NEW DELHI: India's largest private company Reliance Industries Saturday bagged a 26-percent stake in the country's state-owned bluechip firm Indian Petrochemical Corp. (IPCL), officials said.

The decision was taken at a meeting of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's cabinet late Saturday night, they said.

Reliance out-bid state-owned refiner Indian Oil Corporation, which is a Fortune 500 company, and other private sector rivals and bagged 26 percent of ICPL for 1.4 billion rupees (US$310 million), they said.

The government, which presently holds 59.95 percent equity in IPCL, plans to offload 51 percent of its stake in the oil company in two phases.

Reliance will now automatically get management control over the company and have the first right of refusal to buy the remaining 25 percent equity, the officials said.--AFP

Snow Brand Milk May Cut 700 Jobs

TOKYO: Snow Brand Milk Products Co. (J.SBM), a leading Japanese dairy maker, is considering eliminating 15 percent of its work force as it attempts to stanch heavy losses following recent scandals, a major Japanese newspaper said Sunday.

The company may get rid of around 700 of its 4,500 employees, with many of the job cuts expected to come from its milk unit, the national Mainichi newspaper reported, without citing sources.

Snow Brand's cutbacks would be part of a revamp before a planned spin-off of its milk unit, which is expected to merge with two quasi-public food cooperatives later this year, the Mainichi said. About 1,500 Snow Brand employees will join the newly formed company, the report said.--AP

SK Telecom Bids For 5% Shares Of KT

SEOUL: South Korea's wireless giant SK Telecom Co. (SKT) said Saturday it offered to buy 5 percent of KT Corp. (KTC) shares owned by the government in order to strengthen business ties and prevent other conglomerates from owning a controlling stake in KT.

If SK Telecom buys a 5 percent stake in KT, it will have the option to buy up to a 10 percent stake of KT's exchangeable bonds, according to the government privatization plan for KT.

SK Telecom hasn't decided what percentage of KT's bonds exchangeable to equity shares it will buy, said an SK Telecom spokesman. The company will decide after the final results of the bidding process come out on Monday, he said.

To fully privatize KT, the government has offered to sell its entire 28.37 percent stake, or 88.57 million shares, by Saturday.

KT is offering a 14.5 percent stake, or 45,282,115 shares at 54,000 won ($1=KRW1,261.6) each. It is also offering a 13.8 percent stake in bonds that can be converted into KT shares at KRW59,400 each starting June 25. The exchangeable bonds will be issued May 25.

KT is the second largest shareholder of SK Telecom with a 9.27 percent stake as of mid-April. KT has sold SK Telecom shares twice since November, when it held a 13.39 percent stake.--Dow Jones