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Govt seeks Rs 597 crore from 200 pharma firms
IBM to buy Ascential for $1.1 billion
Warburg offloads 6 pc stake in Bharti for $561 million
Sony to buy SAB TV brand, programmes
HDFC Bank plans stake in NCDEX
IT round-up |
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Innovation award for IL&FS
Yes Bank public issue soon
Jet debuts on bourses with full throttle
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Govt seeks Rs 597 crore from 200 pharma firms
New Delhi, March 14 The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), the apex body monitoring drug prices, has issued demand notices to the companies for an estimated overcharged amount of Rs 597 crore. Of this, Rs 83 crore has been recovered so far. Among the major companies, allegedly involved in overcharging are Lupin Laboratories, Ranbaxy Labs, Cipla, Johnson and Johnson, Glaxo, Biotech Ltd, Cadila Pharma, Jagson Pharma, Ind-Swift Ltd (Chandigarh), Pakson Pharmaceutical, (Haryana), Nectar Products India Ltd (HP) and Punjab Formulations Ltd (Jalandhar). Officials in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers said, “though at present only 74 bulk drugs are under price control, these companies were found to be involved in the overcharging earlier during the price control regime.” They pointed out that the government is keeping a close watch on the prices of major drugs hoping that despite the introduction of the Patent Act, the prices of common drugs would not go up substantially. The Drug Prices Liabilities Review Committee (DPLRC), under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, has studied all cases of overcharging by the drug companies during 1981-87 period till the Drugs (Price Control) Order remained in force. In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Ram Vilas Paswan today informed that the NPPA has issued notices to 263 companies for overcharging an estimated amount of Rs 597 crore. He said the companies have been found to overcharge for drugs like dexamethasone, rifampicin, metronidazole, oxyphenabutazone, ethambutol and calcium lactate. Other drugs included vivax tablets, ciprofloxacin based formulations, analgin tablets and raricap capsules. The minister informed that the DPLRC has also identified 32 pharmaceutical companies, including Cipla, Cadila, Biochem and Dey’s Medical Stores. However, the committee is still in the process of fixing their liability. In fact, some of these companies have approached the courts as well and have got stay order for recovery. Undaunted by the long legal battles, the minister said, “we have successfully recovered Rs 83 crore from the companies on the order of courts and in those cases where companies have come forward to pay the penalty.” Mr Paswan said the government has recovered amounts from companies like Johnson &Johnson (Rs 1.50 crore), Ranbaxy (Rs 23.47 crore), J&J Ltd (Rs 22.35 crore), N R Jet Enterprises (Rs 9.02 crore) and GlaxoSmithkline (Rs 2.17 crore). He assured Parliament that the government would take all steps to promote the industry while ensuring to keep the prices of major drugs within the reach of common man. “The country ranked fourth worldwide, accounting for 8 per cent of the world’s production by volume and 1.5 per cent by value,” he said while quoting a report of Scrip World Pharmaceutical News (UK).
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IBM to buy Ascential for $1.1 billion
New York, March 14 The deal values Ascential at $18.50 a share, an 18 per cent premium to its closing price of $15.70 on the Nasdaq stock market on Friday. Ascential shares jumped to $18.21 in pre-open trade. Ascential, based in Westboro, Massachusetts, provides systems that help companies integrate complex data to streamline operations. Armonk, New York-based IBM, said the acquisition would complement and strengthen its information integration business, a unit that produced triple-digit growth in 2004. “Information integration is an important enabler of an on-demand business strategy, and customers are increasing their investments in software that allows them to rapidly analyse, consolidate and extract value from the business data,” said IBM software executive Steve Mills. Ascential grew rapidly in 2004, with revenue rising 46 per cent to $271.9 million and more than 3,000 customers and partners across all major industries. Once the deal is completed, Ascential’s operations will be established as a business unit within IBM’s information management software division. The acquisition, which is expected to close in the second quarter, is subject to approval by Ascential shareholders and regulatory authorities. — Reuters
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Warburg offloads 6 pc stake in Bharti for $561 million Mumbai/New Delhi, March 14 The on-market sale, nearly equal to the average daily value of all shares traded on the Bombay exchange, was the third in seven months by Warburg, which acquired 18.52 per cent of Bharti for about $300 million before the company went public in 2002. The private equity firm has now sold a total of about 12 per cent of Bharti for some $1.08 billion. ”They have now about 6 per cent left,” said Akhil Gupta, joint managing director at Bharti. Market sources said US-based fund Capital International was one of the buyers. Capital officials could not be reached for comment. Data on the Bombay Stock Exchange website named the buyers as Euro Pacific Growth Fund, which bought 59 million shares, and The Growth Fund of America, which picked up 20 million shares. ”We continue to work with Bharti and are supportive of our participation in Bharti’s previously announced ADR offering,” Charles Kaye, co-president of Warburg, said in a statement. Warburg first invested in Bharti in 1999. ”Although Bharti trades at a premium to its peers, investors are prepared to pay, given the superior growth expectations,” said James Fleming, in charge of Indian equity markets at UBS Securities, which brokered the latest sale of Bharti shares. Analysts expect Bharti’s sales to grow by about 28 per cent in the year to March 2006, buoyed by demand for mobile phones in the world’s fastest-growing major telecom market. — Reuters
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Sony to buy SAB TV brand, programmes
Mumbai, March 14 The board has approved the proposal to sell the TV brand, part of its programming library and related assets, subject to shareholders’ approval, company Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Makarand Adhikari said in a press note here today. The company has entered into an agreement with SET (Sony Entertainment Television) for the SAB TV Brand, library programmes of 1,305 hrs, about 20 per cent of over 6,500 hours of library strength valued at Rs 75-80 crore, and related assets, he said. The company would also execute a programming agreement with SET India Private Limited for content supply worth Rs 75 crore, he added. The deal would have no impact on the equity pattern as well as management of SABTNL, Adhikari said. SABTNL would now concentrate on its area of core competence of content production. The proceeds from this deal would be used to create and upgrade the infrastructure required for content production business like studios, production and animation, he said.The group companies held by core promoters would launch current affair & news channel, “Janmat” & Marathi Channel “MI Marathi” by May, 2005, he said. The company would provide exclusive content to both channels, he added.
— PTI
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HDFC Bank plans stake in NCDEX
Mumbai, March 14 "The bank is exploring options to pick 2 to 5 per cent stake in NCDEX as it has a large exposure to agriculture commodity financing," HDFC sources said today. The bank is keen to establish strong links with all three national commodity exchanges and would explore options to pick up stake in Ahmedabad-based National Multi- Commodity Exchange (NMCE) in future, he said. "However, nothing has been finalised yet in picking up the stake with NCDEX. We have sent out a proposal to the exchange," he added. When contacted, NCDEX Chief Executive Officer P H Ravikumar said the Exchange "is reviewing" the bank's proposal. HDFC Bank Managing Director Aditya Puri said the bank wished to forge strong tie-up with national commodity exchanges. “However, the bank has no intention for creeping acquisition in MCX,” Mr Puri added.
— PTI
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Mphasis acquires US firm Eldorado for $16 million
Mumbai, March 14 This acquisition is a part of overall business plans to strengthen footprint in US and enter healthcare insurance and payment processing business, Mphasis Chairman and Chief Executive Jerry Rao told reporters here today. Eldorado Computing has clicked revenues of $ 10 million and would contribute to the bottomline immediately, he said. The Arizona-based BPO specialises in claims, processing and benefits in healthcare sector, he added. Solectron gets order
Bangalore-based Solectron Centum Electronics Limited has bagged an order to export Printed Circuit Board Assemblies (PCBA) worth Rs 88 crore ($ 20 million) from ABB group over three years. The company has signed an agreement with ABB India and ABB USA for export of PCBA for initial contract value of $ 20 million, Solectron Centum informed the Bombay Stock Exchange today. Solectron offers Hybrid Micro Circuits (HMC), Frequency Control Products (FCP) and Electronic Manufacturing Service (EMS), it added. — PTI
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Belgian initiative sought to address NTB issue
New Delhi, March 14 Stating that diamond was the main trading activity between the two countries, Prince Philippe acknowledged the contribution made by the Indian community in Belgium and Antwerp in particular. He felt that it was now time to expand the trade basket and look at newer areas such as port services, logistics, environmental technology, power generation, engineering, the chemical sector and information technology, to name a few. The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Mr Kamal Nath, said, “while the Indian economy has liberalised and markets opened up offering new vistas to the global trade and industry, reciprocal benefits have not flowed from the developed world.” He also said that removal of restrictions on visa and work permits for professionals and businessman moving from India to Europe was necessary to facilitate greater bilateral engagement. Indo-Belgium bilateral trade during 2003-04 was $ 5.7 billion against $ 5.37 billion during 2002-03 registering a growth rate of 6 per cent.
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Innovation award for IL&FS
Chandigarh, March 14 The citation states that the award was given for IL&FS’s work “in recognition of its wide ranging innovations in projects related to the development of infrastructure on a commercial format. Working on diverse projects in sectors of transportation, water supply and sanitation, social infrastructure, new convergent media centre and environment, the IL&FS has worked through to create high-impact, replicable models for other infrastructure agencies to follow. The Indian Innovation Award was conceived by the Entrepreneurship and Management Processes International (EMPI) B-School Group in association with its interdisciplinary initiative, CIEPRO. The primary purpose is to recognise innovation of high order at an inter-organisational level that have demonstrated their potential for significant national development. These awards are different from others given in the country in these sense that they are for organisations and inter-organisational partnerships; they are also not only for technology and manufacturing but cover a wide spectrum of human effort that are important for development. “The award specifically recognises an organisational approach to develop and implement infrastructure projects on a PPP basis,” Mr Parthasarathy said.
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Yes Bank public issue soon
New Delhi, March 14 The CEO and Managing Director of the bank, Mr Rana Kapoor, told The Tribune that the bank is hoping to a have a “billion dollar balance sheet” by the end of next fiscal year. “The IPO should hit the market within the next two months,” Mr Kapoor said adding that corporate and institutional banking (C&IB) is one of the key business lines of operation. “We have identified three distinct business lines to effectively service the differentiated needs of customers. These are” C&IB, business banking and retail banking”, he said. The bank has so far received licenses for opening up 16 branches. “Out of these two are already operational in Delhi and Mumbai and eight are under construction. All branches will be operational over a short period of time,” he said. Yes Bank is the only green-field license awarded by the RBI in the recent past. The two Indian promoters of the bank — Mr Kapoor and Mr Ashok Kapur ( non-Executive Chairman and Head of Risk Monitoring Committee) hold 52.5 per cent equity of the banks. Rabobank — a Netherlands based entity — holds 20 per cent stake and three private equity investors — CVC International, Chrys Capital and AIF Capital — own another 25 per cent stake. Total shareholders’ funds of the bank as on December 31, 2004 stood at Rs 2,170 million.
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Jet debuts on bourses with full throttle Mumbai, March 14 At the NSE, Jet, the first private airline to be listed, saw the capitalisation surging to a whopping Rs 11,259.16 crore while at the BSE the scrip was equally aggressively bid, ending with a market cap of Rs 11,266 crore, which according to market analysts, is a record of sorts on debut. The airline scrip opened at Rs 1,155, at premium to issue price of Rs 1,100 per share while the first trade for 4,000 shares was struck at Rs 1,428 per share, an NSE official said today after the listing ceremony here. According to NSE data, the last traded price of the scrip is at Rs 1,293.90 while highest prices were registered at Rs 1,338.90 and lowest at Rs 1,155. Total traded quantity of the scrip was 1.26 crore with turnover of Rs 583.50 crores at NSE. — PTI
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