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Drumbeat: Ad Buzzaar

Saturday, May 23, 1998

	Essar Steel mulls $400 mn ECB mop-up sans forward cover The Ruias-owned Essar Steel plans a bold gambit to mop up $400 million (around Rs 1,600 crore) through external-commercial borrowings (ECBs), without any forward cover, to finance redemption of a floating-rate notes issue. The notes aggregating $290 million are due for redemption in the next financial year.		Seagram to buy PolyGram for $10.6 bn; to spin off Tropicana juice business Seagram Co has agreed to buy PolyGram NV for $10.6 billion. The deal makes the Canadian drinks and entertainment company numero uno in the global music industry with acts like U2 and Elton John. Montreal-based Seagram also plans to spin off its Tropicana fruit-juice business and that it was looking to sell Polygram's filmed-entertainment unit.
	Centre allows unlisted firms to access overseas markets, lifts end-use norm The Union ministry of finance liberalised euroissue guidelines by allowing unlisted companies to approach overseas markets, removing end-use restrictions and by scrapping the 90-day ceiling for floating the issue from the date of clearance.		US banks may shun May 27 gilts auction US banks are likely to stay away from the planned Rs 4,000-crore nine-year paper auction to be held on May 27. This will be the first auction of goverment securities after the United States imposed economic sanctions against the country.

ITC net vaults 52% to Rs 526 cr; scrip plummets
Tobacco major ITC has reported a net profit of Rs 526.20 crore for the year to March 31, 1998, up 52% on the Rs 346.90 crore in the previous year. The board has recommended a dividend of Rs 4.50 per share (45 per cent) against Rs 4 per share (40 per cent) paid last year.

RK Kumar quits ministry
RK Kumar has resigned as minister of state for finance in charge of revenue, banking and insurance under instruction from the AIADMK leader J Jayalalitha. Kumar becomes the third minister to resign in the past two months from the Vajpayee cabinet, and second from the AIADMK.

CORPORATE
Alcan, Sterlite battle enters final stage
Global Trust Bank net up 40 per cent to Rs 80 crore

ECONOMY
Centre transfers 34 excise commissioners
Maharashtra seeks ECB facility for real-estate development

EXPRESSIONS
PSUs to face music
US double standards in WTO also

MARKETS
ICICI, banking arm to work towards demat synergy
Companies take recourse to bridge loans, underwriting to see issues through

LEISURE
"Domestic paging market all set to grow"
South African gold mine hogs limelight