Success in my Habit

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Stanchart, Jacob Ballas, Old Lane to invest $150 mn in GMR airport business

Bangalore based GMR Group is all set to raise $150 million from three PE firms. A consortium of three PE firms that include, Standard Charted Bank's private equity arm, Jacob Ballas & Old Lane will be investing in the company according to two sources familiar with the deal.

This is the second round of private equity fund raising by GMR for its airport arm, GMR Airports Holding. Last month, it had raised $200 million from SBI Macquarie Infrastructure Fund .

The company is awaiting government approval for the deal. According to the current regulations, any investment of or above Rs 1,200 crore in the aviation sector needs government approval. Since SBI Macquarie's investment was through an offshore vehicle, the new deal will breach the upper limit. However sources said that the company is optimistic that it will get the necessary approval.

The investments would be in the form of a compulsorily convertible structured product that will be convertible when the unit goes public. The private equity investment by SBI Macquarie was also through compulsory convertible preference shares.

'The approval process is underway. I am bond by the confidentiality agreement, so I won't comment on the names. As if now we are waiting for the FIBP approval.' said A Subba, chief financial officer of GMR Infra.

Standard Charted Bank declined to comment on the story.

GMR Airport Holdings operates two airports in India (New Delhi and Hyderabad) and one in Turkey (the Sabiha Gokcen International Airport, Istanbul). The airport arm accounts for as much as 46 per cent of GMR Infra's revenues. The private equity investment will be used to develop new projects.

GMR Infra has been battling a high debt of around Rs 15,300 crore, while its airport business itself has a debt of around Rs 9,200 crore. The fresh equity infusion could come handy in bringing down the company's debt-equity ratio.

IRB Infra bags Rs 3,600-cr NHAI project in Gujarat

MUMBAI: Construction and engineering firm IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd on Friday said it has bagged the Rs 3,600-crore first ultra mega project of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).

The company has emerged as the preferred bidder for six-laning of Ahmedabad to Vadodara section of National Highway-8 on Design Build Finance Operate Transfer (DBFOT) Toll basis, IRB Infrastructure Developers said in a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The project involves building over 102 km of the highway and improving another over 93 km stretch of the existing Ahmedabad Vadodara Expressway under Phase-V, it said. The project, costing approximately Rs 3600 crore, would be built in three years under the terms of the contract, it said.

IRB would get tolling rights on Ahmedabad Vadodara expressway from the appointed date and has a concession period of 25 years. The premium offered to NHAI in the first year is Rs 309.60 crore which will increase by 5 per cent YoY, it added.

The work involves upgradation of existing section of NH-8 between Ahmedabad and Vadodara from existing two-lane highway to a six-lane super expressway and value addition to the existing Ahmedabad Vadodara Expressway, it said.

Shares of the company closed today at Rs 213.65 on the BSE, up 1.11 per cent from its previous close.

NTC eyes Rs 2,000 cr sales turnover by 2013-14

NEW DELHI: State-owned National Textiles Corporation (NTC) today said its sales turnover is likely to touch the Rs 2,000-crore mark by 2013-14 from Rs 675 crore in last fiscal.

"We aim to Rs 2,000 crore turnover from core business by 2013-14. The way we are moving, it is not an impossible task," NTC Chairman K Ramachandran Pillai told PTI.

NTC had reoported nearly four-fold increase in its total income in FY'11 to Rs 2,741 crore. However, a lion's share in that (Rs 2,011 crore) was contributed by proceeds of sales of mill lands in Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

Revenue from its core operation though grew by 40 per cent over the previous fiscal to Rs 675 crore.

Pillai said decks are ready for the company to move from a single product firm (yarn) to the entire spectrum of textile business -- spinning, processing, garmenting and weaving.

Apart from spending Rs 1,000 crore capex in the current fiscal to jack up spinning capacity to 7.8 lakh spindles from 6.4 lakh now, NTC is also set to expand its business in the ready-made garment business by this fiscal-end.

"We will produce garments in our integrated units in Hassan (Karnataka) and in Amravati (Maharastra)," Pillai said.

Sensing that the expansion into the growing business will provide the much-needed boost on its topline, NTC also plans to revamp its 92 retail outlets, 37 of which are profit-making now.

The company would also invest Rs 425 crore in association with a joint venture partner to foray into the manufacturing of technical textiles to cash in on the burgeoning demand from healthcare and infrastructure sectors.

Pillai said the joint venture firm would set up two units -- one each in Northern and Southern India -- and the land required for putting up the plants have already been acquired.

Jaypee to foray into dairy business, invest Rs 100cr initially

NEW DELHI: After making a mark in almost all areas it has touched so far, diversified conglomerate Jaypee Group has now set its eyes on the dairy sector, where the growing demand-supply gap is only set to widen further.

The group, founded by Jaiprakash Gaur, initially plans to set up a one million litre per day milk processing plant near Mathura in Uttar Pradesh with an investment of Rs 100 crore.

Coca-Cola to take on Rasna at 5 price point

MUMBAI: Coca-Cola India is re-entering the Rs 300 crore branded powdered ready-to drink market after it pulled the plug on its Sunfill brand six years ago.

Interestingly, the global beverage maker has chosen the Rs 5 price point to make a comeback to the space dominated by home-grown brand Rasna. Coca-Cola will hitch a ride on its orange soft drink brand Fanta for its return. However, the company plans to test market the product before going pan-India.

India is the only market where the world's largest beverage maker is getting into the concentrate category with Fanta and only the fifth market where a powdered offering of any of its brands would be made available.

Confectionery maker Cadbury India , part of Kraft Foods , has also recently upped its ante with its Tang brand in this market. The orange flavour is also the largest segment in the powdered soft drink industry where Rasna controls over 90 % of the market.

Talking to TOI, Srinivas Murthy, director, marketing (flavours), Coca-Cola India, said, "We are targeting the consumer segment at the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid as we will introduce the product at an attractive price point. Even the retail touch points chosen for the product will be the traditional FMCG outlets where you do not need refrigeration to store the product the way it is for bottled soft-drinks."

Coca-Cola introduced the Sunfill brand in 2001 to take on Rasna but withdrew the product after four years. The company said it was ahead of the time then. After taking a timeoff, it now intends to use the learnings of its past venture for the launch of this new product-Fanta Fun Times. This was also the time when the 200 ml soft-drink used to be priced at Rs 5.

"The market wasn't ready then and the segment was yet to evolve to the level where a ready-to-drink as well as powdered offering for the same brand could exist," Murthy said. The company may look at launching more brands in this category if the script goes according to plan.

Fanta has 9% share of the Rs 9,000 crore soft drink market and stacks up below Thums Up, Coca-Cola and Sprite in the Cola-Cola portfolio. Along with rival PepsiCo's Mirinda, the orange flavoured drinks have a combined market share of 15%.

Coca-Cola is globally present in the powdered beverage market with brands like Eight O' Clock juice and juice drink in Philippines and the Sunfill brand in Hong Kong, Kenya and the US.

The Rs 5 entry level price point was first introduced by soft drinks makers in early 2000 but was raised to Rs 8-9 a few years later as it put strain on their bottomlines.

"For FMCG companies, these lowunit packs have been used as a strategy to build the brand appeal. They act like brand ambassadors even as they contribute a major chunk of volume sales," said Harish Bijoor, a brand consultant. The Rs 5 entry price point has been traditionally used by pure play FMCG companies to penetrate households in the lower income group seen as a large opportunity for marketers. Categories such as tea, shampoo, biscuits, chips, soaps have proved commercially viable for companies.

Henkel AG set to sell off stake to Jyothy

NEW DELHI: German firm Henkel AG will sell its entire stake in Henkel India to Jyothy Laboratories , maker of Ujala fabric whitener, in a rare instance of a local firm buying out an international brand in India.

Henkel AG's board last week approved the sale of its 50.97% stake in its Indian arm to Jyothy, two officials in direct knowledge of the development told ET.

"The legal formalities and due diligence of the deal are on and a formal announcement is expected within the next couple of weeks," one of them said on condition of anonymity.

The officials said the sale will be at substantial discount to Henkel's current market price.

The negotiated price is speculated to be 50% cheaper than what Jyothy last month paid Tamil Nadu Petro Products for its 14.9% stake in Henkel India. That deal was for about Rs 60.7 crore, at a discounted Rs 35 per share.

An email sent to Henkel AG on the matter remained unanswered till the time of going to press. Top Jyothy officials too declined comment on the development.

It is not yet certain if Henkel will license its global brands such as Fa, Pril and Bref to different owners. Henkel brands have been losing share and accumulating losses in the country.

Analysts tracking the sector say Jyothy Labs' buy is unlikely to spur a revival of Henkel's brands in the short term.

"Even at a discounted price, Jyothy will find it tough competing with players like Hindustan Unilever and P&G in the detergents space (with Henko)," an analyst at a leading Mumbai-based brokerage house said. "The Rs 445-crore Jyothy, which has extended its Ujala brand to detergents, too, hasn't been able to make a dent in market share of the big players," the person said, requesting anonymity.

A Mumbai-based investment banker said that Jyothy will stop being a debt-free company after the deal since Henkel has Rs 520 crore debt on its books. "This may impact the financial performance of the firm," the person added.

Besides declining market share, Henkel's sales in calendar year 2010 dropped 10% to Rs 534 crore.

Meanwhile, Jyothy is learnt to have got a line of credit for about Rs 600 crore from ICICI Bank in expectation of the buyout. Jyothy has Rs 210 crore of cash and it raised Rs 228 crore through qualified institutional placements last year.

Henkel and Jyothy have overlapping portfolios in categories such as fabric care and dish wash.

Henkel's brand basket includes Henko, Mr White and Chek detergents, Pril and Bref household cleaners, Margo soaps, Fa deodorants and Neem toothpaste. Jyothy's key brands are Ujala fabric whitener, Maxo household insecticide, and Exo dish wash.

The deal marks a phase of consolidation in the Indian FMCG space, as companies have been looking for buyouts, both in local and international markets. Last year, British firm Reckitt Benckiser bought Paras Pharmaceuticals, maker of Moov, Krack and DermiCool brands, for Rs 3,260 crore.

And Parachute maker Marico sold off its Sweekar edible oils brand to Cargill India last month.

In February this year, Henkel India's German parent Henkel AG had mandated HSBC to divest its assets across personal care, laundry and home care categories.

While Emami, Wipro and Dabur initially expressed interest in Henkel's brands, they later pulled out.

Reliance Trends to launch 'Spinner by Shane Warne' in India

MUMBAI: Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Retail's fashion apparel business--Reliance Trends--has tied- up with Australian firm lime door brands ( LMB )) to launch 'Spinner by Shane Warne' a lifestyle and sportswear collection, in the India . market.

Designed by cricketing sensation Shane Warne , the brand was created in 2009 along with local brand strategist Michele Hamdorf of lime door brands, which owns a major stake in the sports and fashion brand.

" Reliance Trends is privileged to be an exclusive partner of 'Spinners by Shane Warne' in India. We are very confident that this brand will be well-received in the Indian retail market. With cricket in the air, we believe the brand will be a great offering for our cricket-loving nation. Spinners will available at all Reliance Trends stores," Reliance Trends' CEO, Arun Sirdeshmukh, said in a statement here.

Reliance Retail is a subsidiary of Mukesh Ambani-run Reliance Industries Limited.

"Reliance Trends has a strong reputation in the global retail sector for being a progressive, growing company. It is fashion-led and value-driven with superior capabilities, including its efficiency in delivering product to market," lime door brand's CEO, Michele Hamdorf, said.

Canon India to spend Rs 100 cr on advertisement this year

NEW DELHI: Digital imaging firm Canon India on Tuesday said it has earmarked Rs 100 crore for various marketing and promotional activities this year.

"Canon is undertaking various innovative marketing strategies and plans to invest approximately Rs 100 crore for advertising this year," the company said in a statement.

The company, which today announced the launch of 29 digital imaging products, said it plans to expand its customer base to five million people from one million this year.

"While last year, we acquired one million customers, we are aiming to acquire two million customers in 2011 to reach a customer base of five million," Canon India Senior Vice President Alok Bharadwaj said.

Besides, the company is also gearing up to launch its new television commercial featuring cricket icon and its brand ambassador Sachin Tendulkar on April 25, 2011.

The company today launched seven new entry-level digital cameras in the sub - Rs 10,000 category, besides it also unveiled six compact cameras from the PowerShot range, three lifestyle cameras from its IXUS range, six HD Camcorder, two Digital SLR from the EOS range among others.

Panasonic eyeing 65% jump in revenue from India in FY 12

MUMBAI: Japanese consumer durables major Panasonic is targeting a nearly 65 per cent jump in revenue from ts India operations in FY 12 to Rs 9,000 crore, a top company executive said today.

"We are aiming to achieve 200-billion yen (Rs 9,000 crore) in sales in India by fiscal 2012. Going forward, we will certainly continue to make our best efforts in India," Panasonic President Fumio Ohtsubo told reporters here.

The company''s head of marketing in India, Manish Sharma, said they will be focusing on product differentiation from competitors, developing India-specific products which cater to domestic needs and communicating in the right way to achieve the targeted Rs 9,000-crore revenues.

"200 billion yen or $2 billion is stiff but definitely achievable," he told PTI.

Panasonic India is currently in the midst of executing a Rs 1,400-crore capex programme, which includes investment in a manufacturing plant at Haryana''s Jhajjar which also has a dedicated R&D facility, Sharma said, stressing that products like an air-conditioner and LCD, which were designed for Indian market, have been met with good response.

Panasonic today launched a new range of smart television, VIERA, which has Internet surfing capabilities.

Sharma said Panasonic''s TV line, which comprises LCD TVs, high definition TVs and 3D TVs, should account for 15 per cent of the 4.5-million TV set sales by end-FY 12.

Samsung eyes $4.9 bn sales in India, launches 60 new items

NEW DELHI: Korean consumer durables major Samsung on Wednesday introduced 60 new products across all categories in India with an eye on achieving a 40 per cent jump in sales to $4.9 billion in the country by year-end.

The company also said it is expanding its portfolio across all categories with special focus on pushing products with more advanced technologies, such as smart TVs, 3D televisions, Blu-ray players and its Galaxy Tabs.

"We expect a growth of 40 per cent in sales this year in India. This will be over $3.5 billion, which we did last year," Samsung West Asia Operations President and CEO Jung Soo Shin told reporters here. The strategy for the region is to strengthen market leadership while identifying new opportunities, he added.

Samsung today introduced around 35 new models of television, expanding its 3D range. It also introduced advanced version of Galaxy Tab, which it is planning to introduce in June this year. Besides it has brought a new range of cameras, refrigerator and washing machine among others totaling to 60 new products.

"Definitely our focus will be on this smart categories across all our product range. We want to leverage on the smart technology and drive our growth in future," Samsung India Deputy Managing Director Ravinder Zutshi said.

With more products being introduced, Shin, who is also President and CEO of Samsung India, said the company "will establish an optimum distribution network and additional emphasize on our flagship products and customer marketing activities".

Asked about the company's budget on marketing the new range this year, Zutshi said every year Samsung India spends around 3-4 per cent of the total revenue various marketing initiatives.

"3-4 per cent of our revenue goes on marketing our products. We are already doing a lot of work on promoting our smart products in the electronics and appliances category. we will continue to do more," he said.