SBI may fund even hostile takeovers
The State Bank of India is willing to fund mergers and acquisitions (M&A), including hostile ones. SBI chairman MS Verma said that the bank will participate in takeover funding provided there is proper collateral. According to him, there is no law that prevents banks from funding takeovers.
Bell Laboratories plans to unveil software centre in Hyderabad
Bell Laboratories, the research and development arm of the $26-billion United States-based Lucent Technologies, is planning to set up a software -development centre in Hyderabad. If it happens, Bell Labs will be the second major organisation after Microsoft to set up a software-development centre in the city.
Motorola, Adidas plans to inject fresh capital in arms cleared
Multinationals Motorola, Owens, Adidas, Delphi Automotive Systems and Tupperware have received clearance from the centre to inject fresh capital in the local subsidiaries. Owens is making a fresh investment of over $15 million while Motorola is investing another $10 million in Motorola India. Adidas is stepping up capital investment in its wholly owned subsidiary by $1.2 million.
P&G sits tight as bid price for Mediker falls short of target
Proposals for Procter & Gamble's (P&G) anti-lice shampoo brand Mediker, which was recently put on the block, are understood to be falling short of the minimum bid price. In such a case, P&G would have to either scale down the minimum bid price or the deal falls through.
New items steer Glaxo's export growth
Glaxo India's 69 per cent jump in export turnover for the year ended December 1997 seems to have been largely driven by "several new items", including bulk drugs like ranitidine and sulphamethoxazole (SMX) besides a range of finished formulations. Glaxo's performance comes even as SMX export growth in group company Burroughs Wellcome appears to be diminishing.
Shipping board seeks reservation of coastal shipping for national fleet
The National Shipping Board (NSB) has recommended implementation of the cabotage law in the country. The law entails reserving the coastal shipping for the national fleet. NSB was also of the opinion that the little relaxation made in the cabotage law to encourage containerisation had not reaped enough benefits. The amendments in the cabotage law will expire in April 1999.
