IDBI members to approve scheme of amalgamation

9th February 2005: Industrial Development Bank of India Ltd (IDBI) has informed BSE that an Extra Ordinary General Meeting of the shareholders of the Company will be held on February 23, 2005 for considering the scheme of amalgamation.

Allahabad Bank to merge its six rural banks in UP

9th February 2005: Allahabad Bank has decided to merge its six regional rural banks (RRBs) in Uttar Pradesh into one entity where it will hold 35%, the state government 15% and the central government 50%. The merger was likely to be effected in the next couple of months. The board of directors of the bank recently passed the merger proposal, which has been referred to its stakeholders, the central and the state government for approval. “The idea was to merge all RRBs in one state into one larger rural bank that will provide economies of scale for its business. There are however no proposal to merge this merged entity with the bank,” explained O N Singh, chairman of the bank.

The six RRBs are Baghirath Gramin Bank at Sitapur, Sariyu Gramin Bank at Lakhimpur, Sravasthi Gramin Bank at Bahraich, Chhatrasal Gramin Bank at Urai, Tulsi Gramin Bank at Banda and Vrindhyavasini at Mirzapur all in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The cumulative business volume for all these banks would be close to Rs 3,000 crore, while the merged entity would have around 450 branches spread all across the state. The accumulated profits of these six banks were close to Rs 300 crore and its gross non-performing asset (NPA) would be around 12%. “It is not a regular practice among RRBs to make provisions and write-off NPAs, hence the figure has remained on the higher side. Provisioning followed by commercial banks if practiced by RRBs would be them down to moderate levels,” said an official from the bank.

Sun Pharmaceutical Board approves merger of group firms

8th February 2005: Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd has informed BSE that the Board of Directors of the Company in their meeting held on February 08, 2005, inter alia, have transacted the following:

Approved the proposal for merger/amalgamation of its wholly owned subsidiaries as follows with the Company w.e.f. March 01, 2005, subject to approval of shareholders and Hon'ble High Court of Gujarat and such other approval/sanctions as may be required.

1. Bazley Finvest Pvt Ltd

2. Dhaval Finvest Pvt Ltd and

3. Manish Finvest Pvt Ltd

The Board also considered and approved the proposal for merger of Phlox Pharmaceuticals Ltd, a Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) Company under section 391 and 394 of the Companies Act, 1956 w.e.f. March 01, 2004 (the approval for merger of which is also pending with the BIFR with the Company) subject to approval of Hon'ble High Court of Gujarat and such other approvals/sanctions as may be required.