Business: Business in Asia Today - April 11, 2008

TAKEDA TO ACQUIRE US FIRM MILLENNIUM VIA US$8.8 BLN TENDER OFFER
Tokyo (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - In what would be the biggest acquisition by a Japanese drug company, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. (TSE:4502) plans to purchase U.S. biopharmaceutical firm Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. for US$8.8 billion, or roughly 880 billion yen, through a tender offer.
The leading Japanese drugmaker said Thursday that it will tap its cash holdings to buy a 100 per cent stake in Millennium. The offering price of US$25 per share is a 52.9 per cent premium over Millennium stock's closing price Wednesday.

GUANGDONG DEVELOPMENT BANK BACK IN THE BLACK
Beijing (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Guangdong Development Bank Co Ltd (GDB) reported a record net income of 2.67 billion yuan (US$381.3 million) for last year, marking its return to the black and achieving its best financial results ever, a company source said Thursday.
"We are delighted with last year's results since it was the first year after the introduction of new strategic investors such as China Life, State Grid, CITIC Trust and Citigroup," company President Michael Zink said.
Last year's net income marks an increase of 3.21 billion yuan from 2006, when GDB registered a net loss of 541 million yuan, according to Zink.

VIETNAM'S NATIONAL SHIPPING LINES SETS HIGH TARGET FOR 2008
Hanoi (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) plans to invest about US$3 billion in development through 2010, Vinalines Director Mai Van Phuc said.
The money would mostly be invested in the building and development of its flotilla, the upgrade of seaport infrastructure and the development of transport service, Phuc added.
Vinalines is currently building new ships and buying second-hand ones from foreign partners to increase its total ship capacity from 2.1 million tonnes by theend of 2007 to 2.8 million tonnes by the end of 2008, and up to 5 million tonnes by 2010.

INDONESIA'S MEDCO TO BUILD US$55 MLN POWER PLANT IN SINGAPORE
Jakarta (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Indonesia's Medco Energi Group said it will build a US$55 million biomass fuelled power plant in Jurong, Singapore in cooperation with Singapore's Biofuel Indusyries (BI).
The project, using plant and wood waste for fuel, will have a generating capacity of 25 megawatts of power, said Fazil Alfritri, president of Medco Power Venture (MPV), a subsidiary of the Medco Group.

CADBURY LOSES PURPLE CASE TO AUSTRALIAN CONFECTIONER DARRELL LEA
Melbourne (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Chocolate giant Cadbury has lost a court bid to stop Australian rival Darrell Lea using the colour purple. The Federal Court has dismissed an application by Cadbury Schweppes that the use of purple by Darrell Lea amounted to misleading
and deceptive conduct.
Justice Peter Heerey said he was not persuaded that Darrell Lea in using purple had passed off itsbusiness or products as those of Cadbury or had contravened the Trade Practices Act.
Cadbury had claimed customers linked purple with their products and mistook Darrell Lea's goods for Cadbury's, and vice versa.

AUSTRALIAN STOCKBROKER LIFT CAPITAL GOES INTO ADMINISTRATION
Melbourne (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Unlisted Australian stockbroker Lift Capital Partners Pty, which specialises in margin lending, has gone into voluntary administration.
Tony McGrath and Joseph Hayes of corporate recovery and advisory firm McGrathNicol have been appointed as voluntary administrators, the corporate recovery firm said today.
Lift Capital operates as a margin lender and has approximately 1,600 clients with interests predominantly in listed shares and managed funds.

FINANCIAL TECH INDIA ACQUIRES 90% STAKE IN ICX FOR US$1.5 MLN
Mumbai (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Financial Technologies India Ltd (BSE:526881), the main promoter of India's largest commodity exchange MCX, on Thursday said it has acquired 90 per cent stake in a South Africa-based ICX Platform (Pty) Ltd for US$1.5 million.
Financial Technologies has acquired a 90 per cent stake in ICX Platform (Pty) Ltd, a technology company situated at
Johannesburg, South Africa, the firm said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

INDIA'S RIL TALKS WITH FOREIGN COS TO SELL 10% STAKE IN D6 BLOCK
Mumbai (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (BSE:500325) is mulling over bringing a new strategic foreign partner for deepwater exploration in its KG Basin D-6 block and is understood to be talking to many players for divesting up to a 10 per cent stake. RIL is considering this deal as part of a long-term strategic move as the company needs a partner for the level of deepwater drilling that is required at this particular block, industry sources said on condition of anonymity.
The potential partners could be among the global energy giants like ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, Total and Petrobras, as these are the companies with required expertise, sources said.

INDONESIA'S RAJAWALI GROUP TO DEVELOP CAMBODIAN AIRLINE
Jakarta (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Indonesia's Rajawali Group on Thursday signed a cooperation agreement with the Cambodian government to develop its national airline. Under the agreement, Rajawali will build the infrastructure facilities needed to develop the airline, the company's spokesman, Christiantoko, said on Thursday.
As a follow-up to the agreement, both sides will set up a new company which will be 49 per cent owned by Rajawali and 51 per cent by the Cambodian government, he said.

DUBAI'S EMAAR INTENSIFIES TOURIST ZONE INVESTMENT IN INDONESIA
Mataram (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - The biggest state-owned company in Dubai, Emaar Properties LLC Dubai, has been speeding up the realization of its investment in a US$600-700 million integrated tourist zone in the Indonesian province of Central Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.
"Emaar is speeding up the drawing up of a master plan of the project," said M. Abdul, a member of the Vice Presidential expert staff, when presiding over a meeting on preparations of infrastructure facilities for investment by Emaar Properties LLC Dubai, in Mataram on Thursday.
"All the relevant agencies and institutions need to act quickly, and all the work supporting the investment need to be carried out in parallel," he said.

Source:
Business in Asia Today -April 11, 2008
published by Asia Pulse

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