Biocon, Lanco Infratech and Tata Steel to see some action today

Biocon, Lanco Infratech and Tata Steel to see some action today

Sep 10,2014   08:51 Hrs IST

Drug maker Biocon has acquired GE Capital’s entire 7.69 percent stake in its research services subsidiary Syngene International for Rs 215.38 crore. The company, which had sold the stake to GE on October 31, 2012 for Rs 125 crore, has paid almost double to buy back this stake. Biocon Research, a wholly owned subsidiary of Biocon, has entered into an agreement with GE Equity International Mauritius, a subsidiary of GE Capital Corporation to purchase the latter’s investment in Biocon’s research services subsidiary, Syngene International for an agreed consideration of Rs 215.38 crore. Syngene offers integrated drug discovery and development services with capabilities in medicinal chemistry, biology, in vivo pharmacology and toxicology. Tata Steel expects to commence work on its ferro-alloys plant at Gopalpur in south Odisha by March 2015, which is also the timeline for commissioning of its three million tonne steel capacity at Kalinganagar where the company is putting up a six mtpa steel plant. Tata Steel is the anchor tenant for the Gopalpur Special Economic Zone (SEZ) spread on an area of 2,952 acres. It had earlier announced to set up a 50,000 tonne per annum ferrochrome plant and one 400,000 tpa rebar mill over an area of 400 acres of land there. The steel firm had committed an investment of Rs 1,000 crore on these two projects which would initially create employment for 1,000 people. While the ferroalloys plant will cost Rs 200-250 crore, the rebar mill will entail an investment of Rs 750 to Rs 800 crore. Lanco Infratech is planning to sell 3,000 Mw of capacity to raise Rs 5,000 crore. The funds raised will be used to reduce the company’s debt, currently about Rs 35,000 crore. Last month, the company had sold a 1,200-Mw thermal plant in Udupi to Adani Power for Rs 6,000 crore. The company had stepped into the power sector in 2000. By 2011-12, its generating capacity stood at 1,000 Mw; for that year, it posted a profit of Rs 740 crore. For 2013-14, it incurred a loss of Rs 671 crore, despite increasing capacity fivefold to 4,732 Mw. In December 2013, the company had opted for corporate debt restructuring of Rs 7,000 crore. Real estate firm Anant Raj has reduced debt by 6 percent to Rs. 1,403 crore last fiscal and is considering to sell some of its hotel properties and land parcels to further cut the borrowings. The company has also invested about Rs 1,000 crore in last three years to purchase 270 acre land, mostly in Gurgaon. The company was able to reduce its debt by Rs 90.98 crore and the total debt for the year 2013-14 is Rs 1,403.14 crore against Rs. 1,494.12 crore last year. The company owns 14-15 prime land parcels for hotel development, of which 4 are already under operations. Apollo Hospitals Enterprises has tied up with the US-based AliveCor, Inc. to provide mobile Electrocardiogram (ECG) devices to patients suffering from arrhythmias. The hear-monitor device, approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), would be sold to patients for Rs 12,000 to keep a tab on their heartbeat. The device is smart phone-enabled and compatible with global standards. It can wirelessly record, display, store and transfer hear rate and single channel electrocardiogram to a doctor remotely located. Drug maker Wockhardt’s manufacturing facility in Chikalthana, near Aurangabad in Maharashtra, was inspected earlier this week by the British drug regulator, Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The facility, banned from the American market, is currently under tight scrutiny of the UK regulator. The assessment by British drug regulator includes an ongoing programme of manufacturing site inspections and written updates from the company. Last October, MHRA, one of the prominent international health regulators, withdrew its quality certification to the Chikalthana unit. This was after it identified manufacturing deficiencies in the plant during a site inspection. Tata Motors’ British-based arm Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR) has unveiled the Jaguar XE, the smallest member of its family, in an event held at London’s Earls Court. Due to go on sale in 2015, with the S model at the top of the range, the rear-drive, aluminium-intensive Jaguar XE is the first model developed from Jaguar Land Rover’s new modular vehicle architecture. The XE S is fitted with a 3.0-litre V6 engine that generates 340PS and 450Nm of torque. The Jaguar XE has an eight-speed automatic transmission with paddle shift controls, giving the driver immediate access to the vehicle’s reserves of power. The XE is also the lightest, stiffest and most aerodynamic Jaguar saloon ever built. It is also the first Jaguar to be equipped with electric power steering. Bajaj Auto has launched the KTM RC series of super sports motorcycles RSC 390 and RC 200 in Pune. The RC 200 will cost Rs 1.60 lakh, while the RC 390 is priced at Rs 2.05 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). The current price is just introductory and it may increase the prices later. Both the models are being manufactured at Bajaj Auto’s Chakan Plant. The RC 390 will compete with Honda CBR250R and Kawasaki Ninja 300. Chakan plant is producing 45,000 KTM bikes across KTM’s six models per year and expects to ramp-up the production to 65,000 units by end of this year.  It may increase the capacity up to 100,000 units in the next four years. Punjab National Bank (PNB) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Origo Commodities India, a post-harvest solutions and warehouse management services company, to provide financing via warehouse receipts issued by the latter. This will cater to the needs of the country’s small and medium enterprises as well as farmers. Financing will be provided against pledge of agricultural commodities. The MoU had been signed on a pan-India basis, with a focus on the Southern region, to help the bank expand its reach. The partners expect to dole out Rs 500 crore in the current year under the MoU. Origo has presence in 16 states and manages about Rs 8,500 crore in agri-commodity assets.