Manmohan Magic

Manmohan Shetty just divested 7.5 of his stake in Adlabs Films, to Bear Stearns Asia. The Rs 27 crore of additional money will now be used ...

Manmohan Shetty just divested 7.5 of his stake in Adlabs Films, to Bear Stearns Asia. The Rs 27 crore of additional money will now be used by the tycoon to add more multiplexes to the country. Perhaps bored of setting up his multiplexes only in the state of Maharasthra, the tycoon has finally decided it was time to give the other parts of India a share in the fabulous movie magic too. So he will now set up five new multiplexes in Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mangalore, Mumbai and Pune. Once this is done, the tycoon will have 36 multiplexes to boast of. Like all successful tycoons this one too has a roving eye and it seems he can8217;t stop himself from trying to get into the business of television content. A few people have been appointed by the tycoon to look into the feasibility, and if they give him the 8216;all-clear signal8217; the tycoon may enter the sector. Shetty8217;s film production business in the meantime has three Hindi movies releasing this year. While the films might give him pins and needles, he is looking forward to the revenues from his multiplex business.

Private Play

Venogopal Dhoot is set to spend oil related Rs 800 crore as a part of his business plans abroad. Dhoot has been long scrutinizing the possibilities of investing in oil fields in Sudan and was also considering Ukraine 8212; both rich in energy resources. Dhoot has signed a Memorandum of Understanding MoU with the government of Khartoum province in Sudan as of now. It is not entirely clear how though oil equity deals in countries like Sudan will serve his purpose since Sudan is in a state of anarchy quite often. Earlier the merger of Petrocon with Videocon had brought this tycoon in the news and now this ambitious capital spend plan has again got him in the limelight. He is going to visit Ukraine to explore its investment potential and might consider investments in Russia and other countries in West Asia and Africa. With oil prices rocketing in the world it is a good idea that investors like Dhoot have decided to go global.

Special Story

Ranjan Poddar is on an expansion spree for his Sirpur Paper Mills and will spend Rs 294 crore on the expansion-cum-modernization exercise. Ranjan is all prepared to take the company8217;s installed capacity expansion to touch 1.28 lakh tonnes per annum. Rajan insists he is not in the race for matching capacities with large paper companies. He also seems adamant about focusing on the niche segments of paper, which seems a good decision in tune with his expansion project and his reading of the markets where growth and value will happen in the future. Ranjan who had earlier bought over the stakes, which the Andhra Government in Sirpur Paper was divesting, has done quite well for the company. His new decision to diversify into specialised products will also help Ranjan avoid the trade cycles, that cripple most such industries. Considering the dominance of major players in the industry like ITC and Ballarpur Industries the move by Sirpur seems quite defensive.

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