Jindal Steel acquires Oman's Shadeed Iron for $464 m.

Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) on Thursday announced that it has completed
the acquisition of Oman-based Shadeed Iron and Steel Co LLC (Shadeed). The acquisition was
completed for $464 million, which includes the assumption of liabilities and was carried through
by JSPL's 100 per cent subsidiary, Jindal Steel and Power (Mauritius) Ltd (JSPLM).
JSW Group is one of the fastest growing business conglomerates with a strong presence
in the core economic sector. This Sajjan Jindal led enterprise has grown from a steel rolling mill
in 1982 to a multi business conglomerate worth US $ 5 billion within a short span of time. As
part of the US $ 10 billion O. P. Jindal Group, JSW Group has diversified interests in Steel,
Energy, Minerals and Mining, Aluminium, Infrastructure and Logistics, Cement and Information
Technology. On its road to growth and expansion, the Group is also conscious about its
responsibility towards environment and social development. Eco-efficiency is a matter of
principle. Preventive measures for damage to the environment are taken into account at the
planning stage of production and growth.
JSW Foundation, an integral part of the Group, is the CSR wing, with a vision to create
socio economic difference in the fields of Education, Health and Sports, Community
Relationship/Propagation as well as Art, Culture and Heritage. JSW Steel, the flagship company
of the JSW Group, is the largest integrated private steel manufacturer in India in terms of
installed capacity. JSW’s history can be traced back to 1982, when the Jindal Group acquired
Piramal Steel Limited, which operated a mini steel mill at Tarapur in Maharashtra and renamed it
as Jindal Iron and Steel Company (JISCO).
JSW Steel offers the entire gamut of steel products, pellets, slabs, HR coils/ sheets, HR
plates, CR coils, Galvanized coils/ sheets, Colour coated coils/ sheets. It is the leading
manufacturer of cold rolled, galvanized and colour coated steel with manufacturing facilities at
Vasind & Tarapur in Maharashtra. JSW Steel is the largest manufacturer and exporter of
galvanized steel in India with its products exported to over 100 countries. It is the first Indian
Company, under a technology licensing from BIEC International Inc., USA to produce
Galvalume sheets. By 2020 the company would be producing 32 million tons of steel annually
with Greenfield integrated steel plants coming up in West Bengal and Jharkhand.
Shadeed Iron & Steel LLC operates as an integrated steel making company in the United
Arab Emirates. It produces hot direct reduced iron, hot briquetted iron, and steel billets, as well
as converts steel billets into tubes, sections, and bars. The company was founded in 2005 and is
based in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates. As of May 19, 2010, Shadeed Iron & Steel LLC
operates as a subsidiary of Jindal Steel & Power (Mauritius) Limited.
For the acquisition, JSPL has tied up $400 million in debt financing from international
banks while the rest of the amount would be from internal accruals.
The Shadeed facility is engineered by Kobe Steel (Japan) and Midrex (US), which are
among the global leaders in the field of direct iron technology. This is also the same technology
JSPL will be using in its Orissa facility. Shadeed is also installing 1.5 million tonnes a year
gasbased hot briquetted iron plant at Sohar Industrial Port area of Sohar, Oman.

. L&T, Rolls-Royce tie up for reactor systems

Larsen & Toubro and global power systems major, Rolls-Royce, have signed a
memorandum of understanding for cooperation to address the projected need for light water
reactors (LWR) in India and abroad. Over 60 per cent of civil nuclear power plants worldwide
use LWR technology.
The two companies have agreed to collaborate in areas including nuclear instrumentation
and controls, engineered products and systems, reactor components, engineering services, in-
service reactor support and waste management.
The cooperation for instrumentation and controls will form the first phase of the relationship,
aimed at bridging the gap in the existing supply chain in support of India's civil nuclear
programme.
Views:
Mr Lawrie Haynes, President – Nuclear, Rolls-Royce, said, “Our skills and capabilities
are complementary and I am confident that we can forge a strong and mutually beneficial
relationship.”
Mr M.V. Kotwal, Senior Executive Vice-President, L&T, said, “The agreement brings
together rich experience and will effectively leverage the strengths of both companies to tap
rapidly emerging opportunities in India, UK and the rest of the world.”
Size of business:
On the size of the business, he said a clear picture will emerge once the extent of
indigenization was determined by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India, in consultation with
the overseas technology providers.
The entire range of the electrical part of the nuclear application would be nearly nine per cent of
the cost of a reactor. In addition, the association would open up avenues for L&T in the UK and
other countries.
Rolls-Royce has been a key player in the nuclear industry for over 50 years. Its expertise
includes component manufacturing, licensing, project management, supply chain management
and engineering. The company is a leading supplier of digital instrumentation and controls for
nuclear power plants.
Rolls-Royce is also leading the development of the UK's Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing
Centre that will bring together an industrial consortium of about 30 companies from the UK
nuclear supply chain.

Coal India plans 50:50 joint venture with SCI

To support its plan to import thermal coal from the open market as well as through long-
term contracts, Coal India Ltd (CIL) has proposed to form a 50:50 joint venture with the
Shipping Corporation of India (SCI).

The joint venture, which is expected to be incorporated by end of this fiscal, will take full control
of creating the supply logistics and delivery of imported coal from the source of import to the
consumers.

According to sources, both companies have started exchanging notes in this regard. Interestingly,
it is proposed that apart from handling CIL's import business, the joint venture will be allowed to
make the most of the increasing opportunity to ship imported coal to India.

“If the initial discussion is of any indication, the joint venture will be managed by SCI (which
has the domain expertise in the field) and would also own its vessels once a critical volume is
achieved,” a source said.

While CIL's involvement will ensure an initial business volume, the joint venture will be free to
grab more business opportunities in the areas of coal supply logistics,” the source added.

CIL plans to import 6 million thermal tonne of coal by the end of this fiscal based on firm
commitments from power utilities including NTPC.

Bharti Wal-Mart Retail Joint Venture

On November 27, 2006, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Wal-Mart), the world's largest
retailer, and Bharti Enterprises Ltd. (Bharti), a leading business group in India,
signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore business opportunities
in the Indian retail industry. This joint venture marked the entry of Wal-Mart into
the Indian retailing industry.
According to Sunil Mittal chairman of Bharti, "The joint venture with equal stakes
will operate in areas where the government allows foreign investment in retail like
cash-and-carry and logistics. The retail shops will be owned by Bharti Enterprises
under the Wal-Mart franchise. The idea is to give Indians the lowest price every
day." Many analysts opined that both the parties in the venture had their own
strengths and would complement each other. Viswanathan Vasudevan, an equity
analyst at the Singapore-based Aquarius Investment Advisors Pte, said, "It's a great
fit for Wal-Mart as Bharti knows the rules of the game and will save Wal-Mart a
lot of time and energy to overcome the system.
The retail industry in India is estimated at about US$ 300 billion and is expected to
grow to US$ 427 billion in 2010 and US$ 637 billion in 2015. Moreover, only 3
percent of the Indian retail industry was in the organized sector. Foreign retailers
were keen to enter India's rapidly growing retail market. However, the government
had permitted retailers of single brand products to own a majority stake in a joint
venture with a local partner (with prior government permission). Retailers of multi-
brands were only permitted to operate through franchises and licencees, or a cash-
and-carry wholesale model.
After this deal wal- mart will get opportunities in Indian market. Bharti has got tie
up with world’s largest retail outlets

Citibank, Reliance Retail plan 50:50 finance joint venture

Citibank will form a 50:50 joint venture with Mukesh Ambani- owned Reliance Retail to
distribute the former’s consumer finance products such as loans and credit cards. The joint
venture is expected to work as a non-banking financial company (NBFC) with a combined
investment of Rs 500 crore. Both the parties would shell out close to Rs 250 crore, while the rest
of the details are yet to be worked out. Both of them would have equal contribution to expand the
business. We have invested about $62 million in the partnership.

The joint venture would initially target Reliance Retail’s large customer base, which is estimated
at around 4 million. Reliance Retail, at present, has over 1,000 retail outlets across the country.
The proposed joint venture is also expected to launch a couple of new co-branded cards. Citi had
earlier set up a joint venture with Maruti Suzuki for car finance, though in recent months, though
the JV’s activities have slowed down in recent months. Reliance has been ramping up its retail
operations with premium and luxury brands as well as the consumer durables business.

Consumer finance, which would include loans and credit cards, is one of the fastest-growing
segments in the financial services sector. The sector is estimated to grow at a rate of about 30 per
cent annually. The annual credit card spends in India are estimated to be in the range of Rs
50,000 crore. Penetration of credit cards in India is about 1 per cent compared with a global
average of 4.6 per cent.

The credit card industry has been witnessing a rise in delinquencies over the past few quarters.