Daily News Roundup - Apr 18 2011

Aditya Birla Chemicals buys Kanoria Chemicals’ Chloro Chemicals unit for Rs8.3bn. (BL)

Gas output from the Panna-Mukta and Tapti fields, owned jointly by the BG Group, Reliance and ONGC, has fallen by about 30%. (ET)

ONGC Videsh has signed definitive agreements with KazMunaiGas, the national oil company of Kazakhstan, for acquiring a 25% participating interest in the Satpayev exploration block. (BL)



Reliance Industries plans to expand its presence in mining for precious metals by acquiring state-prospected areas in the diamond-rich state of Madhya Pradesh. (ET)

Larsen & Toubro is in talks with several engineering firms to sell its electrical and electronics unit in a deal that could be worth up to US$3bn. (TOI)

HPCL board agreed to fully merge Prize Petroleum with itself. (BL)

Tata Motors global sales up 9% in March 2011. (BL)

Infosys shuffles management; consolidates itself into three big groups- transformational services, product, platforms and innovation. (BS)

Titan Industries plans to open 100 outlets under the ‘Helios' brand across India in the next three years to market nearly 30 brands of premium luxury wristwatches. (BL)

Muthoot Finance raises about Rs1.3bn from 11 cornerstone investors ahead of the launch of its IPO to raise up to US$203mn. (DNA)

Cairn India has tied up Rajasthan oil fields' crude sales for the current fiscal with Indian Oil, Reliance Industries, and Essar Oil. (BL)

IRB Infrastructure Developers says it has emerged the preferred bidder for six-laning a 102km stretch of NH-8 along the Ahmedabad-Vadodra section. (BL)

Bharat Heavy Electricals will be taking to its board a revised proposal to float a NBFC to fund power projects. (BL)

Maruti Suzuki India is considering setting up a new plant, over and above the two new upcoming units in Manesar, as it aims to sell up to 3mn units every year by 2015-16. (FE)

Allied Blenders & Distillers has started the process to divest around 10% stake to raise Rs2.5bn valuing itself at around US$550mn. (TOI)

Supreme Court asks Mahindra Satyam to furnish a bank guarantee of Rs6.2bn by April 25 in its dispute with the revenue department. (ET)

Life Insurance Corporation has tendered its entire holding of 44.9mn shares, representing 13.2% stake in Siemens. (ET).

NTPC floated an Rs52bn tender to source equipment for its Kawas and Gandhar expansion projects in Gujarat for which the company is fighting a legal battle with Reliance Industries. (ET)

Godrej Consumer Products is keen on one or two more acquisitions in the next 12-24 months across Latin America, Africa and parts of Asia. (BS)

Tata Group will invest up to Rs1.2tn across sectors in the domestic market in the next five years. (BS)

Dabur to enter into the hand sanitiser market under its 'Fem Care' brand. (BS)