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Zicom Electronic - Forays Into Retailing
Zicom Electronic Security Systems (ZESS), an electronic security solutions provider, has forayed into the retail segment. It is set to open 600 retail outlets in 100 cities across India by 2009. The initiative will help the company strengthen its distribution and service system in the country. Of these, 200 outlets, under the name Zicom stores, will be in the states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Goa. The cities in these states where the company will venture with its outlets include Mumbai, Nashik, Nagpur, Pune, Ahmedabad, Indore, Baroda and Rajkot. The stores will be operated on the franchisee basis with Zicom remaining the owner.
Manohar Bidaye, chairman, ZESS, said, "We have a project cost of Rs 35 crore for the first phase ending March 2007. And for the period we are expecting a turnover of Rs 100 crore through these retail outlets." He further said in the phases to come, the company will invest around Rs 80-90 crore in the project. These outlets will act as customer care locations and, at the same time, one would be able to buy the security appliances from it. Apart from the western cities, the first phase is targeting 24 cities including Vizag, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Lucknow and Jaipur. The second phase and third phase will target 29 and 47 cities respectively.
Punj Lloyd - Close To Acquiring Singapore Firm
Engineering construction major Punj Lloyd is close to acquiring the Singapore-based SembCorp Engineers and Constructors (SembE&C). Punj Lloyd, along with the Essar Global, were in the race for acquiring SembE&C last year. Essar has opted out of the race. According to sources close to the development, Punj Lloyd may close the deal soon. The cost of the acquisition is not known. Punj Lloyd had announced its plan to float $125 million foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) in March. The proceeds from this offering were to be used primarily to finance the company’s acquisitions outside India and other ongoing capital expenditure, the company had indicated in its notice to the Bombay Stock Exchange in March. Punj Lloyd had a cash reserve of Rs 444 crore on March 31, 2005.
NIIT Technologies - More ROOM To Play
NIIT Technologies on Monday announced the acquisition of UK-based insurance solution provider ROOM Solutions for $25 million in an all-cash deal. The IT solutions provider said it has acquired 51% stake and would buy the remaining 49% over the next 18 months. “The final cost of the acquisition would not exceed one time sale of ROOM,” the official said, indicating that the acquisition bill would be under $25 million.
ROOM Solutions is a 120-people, $25-million company, a senior NIIT official informed. It is focused on the commercial insurance market including IT solutions for customers of Lloyd’s, the largest reinsurance market in the UK. Over a quarter of Lloyd’s business is processed on the core policy administration platform ‘Subscribe’, which has been developed by ROOM Solutions. “ROOM is a profitable company, both at the operating level as well as at the PAT (profit after tax) level. The move would strengthen our presence in the insurance vertical. While we are largely in the life and pension area, ROOM has a strong presence in the general insurance space and has a strong IPR (intellectual property right) platform,” the official said. The company would become a fully-owned subsidiary of NIIT Technologies, which plans to fund the acquisition through debt and internal accruals.
ROOM also has a $18 million line of credit from banks, Arvind Thakur, chief executive officer of NIIT Technologies pointed out. “We will acquire companies that strengthen our base in industry verticals,” he said. "NIIT Technologies' expertise in providing technology-based solutions in the insurance space will expand our service offerings to the Room customer base and improve our value proposition through the established global delivery model of NIIT Technologies," Room Solutions Founder Marcus Broome said. In the immediate term, NIIT would expand its offerings in the IT and BPO space using ROOM's product.
Usha Martin - Its Also A Carbon Credit Candidate
Leading speciality steel and wire rope maker Usha Martin Ltd has planned a major capacity expansion entailing an outlay of Rs 464 crore. P Bhattacharya, managing director, said, the company intends to increase its steel production capacity to over half a million tonne. The expansion proposal involves backward integration in coal mines in order to enable cost reduction along with an increase in value-added steel and steel production capacity, he said, adding, “These projects are moving on schedule and will be completed by September 2008.” According to Bhattacharya, the company had acquired land and a building in Houston, US, during 2005-06 for setting up a wire rope manufacturing facility. This will become operational by end-October.
The company completed successful acquisition and integration of the wire and wire rope plant from JCT Ltd at Hoshiarpur in Punjab last fiscal. For the financial year ended March 31, 2006, gross sales of Usha Martin, excluding its subsidiaries, registered a growth of 18.02% at Rs 401.51 crore from Rs 340.18 crore the previous year. “Profit before tax rose to Rs 31.88 crore from Rs 17.22 crore, registering a growth of 85.13% and the profit after tax increased 35.23% to Rs 20.38 crore from Rs 15.07 crore,” Bhattacharya informed. The Usha Martin board is learnt to have recommended a dividend of 55% on the equity shares of the company for 2005-2006. The company expects an increase in demand and improvement in domestic and overseas realisation in the near future, Bhattacharya added.
Zicom Electronic Security Systems (ZESS), an electronic security solutions provider, has forayed into the retail segment. It is set to open 600 retail outlets in 100 cities across India by 2009. The initiative will help the company strengthen its distribution and service system in the country. Of these, 200 outlets, under the name Zicom stores, will be in the states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Goa. The cities in these states where the company will venture with its outlets include Mumbai, Nashik, Nagpur, Pune, Ahmedabad, Indore, Baroda and Rajkot. The stores will be operated on the franchisee basis with Zicom remaining the owner.
Manohar Bidaye, chairman, ZESS, said, "We have a project cost of Rs 35 crore for the first phase ending March 2007. And for the period we are expecting a turnover of Rs 100 crore through these retail outlets." He further said in the phases to come, the company will invest around Rs 80-90 crore in the project. These outlets will act as customer care locations and, at the same time, one would be able to buy the security appliances from it. Apart from the western cities, the first phase is targeting 24 cities including Vizag, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Lucknow and Jaipur. The second phase and third phase will target 29 and 47 cities respectively.
Punj Lloyd - Close To Acquiring Singapore Firm
Engineering construction major Punj Lloyd is close to acquiring the Singapore-based SembCorp Engineers and Constructors (SembE&C). Punj Lloyd, along with the Essar Global, were in the race for acquiring SembE&C last year. Essar has opted out of the race. According to sources close to the development, Punj Lloyd may close the deal soon. The cost of the acquisition is not known. Punj Lloyd had announced its plan to float $125 million foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) in March. The proceeds from this offering were to be used primarily to finance the company’s acquisitions outside India and other ongoing capital expenditure, the company had indicated in its notice to the Bombay Stock Exchange in March. Punj Lloyd had a cash reserve of Rs 444 crore on March 31, 2005.
NIIT Technologies - More ROOM To Play
NIIT Technologies on Monday announced the acquisition of UK-based insurance solution provider ROOM Solutions for $25 million in an all-cash deal. The IT solutions provider said it has acquired 51% stake and would buy the remaining 49% over the next 18 months. “The final cost of the acquisition would not exceed one time sale of ROOM,” the official said, indicating that the acquisition bill would be under $25 million.
ROOM Solutions is a 120-people, $25-million company, a senior NIIT official informed. It is focused on the commercial insurance market including IT solutions for customers of Lloyd’s, the largest reinsurance market in the UK. Over a quarter of Lloyd’s business is processed on the core policy administration platform ‘Subscribe’, which has been developed by ROOM Solutions. “ROOM is a profitable company, both at the operating level as well as at the PAT (profit after tax) level. The move would strengthen our presence in the insurance vertical. While we are largely in the life and pension area, ROOM has a strong presence in the general insurance space and has a strong IPR (intellectual property right) platform,” the official said. The company would become a fully-owned subsidiary of NIIT Technologies, which plans to fund the acquisition through debt and internal accruals.
ROOM also has a $18 million line of credit from banks, Arvind Thakur, chief executive officer of NIIT Technologies pointed out. “We will acquire companies that strengthen our base in industry verticals,” he said. "NIIT Technologies' expertise in providing technology-based solutions in the insurance space will expand our service offerings to the Room customer base and improve our value proposition through the established global delivery model of NIIT Technologies," Room Solutions Founder Marcus Broome said. In the immediate term, NIIT would expand its offerings in the IT and BPO space using ROOM's product.
Usha Martin - Its Also A Carbon Credit Candidate
Leading speciality steel and wire rope maker Usha Martin Ltd has planned a major capacity expansion entailing an outlay of Rs 464 crore. P Bhattacharya, managing director, said, the company intends to increase its steel production capacity to over half a million tonne. The expansion proposal involves backward integration in coal mines in order to enable cost reduction along with an increase in value-added steel and steel production capacity, he said, adding, “These projects are moving on schedule and will be completed by September 2008.” According to Bhattacharya, the company had acquired land and a building in Houston, US, during 2005-06 for setting up a wire rope manufacturing facility. This will become operational by end-October.
The company completed successful acquisition and integration of the wire and wire rope plant from JCT Ltd at Hoshiarpur in Punjab last fiscal. For the financial year ended March 31, 2006, gross sales of Usha Martin, excluding its subsidiaries, registered a growth of 18.02% at Rs 401.51 crore from Rs 340.18 crore the previous year. “Profit before tax rose to Rs 31.88 crore from Rs 17.22 crore, registering a growth of 85.13% and the profit after tax increased 35.23% to Rs 20.38 crore from Rs 15.07 crore,” Bhattacharya informed. The Usha Martin board is learnt to have recommended a dividend of 55% on the equity shares of the company for 2005-2006. The company expects an increase in demand and improvement in domestic and overseas realisation in the near future, Bhattacharya added.
posted by Raj @ 1:16 PM
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