Andhranews

Mumbai, Aug. 14: IT solutions provider i-flex solutions on Monday announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Mantas, a leading provider of anti-money laundering (AML) and compliance software and services, headquartered in Virginia, USA, in an all cash transaction of $122.6 million (Rs 571 crores). This acquisition would be done through the company’s wholly owned US subsidiary, i-flex America Inc.

“Through our acquisition of Mantas, we gain access to an industry leading in behaviour detection and compliance solutions, coupled with deep financial services industry expertise. Moreover, together we are poised to become a leading player in the risk and compliance marketplace,” said Mr Rajesh Hukku, chairman and managing director, i-flex solutions.

According to Mr Hukku, the Mantas acquisition will complement i-flex’s risk and compliance portfolio and help strengthen its risk and compliance offerings.
Also, Oracle will invest $125 million in i-flex solutions to fund growth initiatives. i-flex would issue approximately 4.45 million equity shares to Oracle under a preferential allotment for Rs. 1,307.50 per share. i-flex would use the money to fund their acquisition.

Upon completion of the preferential allotment, Oracle’s ownership in i-flex is expected to increase from the current 52.5 per cent to 55.1 per cent. As required by Indian law, Oracle would make a mandatory open offer to purchase up to an additional 20 per cent of the shares outstanding from the remaining i-flex shareholders at a price of Rs 1,475.00 per share.

Hyderabad, Aug. 14: GMR Industries Ltd, the manufacturing arm of the Bangalore-based GMR group, has decided to hive off its ferro alloys business into a separate company to be called GMR Ferro Alloys and Industries Ltd. It has also decided to Bharat Sugar Mills Ltd, a subsidiary, with itself. A GMR statement cited the group’s focus in sugar and related businesses for hiving off the ferro alloys business. Shareholders of the GMR Industries Ltd would be holding shares in the new company in the same ratio as they hold in GMR Industries Ltd, it said.

Every preference shareholder holding 100 shares in GMR Industries Ltd would be getting 38 preference shares in the new company (GMR Ferro Alloys and Industries Ltd) and 62 new preference shares in GMR Industries Ltd in cancellation of their existing 100 preference shares in GMR Industries Ltd. Every equity shareholder holding 100 shares in GMR Industries Ltd would be getting 38 equity shares in the new company and 62 new equity shares in GMR Industries Ltd in cancellation of their existing 100 equity shares in GIL. All the assets and liabilities pertaining to ferro division would be transferred to the new company at book values. The effective date of demerger is April 1 , 2006, it said. Bharat Sugar Mills, registered in Karnataka, is implementing a project for construction of an integrated sugar complex with 3,500 tonnes crushing per day (TCD) expandable to 5000 TCD, a co-generation unit 24 MW capacity, and 45 KLD of distillery at a cost of Rs 274 crores.

New York, Aug. 14: India-born Indra K. No-oyi is all set to lead American cola giant PepsiCo with the board of the food and beverage multinational on Monday electing the 50-year-old corporate wizard as the chief executive officer to succeed Steve Reinemund from October 1, 2006. Putting a stamp of approval on her 12-year stint with the corporation, the PepsiCo board said in a statement: “We are exceedingly fortunate to have a leader of Indra’s calibre, vision and experience to take the helm. She has been instrumental to PepsiCo’s solid direction and ongoing success and has the complete endorsement and support of the board.”

The Madras Christian College alumnus started her career from India, as a low-profile product manager at Johnson & Johnson and textile firm Mettur Beardsell Ltd. After her graduation, she did her management from IIM and also picked up a masters degree in public and private management from Yale University. Known to often attend PepsiCo events wearing a saree, Ms Nooyi joined the $33-billion F&B giant in 1994 and has served as president and chief financial officer since 2001, when she was also named to PepsiCo’s board of directors.

As the fifth CEO in PepsiCo’s 41-year history, she brings vast and unique skills to the job. Mr Reinemund, who will continue in the corporation as executive chairman and member of the board till his retirement till May 2007, said: “Indra’s record of transforming PepsiCo spe-aks for itself, and she has been an invaluable partner and ally throughout my time as CEO”. PepsiCo said Ms Nooyi’s responsibilities will be divided between two of the company’s veterans.

On her part, Ms Nooyi described her elevation as a humbling experience. “I am humbled by the opportunity to lead PepsiCo, and profoundly grateful to follow in the footsteps of Steve Reinemund, Roger Enrico and Wayne Calloway and and Don Kendall.”

Mumbai, Aug. 14: After hearing the pleas of Essar and Hutchison over the proposed arbitration that it is to be carried out regarding the sale of the BPL Mumbai circle by Essar, the Bombay high court on Monday agreed to certain amendments in its order of August 10. Both Hutchison and Essar have agreed to the clarifications in the previous order of the court. An Essar source said that among the modifications carried out in its earlier order was that Hutchison-Essar Limited had asked the court for an order to prevent BPL from acting on the termination for the limited purpose of keeping the Department of Telecom or DoT application valid.

Among the other factors clarified was that Essar had also argued that the acquisition of the BPL shares required approval under the DoT guidelines. The two companies also clarified that the completion of such an acquisition without the permission of the DoT would be illegal and void. The two companies also clarified that the court’s order on August 10 was after a prima facie examination of the case and they would not influence or bind the arbitration tribunal in any way.

In its order of August 10, the high court had directed that an Arbitration Tribunal be set up within 30 days to resolve the dispute between the two telecom companies. The tribunal was to resolve the dispute of the sale of the Mumbai circle of BPL to Hutchison by Essar. Essar was also directed not to sell the BPL Mumbai circle to any third party until the order of the Arbitration Tribunal was received.

The court had also said that the two parties could settle the matter out of court if needed before the creation of the tribunal. Earlier, Essar had called off the deal to sell its BPL Mumbai Circle to its telecom joint venture Hutchison-Essar saying that it had not yet received the necessary government approvals. Essar had also offered to return the Rs 1,617 crores taken as deposit in lieu of selling 97.5 per cent stake in BPL’s Mumbai circle to Hutchison-Essar but can now do so only after the decision of the Arbitration Tribunal.

Mumbai, Aug. 14: GAIL chairman and managing director Proshanto Banerjee said on Monday that Mr S.P. Rao, director (projects), GAIL India, was not considered for the post of CEO and managing director of Petronet LNG or PLL because he was handling sensitive projects that needed to be completed without further delays. Denying that there was any bias against Mr Rao, Mr Banerjee said that Mr Rao was handling Rs 2,600-crore worth grassroots projects which were time-bound and included the much-delayed Dahej-Uran pipeline. Mr Banerjee said the Dahej-Uran pipeline was critical for reaching gas to Maharashtra and was experiencing severe power shortage every summer.

He said, “Such decisions in the interest of the company are taken regularly by the GAIL management as well as the management of other PSUs.” Mr Banerjee denied that there was any “caste bias” against Mr Rao who is also on the board of GAIL. Mr Rao had filed a writ petition in the high court of Delhi praying that the selection of CEO and MD of PLL and the appointment of Mr Prosad Dasgupta for the post should be quashed. He said that he had appeared for two interviews and had not been selected.

Hyderabad, Aug. 14: SpiceJet Ltd, a low-cost carrier, on Monday said it has completed a sale and lease-back agreement covering 16 new Boeing 737-800/-900ER aircraft valued at $1.1 billion. The agreement was signed between the New Delhi-based airline and Babcock & Brown Aircraft Management along with its strategic partner Nomura Babcock & Brown Co. Ltd, a statement said.

The aircraft will be delivered over 22 months beginning January 2007, SpiceJet said. Early this year, SpiceJet had completed a similar financing with BBAM for four B737-800 aircraft deliveries. Sale and lease-back method of financing is a common practice adopted by airlines across the world which have utilised it to minimise the cost of owning an aircraft. In most cases, airlines make a profit of between $2 million and $4 million by sale and lease-back of each aircraft.

More importantly, airlines in India have rising ATF prices and fierce competition to reckon with even as they take the sale and lease back route to expand their presence in a rapidly growing market.

Deccan Aviation Ltd, which operates Air Deccan, has completed deals for four Airbus A-320 aircarft, while Jet Airways sold and leased back five aircraft in April. Commenting on the deal, SpiceJet’s chairman Siddhanta Sharma said, “The newly-acquired capacity will go a long way to augment our network in the country.”
SpiceJet’s shares rose 5.7 per cent to Rs 42.45 in a firm Mumbai market.