Is this the big one that will catapult steel baron Lakshmi Mittal to the top of the class? Mittal's LNM Group, the world's second biggest steelmaker, has just formed a consortium to bid for giant Ukrainian steel company Kryvorizhstal. If he bags this one he could become the world's biggest steelmaker "" or he will be within a whisker of the prize.
But don't reach for the champagne just yet. Mittal and US Steel "" which is the world's sixth largest steelmaker "" make for a powerful combination but they also face equally tough rivals: a consortium formed by the world's largest steelmaker Arcelor and Severstal, a Russian giant that is growing in leaps and bounds.
The tongue-twistingly named Kryvorizhstal is an attractive prize. It makes 6 million tonnes of steel annually and it's in a relatively good condition compared to some of the other rusting monsters of central and east Europe. The Ukrainian government has set a minimum price of $714 million for the company.
Even if he doesn't bag Kryvorizhstal Mittal has plenty of other new projects to keep himself busy. His LNM Group has just been permitted to take a controlling stake in South African steelmaker Iscor.
Currently the LNM Group has a 49 per cent in the company. Also, in March it signed a preliminary agreement to buy Balkan Steel a two-million tonne plant in Macedonia.
Simultaneously, it also completed negotiations to buy Siderurgica Hunedoara a Romanian mill. And, to complete a spot of backward integration, the LNM Group has just bought the Ljubija iron ore mines in Bosnia & Herzegovina
But life is not as simple as it once was for Mittal, the buyout king of the steel industry. Others like Severstal, US Steel and even Arcelor are turning aggressive and playing the same buyout game which he fine-tuned during the '90s.
That's pushing up prices for old mills in a big way and may even be making them uneconomical propositions. Nevertheless, Mittal has already consolidated his position in eastern and central Europe and he's sure to stay one step ahead.
Stepping out in style
India may or may not be shining but affluent Indians are more willing to splurge on big name brands than ever before. That's why snoot-appeal names like Louis Vuitton, Hugo Boss and Tommy Hilfiger are rushing to the sub-continent with their lakhpati suitcases and other blisteringly expensive wares.
The newest entrant to the market is German leather footwear and accessories brand Aigner. The company opened its first exclusive showroom in India last month at the Maurya Sheraton, Delhi.
Says Rishab Soni, managing director of Sport Station India, the exclusive distributor of Aigner in the country, "We are targeting the top-end of the strata. Basically people who are well travelled and are willing to pay that little bit extra for quality and style."
Sport Station India is a 6-year old retail organisation which distributes brands such as Nike, Levis and Dockers across 60 stores.
Aigner has 150 exclusive outlets and over 300 shop-in-shops in 40 countries arcross the globe. It turns out products such as footwear for both men and women, men's fashion, ladies bags and accessories such as belts and ties which are sold across the globe under the Aigner brand.
Says Soni, "India is an important market for the company as the number of brand conscious people are growing." The company plans to have all future product launches in India at the same time as around the globe. "To provide Indian customers with the freshness of the range," says Soni.
But don't expect to pay any less for products in India. For instance, ladies shoes are in the range of Rs 13,000 to Rs 20,000.
The company isn't immediately planning to advertise in the print or audio-visual but it may launch a direct mailing campaign aimed at a select audience. But that may change when at the end of the year it opens its second showroom in Mumbai.
Textile turnaround
The loss-making public sector undertaking (PSU) National Textile Corporation (NTC) has chalked out an ambitious retail initiative for its apparel brand Finlays and plans to make it profitable by 2006.
"Finlays is nearly a 100-year-old brand known for its excellent cotton fabrics. It enjoys a good brand recall among the older generation and we plan to make it more contemporary," said V K Tripathi, managing director, NTC (south Maharashtra), which operates the Finlays mill in Mumbai.
NTC is planning to add half-a-dozen more retail outlets to its existing five showrooms. According to Tripathi, NTC will invest Rs 35 crore to Rs 40 crore in modernising its Mumbai plant. "We have also reduced our employee count by almost 50 per cent through the voluntary retirement scheme," he added.
Tripathi said that Finlays' newly launched menswear collections have recieved good responses and sales would be further boosted by the opening up of the new showrooms. NTC plans to add kurtas, premium Indo-westernwear, and bedlinen to its Finlays portfolio.
"Finlays was traditionally a strong brand in dhotis, pagri fabric and voile sarees. Now we want to tap the youth market with our branded shirts, trousers and undergarments," said Tripathi. Finlays' traditional bestselling dhoti brands include Bracelet and Sachcha Hira.
Tripathi claims that NTC manufactures the world's lightest pure cotton shirts that weigh just 95 grams.
"Increasingly, the youth are realising that high-end branded apparel do not offer them a good value proposition. They seem to charge more for the brand name than the fabric quality. Finlays stands for the best in cotton products and our prices are very affordable," he says.
Men's kurtas and shirts start with a price tag of Rs 500 and can go upto Rs 2,000, and formal trousers are priced between Rs 690 to Rs 1,500.
With contribution from Smita Tripathi and Bhupesh Bhandari
