He said, "As a group, this is a signal that we are looking at sunriseindustries. We want to be known as a premium conglomerate."

Even as he evaded questions on the quantum of investments being poured toacquire control citing strategic reasons, he indicated that over the nexttwo-odd years a Nasdaq listing was imminent.

Birla said control and investments in the new venture were routed throughthe South Asian arms of the group. He said the group created a corpus for`New Millennium Business'. Once again, he was tight lipped on the kind ofmoney that went into creating the corpus.

However, he said the corpus would not go towards playing "the role of aventure capitalist." Instead, it would be used to further the group'sinterests in online business.

Little is known of LBI's financial position and little was revealed. But LBIpresident and CEO Rajiv Tandon said the company would clock $5 million inrevenues during the current fiscal. Growth rates though, he said, werephenomenal and it would be in the region of 300-500 per cent.

On why the group chose to invest using the South Asian divisions of thegroup, BK Singh, president, corporate strategy, said when traditionalbusinesses move into an online environment, it is important to leaveconventional mindsets behind. Else, he said, the danger that older mindsetsstifle growth is very real. Hence, Singh said, a very conscious decision wastaken to place the new venture in an environment distanced from home turfwhich is traditionally geared to deal with commodities.