http://www.hindu.com/2006/10/21/stories/2006102112710100.htm
LONDON: Excited Indian voices reverberated through the corridors of Deutsche Bank's London headquarters on Friday morning as beaming Tata Steel executives celebrated their company's acquisition of the Anglo-Dutch firm Corus Group in a deal that would create the world's fifth biggest steel company.
The £ 4.3 billion (Rs. 36,650 crore) deal, the culmination of hard negotiations over months, represents the largest Indian takeover of a foreign company and Tata Steel's first expansion outside Asia.
\"Defining moment\"
Ratan N. Tata, Chairman, Tata Sons, hailed the acquisition as a \"defining moment\" for his company and consistent with its strategy of growth through international expansion.
\"It is a very exciting moment for both companies because the deal pulls together two companies which have a similar global vision,\" he said, announcing the deal at a press conference soon after Corus confirmed the takeover.
Mr. Tata stressed that Corus would retain its identity in the \"foreseeable future\" and remain an Anglo-Dutch company with the existing management structure.
In a brief, unemotional speech, Mr. Tata sought to clear the air, which in recent weeks has been thick with speculation, that it was \"not an opportunistic, agenda-driven\" deal but was built on a shared vision of a \"global strategy.\"
\"Corus and Tata Steel are companies with long, proud histories. We have compatible cultures of commitment to stakeholders and complementary strengths in technology, efficiency, product mix and geographical spread. Together we will be even better equipped to remain at the leading edge of the fast changing steel industry,\" he said.
For B. Muthuraman, managing director of Tata Steel, who had been personally involved in the negotiations, the agreement had a special flavour. He spent the morning explaining its finer points, first to an array of domestic and international analysts, and then to a cynical media.
He said Tata Steel had been in the forefront of steel industry for 99 years and the deal reflected its commitment to remain at the cutting edge of the new global market. It was a step towards greater global consolidation of the steel industry.
Mr. Muthuraman sought to allay fears of job losses at Corus as a result of the takeover and planned cost-cutting. He said the threat to jobs would have been greater had the deal not taken place.
\"The deal makes it more competitive and that means more job security,\" he said, though he did not rule out redundancies in future.
Right partner
Jim Leng, Chairman of Corus, described Tata Steel, which it chose over companies from Brazil and Russia, as the \"right partner at the right time and on the right terms.\" He said: \"This creates a well-balanced company, strategically well-placed to compete in an increasingly competitive global environment.\" The deal, he explained, was prompted by his company's decision to seek access to low-cost production and high-growth markets.
Analysts welcomed the acquisition, but some warned that it could trigger a takeover \"war.\" Tata executives, however, vigorously shook their heads.
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Speech by Thomas Friedman of The New York Times....
"When we were young kids growing up in America, we were told to eat our
vegetables at dinner and not leave them. Mothers said, 'think of the
starving children in India and finish the dinner.' And now I tell my
children: 'Finish your maths homework. Think of the children in India
who would make you starve, if you don't.'"
International corporate gurus are predicting this as a start of the new wave by Indian companies (to acquire international companies)
I wish Reliance buy Rogers one day. Cell phones are not cheap in Canada 
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A Proud Indian Canadian
Quote:
Originally posted by Garvo Gujarati
I wish Reliance buy Rogers one day. Cell phones are not cheap in Canada
LOL, but so true. Till Reliance jumped into the mobile phone bandwagon in India, it wsa Rs. 16 per call and Rs. 12 to receive.
Quote:
Originally posted by Garvo Gujarati
International corporate gurus are predicting this as a start of the new wave by Indian companies (to acquire international companies)
I wish Reliance buy Rogers one day. Cell phones are not cheap in Canada
The EU other than UK is not very open economy as compared to NA. The govts are unable to open the economy as the people in EU wants job security. This is going to go against the EU companies.
Remember how France people voted against the change in Labor law as required in new EU legislation. This was followed by Netherlands.
Because of this most of the EU companies will be taken over by BRIC economies by 2030 unless these countries open up to Globalization and give chance to their companies to compete globally.
Sidenote: In the book the world is flat, Friedman, says, Europeans wants to work only 35 hrs a week, they do not know that people in India are hungry for work and can work 35 hrs a day.
Location: God's own country
Posted on: 23-10-06 15:18:18
Quote:
Originally posted by Dips
Sidenote: In the book the world is flat, Friedman, says, Europeans wants to work only 35 hrs a week, they do not know that people in India are hungry for work and can work 35 hrs a day.
Dips :
I am not in IT but from my experience India had the most lenient hours. Yes. we did work 5 1/2 days a week but we never stayed in the office more than 1/2 extra (at the max.)
Outside India, I have found that many companies unofficially require you to work more than the required hours to complete the given task.
In India, I have never worked (nor heard of) working on sat. around 3: 00 pm (Most offices close by 1:00 pm). However in Malaysia, Saudi I have worked (and have seen many work) on sat. and sunday (thursday and friday in the gulf).
Just my views.
To give you an example in L&T chennai , this was my schedule of work
9:15 am - office opens
Till 10:30 am chat with office mates as to how they spent the previous night / evening
10:30 to 11:00 am - official coffee / snack break. I was legally allowed to speak to everyone - even outside our dept..
11:00 am to 12:00 noon - meeting to discuss projects. 1/2 hour will be spent on blaming others.
12:00 noon to 12:45 pm - work
12:45 pm to 1:30 pm- lunch break
1:30 pm to 2:00 pm - unofficial sleep time
2:00 pm to 3:00 pm - work or chat w/ friends
3:00 pm to 3:30 pm - official tea/ snack time
3:30 pm to 4:30 pm - unofficial sleep or work time
4:30 pm to 5:00 pm - talk time/ closing time preparation
5:00 pm to 5:15 pm - seeing the clock for leaving / computer closing
5:15 pm - off
Light dinner is served at 6:30 pm and on some days playing video games till 6:30 pm. Eat light dinner and leave for home.
Where the hell do we need to work hard in India?
Even when i was in private offices in India, I never worked for more than 2-4 hours a day.
If i myself (a very hard worker) was like this just imagine the life of pot vbellied people in the public sector/ govt. in India.
Also at L&T, there was a pregnant woman and she used to sleep 2-3 hours daily in the office desk and no one could do anything about it. She was warned one , but she did not care and repeated it and after that the manager never used to come and disturb her.
TK A
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I am a Gents and not a Ladies.
You are not a good example TK 
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A Proud Indian Canadian
that is very good go on
