Hassad Food buys stake in Indian Basmati rice firm ... - Qatar Tribune

26 Thursday, April 4, 2013
Ministry probes
into 62 cases of
commercial fraud
SATYENDRA PATHAK
DOHA
THE consumer protection
department of the Ministry of
Business and Trade has initiated
action in 62 cases of
commercial frauds committed
in March.
The maximum number of
frauds was committed by giving
false descriptions and
information of goods. Action
in 21 such cases has been initiated
by the ministry.
The maximum number
of frauds was
committed by giving
false descriptions
and information
of goods.
Eighteen cases of unrevealed
prices of goods and services
were found. While six cases of
selling products that do not
comply with the standards
were registered, five cases of
selling used and expired tires
were found.
The ministry also took
notice of three cases where
REUTERS
DUBLIN
prices were not stated in
Arabic. Two cases of unauthorised
sales and promotions
were also registered.
The ministry also registered
two cases where wholesales
firms were not selling fruits
and vegetables to retailers
through auctions in the
announced place and time.
In one case, the ministry
found out that product specifications
and details were not
completely announced. In
another case the goods were
not refunded or changed.
In another case the product
specifications and details were
not shown or displayed clearly.
One case of non-commitment
to show clearly used or
updated goods and one case of
selling product at higher price
than announced were also
registered by the ministry. In
all, the consumer protection
department received 389
complaints in March.
The ministry has dealt with
all the cases and transferred
them to the responsible competent
departments for further
action.
Royalty asked to make
Elan bid by May 10
US INVESTMENT firm
Royalty Pharma, which is
considering a $6.6-billion
bid for Irish drugmaker
Elan, must make a firm
offer by May 10 or walk
away, Ireland’s Takeover
Panel said on
Wednesday.
Royalty made its
indicative approach,
worth $11 per Elan share,
in February, hoping to
add hundreds of millions
of dollars of royalty rights
for multiple sclerosis
(MS) drug Tysabri to its
stable of royalty streams.
Elan has rejected the proposal
and welcomed the
takeover panel’s deadline,
reiterating the
“highly conditional indication
of interest” from
Royalty was opportunistic
in its timing.
The takeover panel said
it had set the deadline
following representations
made by Elan and correspondence
with the
advisers to both Royalty
and Elan.
The approach by New
York-based Royalty put
into question Elan’s plans
to return cash to
investors and spend on
acquisitions following the
$3.25 billion sale of its 50
percent stake in Tysabri
to partner Biogen Idec.
Elan, left with only
experimental drugs following
the deal, will
retain royalties of up to
25 percent on future sales
of the MS treatment and
announced last month it
would give shareholders
one-fifth of that royalty
share.
The Tysabri deal closed
on Tuesday. The Dublinbased
company, in which
U.S. group Johnson &
Johnson is an 18 percent
shareholder, will next
seek approval from
shareholders to start a
share buyback and hand
back $1 billion to
investors.
Corporate Dossier
Participants at the ‘Peak Oil’ conference, in Doha, on Wednesday.
‘Peak Oil’ meet begins
TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK
DOHA,
THE ‘Peak Oil’ conference
began on Wednesday in the
cultural village, Katara. The
conference has been organised
by Forum of Arab and
International Relations in
cooperation with Qatar
Environment and Energy
Research Institute. The event
was attended by a number of
prominent personalities from
the field of oil, economy, politics
and sociology.
During the opening session
of the conference, Director-
General of Katara Dr Khalid
Ibrahim al Sulaiti said in his
A study will be
held to discuss the
nature of social
and economic difficulties
associated
with “Oil Peak”
phenomenon.
welcome speech that the conference
will discuss key issues
related with oil in the region.
The conference is trying to
find solutions, suggestions
and answers to some of the
problems faced related to
future of the oil and energy
sector in the region.
In addition, a study will be
held to discuss the nature of
social and economic difficulties
associated with “Oil Peak”
phenomenon.
The second session discussed
the scarcity of
resources highlighting the
“Properties of conventional
and non-conventional oil
reserves and their future production
as well as Oil Peak
approaches”.
The session also discussed
the issues related to production
of oil by the US as well as
its impact on the global oil
market, oil prices and its
peak.
In addition, another discussion
was held about techniques
to convert coal and gas
into liquid fuel as alternative
energy sources to minimise
the effects of oil supply shortage.
The third session of the
conference “Economic security:
the challenges of conflict
and peace” will discuss the
economic instability in the
Arab world.
AstraZeneca buys US biotech firm
REUTERS
LONDON
ASTRAZENECA boosted its
early-stage pipeline of experimental
heart drugs on
Wednesday by buying privately
held US biotechnology company
AlphaCore Pharma,
which is developing a new
type of cholesterol medicine.
The deal shows
AstraZeneca’s new Chief
Executive Pascal Soriot taking
on more scientific risks by betting
on a new and still
unproven approach to cardiovascular
medicine.
Financial details of the
acquisition by the British
drugmaker’s MedImmune
unit were not disclosed but
the amount paid will have
been modest since
AstraZeneca was not obliged
to disclose it as a material
investment.
Last month it revealed it
paid $240 million upfront to
Moderna Therapeutics to
access its know-how in
manipulating RNA, or ribonucleic
acid, which helps create
proteins inside cells - another
example of Soriot placing a
bet on new science.
Soriot has stated that he
plans to build up the company’s
sparse drug pipeline by
striking more deals with outside
partners as he tries to
restock its product portfolio
following a wave of patent
expiries. Cardiovascular and
metabolic disease - one of
three core therapy areas for
AstraZeneca, along with
oncology
and
respiratory/inflammation - is
a particular priority since the
company has few experimental
compounds for such conditions.
AlphaCore will help plug the
gap, although it will not deliver
any marketable products
for many years. Its leading
drug candidate ACP-501, a
genetically engineered liverderived
enzyme called LCAT,
only completed Phase I clinical
tests last year.
Drugs need to go through
three phases of lengthy tests
before being approved for
sale. The hope is that ACP-501
will help in the management
of cholesterol to reduce the
risk of heart attacks and
strokes. It could also play a
role in a rare, hereditary disorder
called familial LCAT deficiency
in which the LCAT
enzyme is absent.
MedImmune head Bahija
Jallal said the end result could
be new combination or standalone
therapies for patients
living with chronic and acute
cardiovascular diseases.
Top private
equity firms
likely to bid
for Ista
REUTERS
LONDON/FRANKFURT
THE sale of German energy
metering firm Ista is heating
up as a number of buyout
houses including Axa Private
Equity and BC Partners prepare
to submit second round
bids, banking sources said on
Wednesday.
Private equity groups
Charterhouse and CVC
Capital Partners kicked off
the sale of Ista last year, hiring
Deutsche Bank and
Goldman Sachs to run the
process.
The sellers are hoping to
tap into a growing appetite
for deals among private equity
groups sitting on large cash
piles after a dearth of M&A
activity last year, with Ista
seen as a solid earner with
growth potential.
First round bids were submitted
last month for Ista
which has a price tag of
around 3 billion euros ($3.85
billion), making this one of
the biggest private equity
transactions in Germany this
year.
Charterhouse bought Ista
at the height of the buyout
boom in 2007 for 2.4 billion
euros from CVC, backed with
2.1 billion debt, according to
Thomson Reuters LPC data.
CVC later bought back 24 percent.
Axa and BC are due to submit
second round bids later
this month as are Ontario
Teachers’ Pension Plan and
Wendel, bankers said.
Bain Capital, Blackstone,
Canada Pension Plan and
Cinven are not going through
to the second round. Apax
expressed initial interest but
did not submit a first round
bid, bankers said.
All potential bidders and
sellers declined to comment
or were not immediately
available to do so.
The successful buyer will
need to write an equity
cheque of around 1.1-1.2 billion
euros and the rest will be
financed with debt.
Bankers are working on
debt packages of around 2 billion
euros or seven times
Ista’s approximate 290 million
euros of earnings before
interest, taxes, depreciation
and amortisation, bankers
said.
There is enough liquidity in
the debt markets to raise
around 2 billion euros to back
the buyout but senior leveraged
loans, mezzanine loans
and the high-yield bond .
Barclays told to rein in pay of top staff, tighten controls
REUTERS
LONDON
Customers use ATM machines outside a Barclays bank branch, in London, on Wednesday. (EPA)
BARCLAYS needs to rein in
pay for top staff and tighten
control of its operations to
repair its reputation after a
string of scandals, a report
commissioned by the lender
said on Wednesday.
In what Britain’s second
largest bank described as
“uncomfortable reading”, the
review said the group’s rapid
transformation from domestic
retail lender to global universal
bank created a sprawling
set of businesses with
their own culture and an
emphasis on profit, sometimes
at all costs.
Investment banking leaders
were ambiguous about right
and wrong, the report said.
“There was a very shortterm
focus on profit which
led to a problem with culture
and values,” Anthony Salz, a
veteran lawyer who wrote
the 236-page report at
Barclays’s invitation, told
Reuters.
“It appeared to emphasize
financial performance rather
than looking after customers.
That was reinforced
by the pay structures.”
“If Barclays is to achieve a
material improvement in its
reputation, it will need to
continue to make changes to
its top levels of pay so as to
reflect talent and contribution
more realistically, and in
ways that mean something to
the general public.”
Barclays, which is
reviewing the
plans, said it would
report back on how
it intends to implement
the recommendations.
The rock ‘n’ roll style
rewards earned by top
investment bankers at
Barclays prompted an outcry
among austerity-weary
Britons last year after the
bank was fined $450 million
for its role in manipulating
global benchmark interest
rates.
Barclays hired Salz, who is
vice-chairman of investment
bank Rothschild, to review
its culture and business practices
after the rate rigging
scandal.
His report, which cost the
bank nearly 15 million
pounds, made 34 recommendations
with improvements
in pay looming large,
including a greater link to
long-term performance.
While Barclays has cut
overall remuneration levels,
compensation for the top 70
executives was consistently
above the average at other
banks, the report said.
Barclays paid some 428
employees one million
pounds or more last year.
Since the report was commissioned,
Barclays has
appointed former retail
banker Antony Jenkins as
chief executive to overhaul
its culture and focus.
Salz said the bank’s long
term incentive programmes,
which have resulted in maximum
payouts of on average
eight times salary for senior
investment bankers,
remained overly complex.
Barclays, which is reviewing
the plans, said it would
report back on how it intends
to implement the recommendations.