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RESTRUCTURING BUSINESSES

Kesoram Industries, which is in the middle of restructuring its cement and tyre business, is hoping that the cement demand would pick up in the coming months as the overall mood of the country remains bullish. The company, however, remained mum on the progress of the re-organisation exercise. The cement demand was likely to rise and prices had already started going up since the last one month. During the last fiscal, demand was fl at for most of the cement majors. As a consequence, Kesoram had to undertake a price cut of about `300/tonne on an year-on-year basis.

CHANGE OF GUARD

Reliance Industries has taken control of Network 18 Media & Investments and its subsidiary TV18 Broadcast, besides appointing HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh as an independent director on the Board of the media and entertainment fi rm. RIL has also appointed McKinsey senior advisor Adil Zainulbhai as independent director and Network 18 Media & Investments (NW18) former promoter Raghav Bahl as a non-executive director.

GROWING THROUGH ACQUISITION

Mahindra Holidays & Resorts (MHRIL) has signed definitive agreements with the shareholders of Finland-based Holiday Club Resorts Oy to acquire 18.8 per cent of its shares, with a right to increase its ownership over a period of two years. The Mumbai-based company will pay euro 13 million for the stake including a primary infusion of euro 3 million. This will be followed by the balance of euro 10 million as secondary infusion to existing shareholders.

HEFTY ORDERS BAGGED

L&T Construction, subsidiary of Larsen & Toubro has bagged new orders worth `2,002 crore across various business segments during June. The heavy civil infrastructure segment secured orders worth `1,547 crore, which includes an order from Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation for the design and construction of a cable stayed bridge across river Mandovi at Panaji.

RAISING MONEY FOR GOOD

Aban Off shore is slated to raise around `2500 crore through Qualifi ed Institutional Placement (QIP). Th e company has fi xed fl oor price of ` 731.97 per equity share. Aft er nearly fi ve years, the company is raising money. Th e company will utilise the proceedings mainly to repay its debt, which is over USD 2.4 billion. Th e company has adopted the preliminary placement document for raising upto `2500 crore through equity shares. Th e company has announced fl oor price of `731.97 per equity share for the QIP and authorised the QIP on June 30, 2014.

The Rail Budget will speed up the development of the country, modernize Indian Railways, and provided greater security and services to the people. Highlighting the ports sector’s need for rail connectivity, the initiatives taken in this rail budget for facilitating global trade will go a long way in establishing India’s economic prosperity.

Narendra Modi
Prime Minister