<h1>Special Zone Line’s Busy at Finolex</h1>
THERE’S more action on the special economic zone front. Petrochemicals company Finolex Industries is learnt to be talking to various large foreign companies to build an SEZ on its 70-acre land in Pune. Among the companies it’s talking to include a big real estate fund from Singapore and a land development company from the US. But Finolex officials declined to comment. “We have plans for an SEZ in Pune and we are talking to various parties,” was all that chief operating officer SS Dhanorkar said. It has been reported that Finolex has also been negotiating with Mumbai-based real estate player Peninsular for the SEZ project. Since Finolex doesn’t see the SEZ as it core business area, the company is willing to give its potential partner controlling stake in the project. But, price remains a key unresolved issue. With land prices in Pune firming up, the price at which the Finolex land could be offered for the SEZ remains a vital part of the negotiations. A clear picture is likely to emerge in a couple of months.
M&M forges buyout buzz
IN LINE with its acquisition strategy, auto major Mahindra & Mahindra is rumoured to be in talks to acquire a 15-20% equity stake in the Vadodarabased Aditya Forge, which would be followed by an open offer, as per Sebi norms. The Rs 45-crore Aditya Forge is a manufacturer of forged flanges, used primarily in auto components. Promoter Nitin Parekh and others own about a 41% stake in the company. Aditya Forge director Mahesh Nandnani denied any knowledge. “I don’t think they (M&M) have approached us with any proposal, at least not through the formal channel.”
Aditya Forge’s stock hit the 5% upper trading limit on Friday at Rs 15.45 on the BSE, while shares of M&M rose 1.6% to Rs 645.95. Mahindra Systems and Automotive Technologies president Hemant Luthra told ET: “I have no idea about this.” M&M has been aggressively scouting for inorganic growth in the past two years through Mahindra Systems.
In ’05, M&M acquired the Chakan unit of Amforge and later merged it into Mahindra Automotive Steel, a division of the auto parts sector of M&M. The firm is also reported to have been in talks to buy Kolkata-based Ramakrishna Forgings.
Roadshows to raise talent
ROADSHOWS, most would believe, meant efforts made to raise financial resources internationally. But it now appears that there is more to a roadshow than just raising funds. Recently, top executives from search firm have been travelling abroad doing roadshows — to raise talent. Shortage of top financial executives in India seems to have prompted such firms and HR chiefs to scour global markets for potential CEOs, MDs and business heads. These roadshows are targetted mainly at non-resident Indians who want to come back to India in senior positions. The lack of talent has been most acute in the financial services sector which has recently seen a major churn among high level executives changing jobs for million dollar salaries. This trend became evident when a leading financial institution found it almost impossible to find a fund manager for its venture capital fund, from the local market. The institution was then forced to extend its search to overseas markets and had to actually organise a roadshow to attract the best talent.
An investor with a rose
THE AGM season is upon us. As several large companies prepare to host their AGMs, every year an entire section of veteran shareholders make it a point to go through balance sheets with a tooth comb ahead of the session. Leading the pack is a familiar figure: Ashalata Maheshwari, who has shares in over 600 different companies. An investor for several decades, Ms Maheshwari usually kicks off the questions at AGMs of most large companies, including Reliance Industries, and most of the large Tata and Birla group companies.
Her style has evolved over the years to include poems and other laudatory references to the board of the company, particularly the chairman. Even criticism should be gentle and not direct, she says. Last week, at the Jet Airways AGM in Mumbai, she began her speech by presenting Naresh Goyal, the intrepid chairman of Jet Airways with a huge bouquet of white carnations. When asked later about whether she bought flowers for every chairman, she let out the real secret: Jet’s corporate affairs department had organised the fresh blooms so that she could present it to their chairman.
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