November 14, 2008 – SanDisk Corporation India today announced a partnership with HCL Infosystems, India’s premier information enabler and country’s leading ICT system integrator and distribution company to be the distributors for SanDisk’s wide range of mobile phone memory cards in the Indian market.

Indian consumers are increasingly becoming reliant on their mobile phones and are using them to enjoy and share more content. In partnering with HCL, SanDisk will be able to leverage HCL’s expertise in ICT Distribution in India.

“The explosive growth of the mobile phone market in India has driven the need for SanDisk to increase its distribution capacity,” said Sanjay Mehrotra, president and chief operating officer, SanDisk Corporation. “Our partnership underlines the synergy with the mobile distribution capabilities of HCL and SanDisk’s exciting offering for mobile phones. With this partnership we aim to have a wider reach in one of the largest mobile markets in the world.”

Commenting on this new venture, Mr. J V Ramamurthy, chief operating officer, HCL Infosystems said, “About three decades back when we set up HCL and its support network across the country, we had the vision to take technologically advanced products to every doorstep. And having tied-up with SanDisk it gives us the opportunity to provide value added products to our customers.”

SanDisk’s offering for mobile phones includes mobile memory cards [microSD(HC) and M2] with capacities ranging from 2GB* to 16GB and also MobileMate™ USB readers (SDHC compatible) which provides users with a complete and versatile solution for transferring music, video, photos and other files between their mobile memory cards and computers. 

With a high capacity memory card in their mobile phone slots, consumers can do more with their mobile devices – be it storing more music, listening to more songs and/or saving more videos, photos, maps, ringtones and games.  For example, an 8GB mobile memory card can store 1,000 songs, 1,200 photos and 21 hours of video.[1]

“We see tremendous opportunity for our mobile storage products in India,” said Gavin Wu, Managing Director, SanDisk Corporation, Asia Pacific. “This alliance with HCL Infosystems will help us tap deeper into the fast-growing, digitally-savvy Indian marketplace.”

Vadodara: Pharma major, Vadodara based Alembic Limited, today announced that the company’s board of directors have approved a resolution to buy-back a minimum of 12,00,000 equity shares at a maximum buy back price of Rs 55/- per equity share.  The maximum amount of buy back shall be for an amount not exceeding Rs 3,300 lacs, constituting 9.69% of the paid-up capital & free reserves of the Company. The Board has appointed Edelweiss Capital Ltd as the Merchant Bankers for the buy-back program.

The buy-back proposal is being implemented in keeping with the Company’s desire to (a) to optimize returns to shareholders; and (b) enhance overall shareholder value. The buy-back would lead to reduction in outstanding number of equity shares, and consequent increase in earnings per equity share, improvement in return on net worth and other financial ratios.

Mumbai : Oracle Financial Services Software, a majority owned subsidiary of Oracle, today announced that Caribbean Development Bank, one of the largest and most prominent development finance institutions in the Caribbean, has selected Oracle FLEXCUBE to meet its requirements for a state-of-the-art lending platform.
  The selection by the bank is the third by a development financial institution in the Caribbean/ Latin American region and the latest by a number of development financial institutions globally. 
  “This selection of FLEXCUBE by Caribbean Development Bank underlines our ability and expertise in providing solutions to development financial institutions. We are happy to be associated with one of the largest development banks in the region, and are confident that FLEXCUBE will help the bank now and in the future,” says N.R.K. Raman, Managing Director and CEO, Oracle Financial Services Software.

- The VC Circle conference for the PE/VC industry is presented by India Value Fund and was held in Hyderabad on 13th November 2008 at the Taj Krishna Hotel
- The conference brought together the leading venture capital and private equity players, deal makers and companies in the country
- VC Circle is organizing its third private equity forum titled “Investing In A Perfect Storm”

Hyderabad, 13th November, 2008: India Value Fund presented the VC Circle conference titled “Investing in a perfect storm” in Hyderabad to bring together a large number of delegates representing Venture capital investors/PE Professional/Entrepreneurs/Late stage, growth capital & large companies/Investment bankers &advisers/Corporate professionals/policy makers/firms seeking capital.

Mr. George Thomas, Partner, India Value Fund and one of the speakers at the conference said, “IVF is delighted to be associated with such a prestigious forum and is aligned with IVF’s belief that there is huge and untapped potential for private equity and venture capital outside the main metros of India and in powerhouses of entrepreneurship like the city of Hyderabad.”
He added, “In the current market situation when the stock markets are at a two year low and the US and European markets have been in turmoil, fund raising in the current environment has gotten tough, but not impossible. The deals may have come down, but they are indeed happening. There are funds still sitting with cash and looking for deals in this market. So it’s not the time for inaction, but action. It’s not the end of the road, but just a sharp turn which you need to navigate carefully. The forum attempted to discuss all this and much more.”
There were a total of 19 panelists at the forum, all of whom were distinguished PE and VC partners and entrepreneurs who have tremendous experience. They covered topics related to private equity and the need for capital growth.

The forum also focused on infrastructure, healthcare and education along with the current market issues.
The topics of discussion included:

§ Is Indian private equity (and venture capital) all about growth capital investing?
§ Private equity beyond metros: Where, and what are the opportunities?
§ The India story – Domestic consumption, outsourcing, infrastructure development
§ Is US recession a threat or an opportunity for VC/ PE fund flows to India?
§ The impact of the stock market on unlisted/PE plays
§ What value does PE investor bring at mid- and growth- stage?
§ Are Indian entrepreneurs prepared for private equity investors?
§ Key issues in fund raising, valuation, due diligence
§ Entrepreneur’s first hand experiences with VC/PE funds

November 07, 2008, Gurgaon and Tokyo – Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited (NSE/BSE: Ranbaxy/500359) (“Ranbaxy”) and Daiichi Sankyo Company Limited (TSE: 4568.JP) (“Daiichi Sankyo”) today announced the successful closure of their transformational deal with the execution of the final transfer of the remaining equity shares of the Singh family, in Ranbaxy. Pursuant to this, Daiichi Sankyo has now acquired 63.92% of the equity share capital of Ranbaxy comprising 268,711,323 shares as under:

Acquisition of Shares under Open Offer:  92,519,126
 
Allotment of Shares on Preferential basis :  46,258,063
 
Acquisition of Shares from the Singh family :  129,934,134
 
Mr. Takashi Shoda, President & CEO of Daiichi Sankyo said, “We are pleased to announce that all the planned transactions of this landmark deal have been successfully completed. We are determined to work with Ranbaxy to realize sustainable growth.”

Mr. Malvinder Mohan Singh, CEO & MD, Ranbaxy, said, “We are pleased that the deal has been closed successfully.  This puts us well on the path to create a hybrid business model that will unlock the strengths of both companies to bring unprecedented value to all stakeholders.”

Ranbaxy earlier had received an amount of Rs. 3,585 crores (USD 736 Million) from Daiichi Sankyo for the preferential issue of equity shares and warrants. This will be used to further drive the Company’s growth through organic and inorganic means while also retiring some debt at an appropriate time.

Continuing to operate as an independent & autonomous Company, Ranbaxy will work closely with Daiichi Sankyo to explore and optimise the growth opportunities across the pharmaceutical value chain.