RIL, United Spirits and NMDC to see some action today

Reliance Industries (RIL) will raise the issue of gas pricing in arbitration proceedings against the government, as the company feels that even the price under the Rangarajan formula is depressed and well below the market level. The Rangarajan Formula, approved by the Cabinet last year, would have doubled gas prices to $8.4 per unit from April 1, but the Election Commission stopped the government from announcing the new price until the election code of conduct is in force. The new price under the formula has been criticized by customers and political parties, but it is well below the price at which liquefied natural gas (LNG) is imported. India's largest distiller United Spirits (USL) is said to have finalized the divestment of its scotch whisky unit Whyte & Mackay (W&M) at a board meeting held in Dubai. The sale value, topping $1 billion, is expected to be formally announced soon. USL, now a Diageo-owned company, is expected to sell the entire W&M - assets and brands - to one of five shortlisted bidders in a process that is being advised by Standard Chartered Bank and Rothschild. Glasgow-based W&M was the showpiece acquisition of USL chairman Vijay Mallya in 2007 at the height of a credit boom. Mallya had primarily acquired the asset to provide USL with a captive source of bulk scotch and help the company premiumize its whiskies.  State-owned iron ore miner NMDC is set to form a joint venture agreement with Mosi Oa Tnuya Development Company (MOTDC), a Zimbabwe government-owned firm, for development of exploration assets. The move would help ensure augmentation of NMDC’s mineral reserves and globalization of its operations. The broad framework of the proposed joint venture has been approved by the corresponding ministry of the African nation and a draft Board note for forming the joint venture has been circulated for approval. The two firms had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) last year providing NMDC the exclusivity for taking part in mineral projects in the African nation. NMDC has been working on developing mineral assets abroad with a view of getting access raw material for domestic steel industry. Technology giant IBM has signed a contract with IT services firm Polaris Financial Technologies (FT) for using the US-based company’s social software for a superior digital experience, improve workforce productivity and accelerate business growth. Working with IBM, Polaris designed and developed Octopus, an enterprise social platform, which runs on IBM Connections and uses APIs (application programming interfaces) provided in the IBM Social Business Toolkit. This application makes it easy for IBM partners and clients such as Polaris to build an entirely new class of cloud-based social business applications for their businesses using the Connections foundation. Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) has taken over management control of Australian metallurgical coal miner Wollongong Coal (WCL) from the original promoters - Gujarat NRE Coke. WCL, formerly Gujarat NRE Coking Coal (GNCCL), is now a subsidiary of JSPL. Navin Jindal-controlled JSPL is investing A$45 million for around 45 percent in the company. It has changed the management team and Gujarat NRE Coke representatives have left the WCL board. JSPL’s staggered acquisition, in the first phase, will take its holding to 44.68 percent through equity subscriptions. Conversion of another 328.5 million options within the next five years would increase JSPL’s stake in the Australian Stock Exchange listed company to 53.62 percent without any additional consideration. Delhi-based Somany Ceramics is planning to invest Rs 150 crore over the next 12 to 24 months for capacity expansion and brand building. The BSE and NSE-listed company currently produces 41 million sq m of vitrified and ceramic tiles from three fully-owned facilities (two in Kadi in Gujarat and one in Kassar, Haryana) and six joint venture facilities at Morbi in Gujarat. The company is also negotiating on to acquire between 26 and 51 percent stake in two more tile-makers in Gujarat. As part of its investment readiness, Somany offloaded 11.19 percent stake to private equity firm Creador, at approximately Rs 50 crore, in February this year. This coupled with its debt-free status, offers Somany wide opportunities to fund the expansion plan. Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), owner of the Taj Mahal chain of hotels, is aiming to cut high cost debt by Rs 550 crore by utilising a part of the proceeds from its upcoming rights issue. IHCL is to issue compulsorily convertible debentures (CCDs) for Rs 1,000 crore on a rights basis. Part of the proceeds would be utilized towards capital expenditure proposed to be incurred by the company for construction of its Vivanta by Taj in Guwahati. The company intends to utilize Rs 70 crore towards the upcoming property. The estimated cost of construction and commissioning of the Vivanta Guwahati stands at Rs 166.80 crore, of which the company has already incurred capex of Rs 68.18 crore till March 31, 2014. IndusInd Bank plans to start asset reconstruction business in the next couple of months. The private-sector lender has already firmed up its business strategy and plans to partner asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) for this new business venture. IndusInd Bank has sold Rs 35 crore worth of loans to ARCs in the January-March quarter. In the previous quarter, it had sold Rs 25 crore. The bank has a security receipt book of Rs 138 crore. IndusInd Bank will not create a separate subsidiary for its ARC business but will partner existing companies involved in this business. Orient Paper & Industries has reported the operational performance of Electrical Division of the company for January to March, 2014 period. The production for January to March period stood at 3,222,487 units while export sales stood at 381,444 units for the same period. On monthly basis, the production of Fan for January, 2014 stood at 908,178 units, while the export sales of Fan for the same month stood at 126,719 units. Besides, the production of Fan for February, 2014 stood at 1,057,104 units, while the export sales of Fan for the same month stood at 127,151 units; while the production of Fan for March, 2014 stood at 1,257,205 units, while the export sales of Fan for the same month stood at 127,574 units.