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IOC may buy 26 pc stake in OIL
REL seeks changes in AoA
Poll code derails Surajkund mela
Steelbird helmets from Baddi soon
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Uniform power tariff on anvil
Air Deccan to buy 30 Airbus A-320s
Somdatt Group ventures into cosmeceuticals
Bank account
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IOC may buy 26 pc stake in OIL
New Delhi, December 21 Post IOC acquisition, government will hold 72 per cent stake in OIL, which will retain its present character as a public sector unit under Petroleum Ministry. “We are keen to have an oil and gas exploration unit to complement our dominant position in oil refining and marketing. OIL will give us the presence we had long desired in the upstream business,” a top IOC official
said.
The government had offered IOC its 47 per cent stake in OIL but since the offer was sans management control, IOC was keen only on 26 per cent equity. “A 47 per cent stake does not make sense because OIL would not have come under IOC fold. We can achieve what is being offered at 47 per cent with a minimum 26 per cent also,” the official said on condition of anonymity. He said IOC wanted OIL to merge with it to have a greater say in company operations. “But if the objective is to synergise operations of a pure oil and gas exploration firm with the dominant downstream oil refining and marketing company, a 26 per cent stake would do.” When contacted, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said his ministry has sought the opinion of the Assam government on the issue of dilution of GoI holding in OIL. “The issue has political ramifications and we have to keep the sensitivities of the North-East in mind before arriving at any decision,” he said. The official said since OIL is not listed, valuation is an issue. “Finance Ministry was putting a ball-point figure of Rs 4,500 crore for selling government’s 47 per cent stake, but we consider it too high as OIL has limited operations in North-East, producing under 4 million tonnes of crude oil annually.” IOC, he said, would raise the resources for buying government’s equity in OIL, by selling its 9 per cent holding in Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Government, which currently holds 98 per cent stake in the company whose operations are confined largely to North-East, wanted to retain majority 51 per cent stake in OIL and thus its present character. The official said even though government does not have any holding in IOC subsidiary companies like IBP Co Ltd, Chennai Petrochemicals Corp Ltd and Bongaigaon Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd, IOC does not have complete freedom on the management of the companies. “We see a similar situation with OIL,” he said adding with 26 per cent stake IOC hopes to appoint at least two directors on OIL board and direct the company’s operations towards greater synergy with that of IOC. Loan agreements
Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOC) has signed loan agreements for raising foreign currency loan of $ 350 million to meet its requirement of funds. Out of total loan facilities of $ 350 million, an amount of $ 200 million will be utilised by IndianOil to finance its capital expenditure requirements. The balance amount of $ 150 million would be utilised to meet its oil import requirements. The agreement for $ 200 million syndicated term loan facility, arranged by Citigroup, Calyon Bank, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi, DBS Bank and Mizuho Corporate Asia (HK) Ltd. at highly competitive rates, was signed yesterday at Singapore by Mr P Sugavanam, Director (Finance), IndianOil and Mr P K Goyal, Executive Director (Corporate Finance), IndianOil. The maturity of this loan is five years and the proceeds shall be utilised by IndianOil to finance its capital expenditure requirements.
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REL seeks changes in AoA
New Delhi, December 21 In a communication to Bombay Stock Exchange, REL sought to make a provision that as long as the Reliance Group of Companies and its associates hold over 26 per cent paid up voting equity shares, and are the single largest shareholding group, they shall have the right to appoint majority of directors on the REL board. In its notice, REL wanted the existing provision to be substituted with a provision that “RIL shall designate one of the directors to be the chairman of the board and may also designate one of the directors to be the vice-chairman of the board; and RIL shall determine the period for which each of them is to hold such office and the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman so designated shall not be liable to retire by rotation.” It was, however, not clear as to which existing provisions in the Articles of Association the company now sought to amend. In its notice to BSE under Section 192 A of the Companies Act, REL desired that it wanted to transact the “special business” by the members of the company through postal ballot and to pass the same with or without modification in the “Articles of Association of the company”. For this purpose, REL board, at its meeting on November 30, 2004, appointed chartered accountant Bhupendra Bangari as scrutiniser for the postal ballot papers, which should reach by January 17 next year. Scrutiniser would submit report to Chairman and the result would be announced on January 18, 2005, the communication said.
— PTI
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Poll code derails Surajkund mela
Faridabad, December 21 The nine-day extravaganza of the Trade Fair Authority of Haryana, which was proposed to be inaugurated by the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, has been postponed indefinitely. A communication in this connection was received by the district authorities here late last night, from the Chief Secretary, Haryana, who has been the Chairman of the Organising Committee. Interestingly, the organisers here including the Department of Industries and the leading industrial associations had done all preparations to hold this event described by the authorities as a platform for “showcasing and promoting the industry and trade in the region, on the pattern of Trade Fair held at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi” each year. The Deputy Commissioner, who was appointed the Additional Chief Administrator of the Tradefair Authority of Haryana (TFAH), had held a press conference yesterday, to announce about the arrangements of this fair. The Governor was to be the Chief Guest at the closing ceremony on December 30. While it is reported that the authorities asked the local industrial associations, which had been the co-host of the event, to organise it independently, the representatives of these bodies expressed their inability to hold the fair without the government support. It is also learnt that the authorities concerned have already spent several lakhs on the arrangements of this years’ event, as all required infrastructure, including about 300 stalls had been made ready and payments had been released to the artistes and cultural troupes, to perform in this programme. Also, the fair had been insured for an amount of about Rs 10 crore and lakhs had been spent on the publicity and promotion campaign.
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Steelbird helmets from Baddi soon
Chandigarh, December 21 In an interview with TNS, Mr Rajeev Kapur, Managing Director of the company, said the company had chalked out a Rs 40-crore expansion plan to be implemented in three phases. The thermoplastic range of helmets will be manufactured at Baddi, while the Fibreglass ones would continue to be manufactured at the Delhi plant. “We would be rolling out three high quality consumer-friendly models of helmets in the lower segment by April 2005. These models, to be manufactured here, would be priced below Rs 500 as the company wants to pass the benefits of the tax holiday in the state to its consumers,” he said. As a part of yet another innovation, the focus would be on manufacturing helmets with replaceable interiors so that besides comfort and safety, they also promise hygiene. To make a dent in the retail market, the company would be opening exclusive shops in all major cities of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.
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Uniform power tariff on anvil
New Delhi, December 21 He said the power reforms that have already been put on the fast track, have begun to show results. A number of state electricity boards are now showing an improvement in their financial position. Replying to supplementaries during question hour, the minister said reforms in the power sector were undertaken in the 1990s, improving the financial health of electricity boards significantly. Even the Plant Load Factor (PLF) has gone up sharply from around 57 per cent to 73 per cent. He said the government plans to complete rural electrification by 2012 and connect 1.20 lakh villages in the next five years.
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Air Deccan to buy 30 Airbus A-320s
Bangalore, December 21 The contract was signed by Air Deccan Managing Director Captain G.R. Gopinath and Airbus Chief Commercial Officer John Leahy here. Deliveries of aircraft will begin after September 2005, and will be spread over a six-year period at the rate of five aircraft per
year.
While the deal is worth $ 1.8 billion based on the sticker price of $60 million per aircraft, actual pricing details were not disclosed. The deal includes two simulators, one a basic fixed simulator which will be delivered in a month, and another full-fledged Airbus simulator, which is to be located in Bangalore. Apart from using it for in-house training, Air Deccan plans to market the simulator facility and make it training hub for pilots and airlines in countries in the neighbouring region, Gopinath said. The deal also includes an option for an additional 25 aircraft, in case Air Deccan chooses to exercise it. Air Deccan is already flying three Airbus A-320s, and will take delivery of two new aircraft from Airbus in February next year, apart from leasing two more before September. It will thus eventually possess a fleet of 37 A-320s, in addition to a planned 25 ATR-42 turboprop 42 seaters. Air Deccan will also enter into an equity arrangement with ICICI Bank for brining in 40 million dollars, in a deal to be announced in the first week of January. The entire money will go to funding new operations, he indicated. Airbus in engaged in talks with both Air-India and Jet Airways for the sale of wide-bodied Airbus jets like the A-330 and the A-340. Airbus Chief Commercial Officer John Leahy revealed that Air-India had sent out an RFP (Request for Proposal) for 40 to 50 A-340s which Airbus was responding to, he said. Airbus is on a roll in India, as the Air Deccan deal to purchase 30 A-320s comes sandwiched between a deal for 10 aircraft with Kingfisher Airways signed last week, and the expected deal with the Government of India for 43 aircraft for the Indian Airlines. John Leahy said that India had the potential to be the second largest aircraft market after China, but much depended on policies with regard to allowing airlines like Air Deccan to operate. Projects for aircraft requirements in India by 2019 could be revised to be in the region of 400 planes, up from earlier projections of 200 plus aircraft, he said.
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Somdatt Group ventures into cosmeceuticals
New Delhi, December 21 The group has also opened the Winner Laboratory, which would handle the skincare products. To be headed by Latika Abbot, daughter of Mr Som Datt, Chairman of the group, the company has launched five products and is looking at bringing in at least 20 products over the next few months. Talking to TNS, Latika Abbot, MD of Somdatt Finance and MD Winner Laboratory said that the difference in the normal skincare products and the Formula 6 products would be that not only would they available off the shelf but would also be prescribed by dermatologists. These unique formulations have stormed the US skincare market and have been successfully used by millions of people worldwide to fight early and advanced signs of ageing.
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PNB, OBC ready for second public offers
New Delhi, December 21 “We are just waiting for the government nod. If the government tells us to go for the issue tomorrow, we can even do that,” Punjab National Bank Executive Director K C Chakrabarty told mediapersons on the sidelines of signing of an agreement with money transfer services Western Union. PNB intends to sell 5 crore shares and the value of the public offer is estimated at over Rs 1,100 crore, going by the present price of the bank’s shares. PNB, which had raised over Rs 165 crore three years ago, is planning to raise more capital to meet the stringent Basel-II norms requiring higher provisions for market, credit and operational risks by 2006. Chakrabarty ruled out tapping the overseas capital market saying, “when we can raise the required capital in the domestic market, what is the need to go for GDR or ADR issues.” The bank had 12 per cent capital adequacy ratio during 2003-04 and expects to maintain it between 12-15 per cent this fiscal, he said. He parried queries on net profit growth but said: “We expect a reasonable growth.” OBC Oriental Bank of Commerce is considering hiking its capital through a public offer to sustain its growth in business after the merger of ailing Global Trust Bank with it. The bank intends to dilute government holding by about 10 per cent to 56.5 per cent after the public offer, bank sources told PTI but declined to give the size of the issue. OBC has scheduled a meeting of its board of directors on December 28 to discuss the agenda for the proposed increase in equity share capital, it informed the Bombay Stock Exchange. Delhi-based OBC has a share capital of Rs 193 crore as on September 2004 and reserves worth Rs 2,484 crore. Sources said the bank is planning to tap the markets to raise fresh capital to meet additional fund requirement for sustaining 30 per cent growth in business at Rs 80,000 crore in this fiscal. — PTI
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