Corporate Moves

Air India has said that it is proposing another voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for employees at an estimated cost of Rs 65 crore. It expects over 750 employees to opt for the offer.

BP AMOCO and Castrol have made an open offer to acquire a 20 per cent stake in Castrol India, at Rs 311.91 per share, in a deal which is expected to cost Rs 761 crore, if successful.

ICICI Econet has acquired a 25 per cent stake in Mega Visa Marketing and Solutions Ltd , a company which is in the business of marketing chemicals.

IDBI is planning a large-scale exercise in overhauling in its Human Resources Development (HRD), which includes sharing a part of incremental profits with employees, enabling fast-track promotions and a voluntary retirement scheme.

Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL) has announced that it will be a part of the Tata-Singapore International Airlines (SIA) consortium that is bidding for a 40 per cent stake in Air India.

The Reliance group is proposing a deal to acquire JCT's fibre unit at Hoshiarpur, Punjab. The acquisition is to be done through an associate firm of the group, Terene Fibres, and a new company is being formed to take over the unit.

Satyam Infoway has entered into an alliance with Intel to provide new value-added services to large and high traffic e-businesses, through Intel's application shaper, NetStructure 7370.

State Bank of India (SBI) has chosen GE Capital as its partner in its foray into the insurance business. GE Capital will hold 26 per cent stake in the venture, while SBI will hold the balance.

Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has entered into a joint venture with Tata Iron and Steel Co (TISCO) and Kalyani Steel for the creation of a company to manage their steel e-commerce venture, metaljunction.com.

Silverline Technologies has formed a tie-up with the US-based Niku Corporation to expand the latter's product development and enhancement efforts in India.

The Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the US-based Genome Technologies, LLC for setting up a Rs 450-crore bio-genomics and bio-informatics project in Chennai.

Thomas Cook could see a change in ownership patterns with C & N Touristic, a German firm, likely to acquire a controlling stake in its parent at the global level.