Chartered Bank .

"We are projecting that by 2030, China, India and Brazil would be the world's first, third and fourth-largest economies," Standard Chartered Bank's Global Head (Client Access Transaction Banking) Neal Livingston said at an event here today.

"Asia accounts for a third of the world's GDP and is responsible for more than two-third of the world GDP growth," he said.

The bank expects a roll-over in the top five economies of the world and believes that their power could be under threat from the BRIC nations.

India's GDP is expected to be $ 30-trillion by 2030. Increased capacity, better infrastructure, quality of education, health and hygiene are likely to boost India's growth.

By 2030, China is likely to supersede the US and would reign as the super economy. China's GDP volume is expected to reach $ 73.5-trillion, the highest in the world. In 2010, China's GDP reached $ 5.9-trillion.

The country with the highest population in the world will remain the main engine of growth that is sustained by the manufacturing industry.

Moreover, the highly educated in China surged significantly.

During the past 30-years, China's economy has changed from a centrally planned system that was largely closed to international trade to a more market-oriented one that has a rapidly-growing private sector. A major component supporting China's rapid economic growth has been exports growth.

Brazil's GDP volume is expected to be around $ 12.2- trillion by 2030.