Tata Infotech Ltd. (TIL) merges with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) at 2:1 swap

16th July 2005: The Tata group consolidated its information technology-enabled services business by merging TIL with TCS. The merger is proposed to be effective from April 1, 2005.

The shareholders of TIL will receive one equity share of TCS for every two shares held. The TCS shares’ face value is Re 1 while TIL share has a face value of Rs 10. Post amalgamation, the paid-up share capital of TCS will increase from Rs 40.01 crore to Rs 48.92 crore.

Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata group, holds 80.64% stake in TCS and 74.18% stake in TIL. Post-merger, Tata Sons’ holding will go up marginally to 80.52% in TCS. TCS Chief Executive S Ramadorai said the merger formula was based on the recommendation of independent valuers.

He said the merger would bring together two leading IT organisations and lead to efficiency in operations, particularly in the marketing of services. “TCS has been and will remain the strongest IT brand in the country,” Ramadorai said.

He said the merger would provide TCS an expanded customer base and deeper penetration in key geographies. TIL has a significant presence in the systems integration areas, particularly in telecommunication and defence, which will supplement the capabilities of TCS.

Solaris to acquire Greaves' 17.14 lakh shares

15th July 2005: Greaves Cotton Ltd on Thursday said Solaris Holdings Limited has proposed to acquire 17.14 lakh equity shares of the company. Solaris Holdings has proposed to acquire 4 lakh equity share of Greaves Cotton held by Bharat Projects Ltd (0.88 per cent)and 13.14 lakh equity shares from DBH International Ltd, that is, 2.88 percent of the paid up equity capital of the company on or after July 18, it informed the National Stock Exchange. The post-acquisition holding of Solaris in the company shall be 70,90,503 equity shares, that is, 15.54 per cent of the total paid up capital of Greaves Cotton, it said.

JK Tyre looking for acquisitions in India, abroad

13th July 2005: JK Tyre is looking for acquisitions in India and abroad to meet capacity constraints. "We are short of capacity despite capacity expansions undertaken during the current fiscal. While we would prefer direct acquisitions of plants in India, we might opt for a strategic partner or outsourcing overseas depending on the nature of the deal," Raghupati Singhania, vice-chairman and MD of JK Industries, said today. Singhania, however, said the company is still in the process of finding the right company to be acquired and has not zeroed in on any specific deal.

The company has undertaken capacity expansion this fiscal with an investment of Rs 160 crore, Singhania said while rolling out the one-millionth truck radial tyre from the Mysore plant. "With the expansion, our total four-wheeler tyre capacity will go up to 7.1 million tyres per annum from the current six million tyres," he said, adding 50% of the expansion was for radial truck tyres while 30% was for the passenger car radial tyres.