Business News

·        Lingua Next acquires Image Point

·        Emani on hunt for acquisitions

·        Govt to take up new SEZ requests in Jan

·        India, China agree to resolve visa issue

Lingua next acquires Image Point

Global application language enablement solutions provider LinguaNext has acquired India's Image Point Technologies Pvt. Ltd and is eyeing on revenue of more than Rs. 300 crore in the next three years, a top executive said.

LinguaNext will offer local language solutions mainly in the e-governance, insurance and human resource verticals.

“Our acquisition of Image Point enables us to build on their position as a trusted software provider to large public sector companies”, US-based LinguaNext's chief executive officer Atul Tulshibagwale said.

Emani on hunt for acquisitions

Undeterred by its failed bid to take over Paras Pharmaceuticals Ltd, healthcare company Emami Ltd has drawn up a second list of prospective acquisition targets in the same space.

“We have a Plan B. There is a list of companies in the personal and healthcare sector which we will like to bid for”, Emami director Aditya Agarwal, said.

Declining to divulge the names of the companies, Agarwal said these were both listed and privately held.

Agarwal claimed Emami had put in a Rs. 3,400 crore bid for Paras Pharma.
“Since we have not got Paras, we will spend the money in growing our present brands”, he said.

Emami's bid was turned down in favor of Reckitt Benckiser Inc., which had submitted a bid of `3,260 crore for Paras Pharma. To a query, Agarwal said it was not possible to give an exact time frame on how long it would take to close a new deal.

Govt to take up new SEZ requests in Jan

The commerce ministry will take up special economic zones (SEZs), now a major source of exports, at a meeting next month. The inter-ministerial board of approval (BoA) for SEZs headed by commerce secretary Rahul Khullar will meet on 14 January, an official said. “The agenda for the 44th meeting is being prepared”, he said.

Besides, the BoA would also take up other miscellaneous issues related to tax free enclaves.

So far, 580 SEZs have been formally approved, of which 114 are in operation.
SEZs contributed 35% to the country's exports in 200910.

India, China agree to resolve visa issue

India and China have agreed to “appropriately resolve“ the issue of stapled visas to the residents of Jammu and Kashmir with an understanding that officials will continue to meet on the issue, Indian envoy to China S. Jaishankar said on Sunday, following Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to New Delhi.

The issue of issuance of stapled visas to residents of Jammu and Kashmir, which has raised concerns of sovereignty and integrity of India, figured prominently during the bilateral talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Wen.

“There was an understanding that officials will meet and this would be appropriately resolved. Few months from now if I am sitting with you I might give you more positive outlook on this issue”, he said while speaking at a prime time show on the state-run CCTV in Beijing. He added that the issue raised concerns over the sovereignty and integrity of India. The differences over the unsettled border issues also figured high in the Wen-Singh talks.