Indian Economy: News and Discussion

[Haldilal]

Ya'll Nibbiars

While India hasn’t been an active participant in the global surges of LBOs, there have been some memorable attempts, none more spectacular than the one that shook up the relatively staid world of Indian business in 1985.

Four years before the infamous LBO of RJR Nabisco, a deal that inspired the book Barbarians at the Gate, India had its own tryst with hostile takeovers. The year was 1985, the company: liquor major Shaw Wallace and the man for that moment, the late Manu Chhabria. By then, under the redoubtable S Panduranga Acharya, its chairman and managing director, Shaw Wallace had built an enviable portfolio of liquor brands including Royal Challenge, Haywards named after Acharya’s predecessor Sir Anthony Hayward, Director’s Special, Antiquity and of course Officer’s Choice, among the world’s highest-selling whiskeys.

It was no surprise that it caught the eye of Chhabria, the canny NRI businessman who started with an electronics store in Mumbai’s Lamington Road before moving base to set up the Jumbo Group out of Dubai. However, it was Vijay Mallya -- for whom Shaw Wallace represented a constant threat to his own liquor business -- who initiated the hostile bid roping in Chhabria for support. The support act soon became the main lead and the wily Chhabria ended up stealing the prize from right under Mallya’s eyes. For good measure, he is also believed to have tipped off Enforcement Directorate officials about the possible flouting of India’s stringent forex regulations at the time by Mallya leading to the latter’s arrest on June 5, 1985. Engulfed in all this, Mallya had to abandon the chase for Shaw Wallace leaving Chhabria to soldier on even though Acharya led a stirring fightback. Eventually, two years after the battle had begun, at a crucial shareholders’ meeting in 1987 called to decide the ownership issue, Acharya was forced to accept the inevitable when financial institutions which had hitherto backed him decided to abstain from voting.

While the exact reasons have never been clearly revealed, it is believed Chhabria was able to get the then government to back his bid. With that, Shaw Wallace passed into Chhabria’s hands but Mallya kept it in his sights for the next 20 years and seven years after one of India’s best-known corporate raiders had passed away, the Calcutta High Court's finally approved the amalgamation of Shaw Wallace with United Spirits Ltd (USL). The Shaw Wallace saga doesn’t end there. In 2009, Manu Chhabria’s mother, Ranibai Chhabria, challenged the sale of Shaw Wallace by his wife and daughter to the UB group, on the grounds that she was entitled to a fifth of her son's estate.

 

[Haldilal]

Ya'll Nibbiars

People may have heard of various aspects of the conflict between the Ambanis and Wadias. A few people state that it was a fight between old money and new money. Nusli Wadia is often referred to as the corporate samurai, witnessing his battles with Dhirubhai Ambani and Rajan Pillai which are legendary and memorable. The difference in the sizes of their empires is equally glaring. Reliance Industries Ltd that was led by Dhirubhai Ambani and Bombay Dyeing Ltd operated by Nusli Wadia were fierce rivals in the polyester market, where Ambani used PTA while the Wadias used DMT as their main input. This was the main reason for the toughest competition between the two.

During the Janta Party rule in 1977- 1979, Nusli Wadia gained the permission to set up a 60,000 tpa di-methyl terephtalate (DMT) plant. But, before his letter of intent could be transformed into a license, the government changed and the Congress government came into existence, and thus, his license got delayed until 1981. This was the time when Dhirubhai received the license to set up a PTA plant. Ambani was also planning to build a Paraxylene facility. All this built up the anger in Wadia and marked the beginning of the Ambani Wadia rivalry, where Ramnath Goenka, then Indian Express proprietor, joined forces with Wadia.

 

[Haldilal]

Ya'll Nibbiar

The amusing fight of Nusli Wadia with Reliance had just gotten over when it entered into a fight with Rajan Pillai. Wadia was all over the headlines when he launched an all-out attack to take over Britannia Industries Ltd, which was then under the ownership of US giant RJR Nabisco Inc. It was through Pillai that Wadia approached Nabisco’s management and expressed his interest in acquiring the company, Britannia. Rajan Pillai was responsible for the management of Britannia all over Asia and was known as the ‘Biscuit King’.

However, Nabisco changed his mind about selling off Britannia, and on the other hand, the company announced Pillai as the chairman of the biscuit company. This move made the two one-time friends turn into foes, and after this, the two of them became the bitter rivals. Very soon after this, Pillai acquired Britannia and collaborated with Danone SA, a French food company with an aim to expand the business. But, sadly even this partnership wasn’t successful for a long time. The French company then accused Pillai of fraud and broke the partnership and further partnered with Wadia. This is how Wadia acquired Britannia in the early days of the 1990s.

 

[Haldilal]

Ya'll Nibbiars The Some Corporate Raiders were also White Knight's.

It was the late 90s. Dilip Shanghvi was just another businessman then. To be precise, it was 1997, just before his acquisition of Tamil Nadu Dadha Pharmaceuticals in the country and Caraco Laboratories in the US. He met mediapersons on the sidelines of a pharmaceutical science conference in Vadodara now that was co-sponsored by the then little known Sun Pharmaceutical Industries. He was soft spoken and media-shy; and overweight too. He wore a plain white, unbranded shirt that was a wee bit tight. Shanghvi patiently listened to the long queries, responding in monosyllables. He wasn’t in a hurry, as he is now — he devoured a full plate of Makhaniya biscuits and ordered another plate. “Achieving scale with limited resources is a major task for Indian drug companies,” Shanghvi had said in that interview. He tried to illustrate his point by using weight as an analogy. “When compared with foreign giants who weigh in tonnes and tonnes, we are just milligrams; they can knock us out in the competition easily,” he said.

Since those early days, Shanghvi has taken a healthier disposition to life, and worked hard to lose weight. On the other hand, his flagship company, Sun Pharma, has continued to acquire heft and grown both in size and importance as an industry leader. His now well-known dual strategy of expansion through low-cost acquisitions and organic growth, has worked well. His acquisition formula was to first enter as a white knight to breathe life into troubled companies. He would then take control, and using his Midas touch, turn them around.

 

[SKC]

Ya'll Nibbiar

The amusing fight of Nusli Wadia with Reliance had just gotten over when it entered into a fight with Rajan Pillai. Wadia was all over the headlines when he launched an all-out attack to take over Britannia Industries Ltd, which was then under the ownership of US giant RJR Nabisco Inc. It was through Pillai that Wadia approached Nabisco’s management and expressed his interest in acquiring the company, Britannia. Rajan Pillai was responsible for the management of Britannia all over Asia and was known as the ‘Biscuit King’.

However, Nabisco changed his mind about selling off Britannia, and on the other hand, the company announced Pillai as the chairman of the biscuit company. This move made the two one-time friends turn into foes, and after this, the two of them became the bitter rivals. Very soon after this, Pillai acquired Britannia and collaborated with Danone SA, a French food company with an aim to expand the business. But, sadly even this partnership wasn’t successful for a long time. The French company then accused Pillai of fraud and broke the partnership and further partnered with Wadia. This is how Wadia acquired Britannia in the early days of the 1990s.

Wadia owns Britannia? They still the owners?
Wadia got so far left behind Ambanies now.

 

[Haldilal]

Wadia owns Britannia? They still the owners?
Wadia got so far left behind Ambanies now.

Ya'll Nibbiars Ambani + Pariwar = RIL's.

 

[SKC]

Ya'll Nibbiars Ambani + Pariwar = RIL's.

Abmanies took care of their business and their kids are all groomed properly for the business.
But in case of Wadia, the grandson became socialite and ladkibaaj!

 

[Haldilal]

Abmanies took care of their business and their kids are all groomed properly for the business.
But in case of Wadia, the grandson became socialite and ladkibaaj!

Ya'll Nibbiars Ambani bhi kya dood ka dhula nahi kya. Bhaut kuch kiya hai to get more money has crushed many peoples. And is a monster in the Business. Byteral is a family trait in them.

And even Nirvana Modi was a family man.

 

[SKC]

Ya'll Nibbiars Ambani bhi kya dood ka dhula nahi kya. Bhaut kuch kiya hai to get more money has crushed many peoples. And is a monster in the Business. Bryteral is a family trait in them.

Ofcourse we know all the history. But Mota bhai Ambhani has groomed his family really well. All three of his kids are well educated and culturally raised too. They all are involved in day to day business activities and not like spoilt rich kids enjoying fruits of their parent's money.

 

[Haldilal]

Ofcourse we know all the history. But Mota bhai Ambhani has groomed his family really well. All three of his kids are well educated and culturally raised too. They all are involved in day to day business activities and not like spoilt rich kids enjoying fruits of their parent's money.

Ya'll Nibbiars Mein Apni cousins ka Paisa udhata hui har loz kya kar Lago aap?.

 

[doreamon]

Ya’ll Nibbiars Largest Food exports by country , value of food exports (US Dollars, Thousands)
India is not in top 10 but China is at 4th place

1	United States	72,682,349.79
2	Germany	34,628,800.73
3	United Kingdom	29,540,218.71
4	China	25,152,286.27
5	France	24,114,557.76
6	Netherlands	23,271,570.93
7	Japan	21,870,881.77
8	Canada	21,803,448.88
9	Belgium	15,742,034.88
10	Italy	13,890,507.81

Its nt about vollume . Millions of tons gets wasted every year . There is need for export oriented products . Also farmers deep in loans amounting interest of 24% and used fr political purpose by arthiyas cnt attempt new methods . I think we are going in right direction and thats why facing resistance frm legacy ...

this is one example .. odisha export shrimp to china and china process it and sell it to USA with high value ..
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com...s-dharmendra-pradhan/articleshow/64809710.cms

There is also a stigma attached to farming .Does nt attract talents . people like this challenging the norm

Hortidaily: global greenhouse news

www.hortidaily.com

black rice of up

UP’s Chandauli Scores High In Development By Exporting Black Rice Of Manipur

The district administration of Chandauli promoted the product among a small group of 300 farmers. According to district officials interviewed, per kg of the product is priced at approximately INR 200, which is double that of normal rice sold in the local markets.

www.northeasttoday.in

one mango of this variety costs rs 21000

Madhya Pradesh Farmer 'Accidentally' Grew Rare Japanese Mangoes Which Sell For Rs 21,000 Per Piece - News18

Traders from Mumbai have placed their bets for buying mangoes at Rs 21,000 per piece, however, the farmhouse owner has declined to sell these fruits.

www.news18.com

It ll take one more decade or two for farming to exit legacy and become real profitable business .

 

[Haldilal]

Ya'll Nibbiars

Mergers & Acquisition(M&As) deals in the Indian Corporate Ecosystem have been rising significantly through the years with 2018 being the benchmark for the most M&A deals with a deal value surpassing the $125 billion mark as per Thomson Reuters Deals Intelligence. However, the number of coercive acquisitions in these deals have been fairly low. This doesn’t imply that there haven’t been adequate attempts in the Country’s M&A history for hostile takeovers. While many of these attempts didn’t reach Indian courts often enough for substantial jurisprudence, India has witnessed a notable number of hostile takeover attempts and acquisitions. A few instances would be like those of the successful acquisitions of Mindtree by L&T and Zandu Pharmaceuticals by Emami, to several attempted hostile takeovers over the years.

Several Indian Companies are confronting a rise in dilution of promoter shareholding, specifically in the distressed acquisitions context, given the fact that promoters leverage their shareholding to financiers for debt undertaken by the target company. While coercive takeovers are mostly initiated with tender offers being put on the table, given the thriving distressed acquisitions in India, there are a number of other methods for hostile acquisitions of such distressed entities. The jurisprudence around coercive takeovers comes principally from other developed countries like the USA, given the evolved status of their law regime. A renowned rule in this regard across the global stage is the Revlon rule. The Revlon rule, simply put, substantiates the need for the management of a company to focus on maximization of value for shareholders over preservation and long-term strategies of the company, in situations where a hostile takeover is impending and, in some cases, inevitable.

There is ample emphasis placed on value maximisation in the Indian Corporate Governance Landscape already. Many argue that the sale of shares of the target company by the existing shareholders may not maximize value for them since the target company may have recently capitalised its costs and would begin sharing higher returns with its shareholders in the immediate future. Therefore, true value for shareholders is maximized by retention of their shares and not selling them off. However, this is entirely based on the potential maximization of share value, a consideration that seems a little far-fetched to be taken into account for the Revlon Rule. On the other hand, a benign poison pill that target companies may employ to increase the share price is the announcement of dividends. Poison pills simply refer to strategies developed by the target company’s management to defend any attempts of a hostile takeover or to increase the price that would have to be offered by the potential buyer. Announcing dividends is usually effective as it leads to a rise in share prices making it far more expensive for the acquirer to complete the acquisition and depletes the cash reserves of the target company, making the acquisition less valuable.

This being a fairly safe choice in terms of attracting any adverse corporate governance scrutiny, is often one of the first strategies that a target company resorts to. However, any attempt to raise share prices will go in vain if the boosted share price is insignificant. This is an evident risk because the phenomenon is largely dependent on market sentiment, as manifested from the dividend declaration by Mindtree, arguably, to defend L&T’s hostile bid. Furthermore, many companies targeted in the past have argued that the absence of operational synergies between them and their acquirer does not create any notable value for them or their shareholders in the long run. A few other typical strategies deployed for defending hostile takeovers include the ‘flip-in’ and ‘flip-over’ strategies, which enable differential issue of shares of the target company to existing shareholders except the hostile acquirer. However, this has the potential of attracting oppression and mismanagement concerns in India, and therefore, may not be a viable option. These strategies mostly only work when undertaken well in advance before the hostile acquirer has acquired any stakes in the targeted company. While finding one’s way out of a hostile bid is rare, and largely dependent on the individual considerations of the hostile acquirer in relation to the target company, a negotiating strategy worth considering for diversified companies is the compromise of a non-core segment of their business with a view to retain the larger umbrella entity. This strategy had been successfully exercised 2 decades ago, ironically, by L&T, to defend the Birlas’ by selling L&T’s non-core business of cement to them.

Typically, a coercive takeover attempt follows an acquisition of a large stake by the acquirer. Target companies usually consider blocking such attempts from this stage itself. A pre-emptive measure that is usually undertaken by companies whose shareholding is particularly scattered, is housing material assets of the target company in another company that cannot be subjected to a hostile acquisition. For instance, organisations with a well-established brand may house the intellectual property in relation to the brand in another group entity and use such brand on a license basis. At the time of a hostile takeover, the brand not being available to the target entity on such hostile acquirer coming in may act as a poison pill for the hostile acquisition. This strategy, however, may attract increased corporate governance compliances and some tax concerns. The Tata Group has successfully implemented this strategy by housing its brand name in a private company – Tata Sons. Another strategy worth considering is maintaining a ‘white knight’ entity, which could in itself be a promoter entity, for salvaging the target entity from such hostile takeovers, or at the least present potential poison pills for such hostile acquisitions. White knights are friendly investors, typically brought in by target entities’ management that allow the current management to retain control while the white knight acquires stake in target entity, in place of the hostile acquirer. India is not unknown to such white knights, with certain instances in the past, including Reliance acting as white knight for EIH to ward off ITC’s attempt of a hostile takeover.

Hostile acquisitions for entities in the insolvency resolution process have already become popular with many acquirers entering into bidding wars with external, promoter-backed entities. Even for the non-distressed sector, hostile acquisitions in India may gain momentum in light of the increasing M&A activity in India, especially before potential target entities become cognizant of possible pre-emptive measures that they may undertake to ward off such attempts.

Siddhartha Tejpal's.

 

[Haldilal]

Ya'll Nibbiars

On 14 April 1982, in accordance with the Budget proposals of 1982-83, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a circular laying out, among other things, the procedure through which NRIs could invest in the portfolio investment scheme. The circular stated that NRIs would be permitted to make portfolio investments in shares traded on the capital invested and income earned thereon, provided that the shares were purchased through a stock exchange and that the purchase of shares in any one company by each NRI did not exceed Rs 1 lakh in face value or 1 per cent of the paid-up equity capital, whichever was lower And Subsequently, on 20 August 1982, the RBI issued another circular removing the limit of RS 1 lakh and leaving in place only the ceiling of 1 per cent of paid-up capital.

The portfolio investment scheme attracted the attention of Swraj Pau. He had strong business connections with Indian his brothers were engaged in the hotel industry, plantations and trade. In early 1983, Paul began acquiring shares under the NRI portfolio investment scheme in Escorts, founded by H.P. Nanda, and DCM, founded by Lala Shri Ram. Though the majority shareholder in these companies was the Indian government (via state financial institutions), the management of both remained In the hands of promoters- a dominant pattern across large Indian companies at that time. The major shareholders in these two companies were six government owned financial institutions, namely, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC), Unit Trust of India (UTI), Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI), Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI) and Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI).

In order to get around the rule that limited the purchase of shares to 1 per cent of an Indian company’s shares, Paul used thirteen companies registered in the tax haven, the Isle of Man, to buy these shares. Soon, he had acquired 13 per cent of all DCM shares while the Shri Ram family jointly controlled only 10 per cent. Similarly, he acquired 7.5 per cent of Escorts’ holding while the Nandas controlled less than 5 per cent. The public financial institutions held 41.57 per cent and 52.01 per cent of the paid-up equity of DCM and Escorts Limited, respectively. Swraj Paul’s move caused consternation in the Indian business establishment. Fears of similar hostile takeovers of other companies abounded, particularly given that promoters held minority shareholdings in many companies at that time. A group from Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), which included J.R.D. Tata, H.P. Nanda, Bharat Ram and a few others, called on me on 20 April 1983 and sought the government’s help in (a) preventing Swraj Paul from taking over DCM and Escorts and (b) amending the policy to ensure that established companies were not destabilized.

On 29 April 1983, Rajiv Gandhi, reacting to the Escorts-DCM- Swraj Paul controversy, said:

There is a danger that certain forces, not necessarily well meaning, can take over many of our industries under the present laws. The dangers are very real and unless our financial institutions are careful, we will have foreign agencies, through Indians abroad, taking over companies which are running well.

He suggested that while sticking to the policy of limiting individual NRI purchases to 1 per cent of the total shares of any company, the Indian government should limit the total NRI holdings in any given company to less than 2 or 3 per cent. Such a move would ensure that Indian companies would not have to face the threat of takeovers by an NRI consortium.

Taking into account the public debate over the issue and the concerns expressed by Indian industrialists, on 2 May 1983 I announced in the Lok Sabha that there would henceforth be an overall ceiling of 5 per cent of the paid-up capital of a company under the liberalized scheme of portfolio investment by NRI's. Soon after the new ceiling on NRI investments was fixed, the Escorts board met to discuss the legality of the purchases made by Paul. The management argued that Paul had not only acquired 7.5 per cent of Escorts’ shares after the government had passed its new laws but had also not sought the permission of the RBI before making the purchase. They contended that on both counts the purchases made by Paul’s companies violated India’s foreign exchange and investments laws. Paul, in turn, strongly protested against this allegation, and accused the management and other Indian companies of operating under policies of protectionism and running their business like personal fiefdoms. Within a short time, the Escorts board made it clear that it considered the share purchases made by Paul’s company illegal and hence would not register them. Swraj Paul decided to fight it out and travelled around India giving speeches and interviews, and issuing statements. His argument was that large business interests were grossly misusing public money and the capital provided by unsuspecting shareholders.

In October 1983, Escorts filed a writ petition against the Union of India in the Bombay High Court, challenging the notification under which the Swraj Paul- controlled companies had sent shares for registration to Escorts. DCM supported Escorts from the outside, since its position in the matter was identical. On 9 November 1984, the Bombay High Court set aside the notification issued by the RBI in September 1983. The Union of India, represented by LIC, appealed in the Supreme Court, in December 1985, set aside the High Court judgment and concluded that the RBI notification was valid in law.

Finally, in early 1986m Finance Secretary S. Venkitaramanan; Additional Secretary in the PMO, Gopi Arora; and Minister of State for Defence and a good friend of Rajiv’s, Arun Singh, mediated between the concerned parties and persuaded Swraj Paul to sell his shares back to the Shri Rams and the Nandas at a mutually agreed price.

From The Trubelant Year's.

 

[Haldilal]

Ya'll Nibbiars

In The 1987, the late Dhirubhai Ambani had managed to wrest significant holding in the cash-rich L&T and then launched a hostile takeover bid in 1989. However, political and other developments ensured Reliance remained a passive shareholder.

And it's was in November 2001, when Naik, then CEO and managing director, who was in Chicago, got a call from Mohan Karnani, then president of L&T cement business, saying ‘apna maalik badal gaya hai and that the Birlas had bought complete stake of RIL in L&T in an all-
cash deal. And The Within few minutes got another call from Anil Ambani, the then managing director of RIL, saying Anilbhai Naik you never wanted us. So we are going. We have sold the entire shareholding of Reliance in L&T to Kumar Mangalam Birla. And got another call, this time from Birla, who said you didn’t come to us Naikji. So we have come to you.

In the end we kept L&T independent. And ring-fenced it from future takeover attempts by setting up the L&T employees welfare foundation that eventually bought Birlas stake. And the Birlas got the demerged cement business that added to their cement production capacity. It relieved the of a non-core asset-heavy business, making the an AAA rated company by drastically cutting out debt equity ratio. It was a win-win for all.

What seemingly started as a conflict situation with Grasim ended in a win-win solution for both the companies. Grasim became the largest and top quality cement producer and L&T emerged as one of the best engineering, manufacturing and projects company in this part of the world. A great moment of satisfaction came when, at the end, Mr Birla extended his hand to and said history should never, never forget you. You know what you have achieved employee ownership of the company. Since the time Naik took over as the CEO in 1999, the group revenues between 1999 and 2017 have grown from Rs 5,000 crore to nearly Rs 2,48,000 crore on a like-to-like basis. During the same period, market capitalisation rose from around Rs 2,000 crore to over Rs 2,70,000 crore.

 

[Haldilal]

Ya'll Nibbiars after Robbing the L & T.

Bada Ambani be like.

 

[Suryavanshi]

Ya'll Nibbiars after Robbing the L & T.

Bada Ambani be like.

View attachment 96402

And this nigg@ is making billions till this day, this dog needs to be put down

 

[Haldilal]

And this nigg@ is making billions till this day, this dog needs to be put down

Ya'll Nibbiars then again coming as the Chairman with the Help of the Chandra Shekhar and later the Khangress Parivar. Stealing money. Taking almost lowest Interest non liable loans from the L & T which was nothing but looting the most profitable and Cash Rich Indian company at that time. Be like.

 

[Haldilal]

Ya'll Nibbiars Mota Ambani and Bada Ambani played with the Indian money. First purchased L & T share for 190 crores 10 percent then another from public 8.5 for 160 crores. And then in the first term as the director kicked the same person who helped him getting in order to save the L & T from the Corporat raider. The betrayal then chairman and got 570 crores almost low interest non liable loan's and plus made L & T to invest in the RIL at the Jack up Prices for almost nothing g and then forced them to purchase the RIL's share at some imaginery values. And then asking g for additional low interest loan's from the L & T and like that looted around 2,000 crores which were around 1 billion dollar's at that time and out of nowhere Bada Ambani got some Unknown secret NRI FII's to invest in his Refinery which were nothing but the political Black money.

 

[HariPrasad-1]

Ya'll Nibbiars Ambani bhi kya dood ka dhula nahi kya. Bhaut kuch kiya hai to get more money has crushed many peoples. And is a monster in the Business. Byteral is a family trait in them.

And even Nirvana Modi was a family man.

I have asked many reliance employees about the company. They say that their job is absolutely safe. Nobody is ever removed except in case financial fraud or charectrr related issue.

 

[Haldilal]

I have asked many reliance employees about the company. They say that their job is absolutely safe. Nobody is ever removed except in case financial fraud or charectrr related issue.

Ya'll Nibbiars mine says different picture but don't knew if it's safe to say here on the DFI so I will keep quiet about this.