8 �THE ECONOMIC TIMES | MUMBAI | MONDAY | 23 NOVEMBER 2015Companies

Shonali.Advani@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru: LawrencedaleAgro Processing India, a sellerof fruits and vegetables underthe brand Leaf, is restructuringoperations to speed up deliver-ies and expansion.

The Ooty-based company isadopting a hub-and-spoke mod-el in Bengaluru, Chennai andHyderabad to be managed bydistributors who will deliverproduce to retailers directly.Until now, the company hadbeen distributing fruits andvegetables from collection ordistribution centres in eachcity at a 10 km radius. Now, theproduce will be shipped to thehubs in order to reach stores by7 am, compared with 11 am pre-viously, said KP Nair, founderand director of Lawrencedale.“We need to be there fresh atpeak consumer hours in these

areas.”It plans to set

up 5-6 hubs ineach city andhas set aside .̀ 2crore for thisrestructuring.

Founded in2008, Lawrence-dale has about200 customer-contact points

across organised and small re-tailers, hotels, restaurants andfood processing companies ineight cities. It sells 10-12 catego-ries of vegetables.

Alongside, the company is inadvanced talks with hyper-localdelivery company Grofers tosupply its vegetables in Bengalu-ru, Chennai and Coimbatore,said a person aware of the devel-opments on condition of ano-nymity. Grofers will sell produceunder its private label brand andthe parties are negotiating thepricing, the person said.

Grofers did not immediatelyrespond to an email sent by ET.

Lawrencedale also sells on on-line grocery platforms BigBas-ket and LocalBanya.

The firm is backed by AspadaInvestment, an impact fund,which put in $2 million in April2013 for a 40% stake. It is in ad-vanced talks with investors toraise another round of fundingof about $10 million.

LawrencedaleAgro RecastsOps to Scale Up

The co is inadvancedtalks withGrofers tosupply itsvegetables inBengaluru,Chennai andCoimbatore

AFFIDAVIT IN BOMBAY HIGH COURT REVIVES MEMORIES OF FAMOUS CORPORATE BATTLE

Sugata Ghosh & Maulik Vyas

Mumbai: On August 17, 1993, TheDaily, a now defunct tabloid, pub-lished a string of reports aboutNusli Wadia, spread over the entirefront and back pages of the newspa-per. The stories alleged that Wadia,grandson of Muhammad Ali Jin-nah and chairman of Bombay Dye-ing, was a Pakistani spy havinglinks with Dawood Ibrahim, andwas involved in smuggling drugsand laundering money through abank in Nepal. One of the stories al-so talked about his alleged associ-ation with Anita Ayub, a Pakistanistarlet. This was five months afterthe Bombay serial blasts whose per-petrators were widely believed tohave fled to Pakistan.

In October 1993, Wadia, who wasthen rebuilding his textile busi-ness and planning his moves totake control of Britannia, filed civ-il and criminal defamation suitsagainst Rajiv K Bajaj, managing ed-itor, Phiroze J Dastur, printer andMohan Nair, publisher, and DailyPrinting & Allied Enterprises, thecorporate entity which owned ‘Dai-ly’. Kamal Morarka’s company Na-landa Exports appointed advocatesto represent the defendants.

Like most defamation cases, thistoo, would have languished andbeen forgotten. But it didn’t. Lastweek — more than two decadessince the suits were filed — Bajaj,the then editor of The Daily, filedan affidavit before the BombayHigh Court, with allegations thatrevived memories of the most cele-brated battle in corporate India.

In his affidavit filed on the civil def-amation case, Bajaj alleged that thereports which appeared in The Dai-ly were part of an underlying busi-ness deal between Kamal Morarka— the owner of the newspaper andhead of the construction and engi-neering company Gannon Dunker-ley — and Reliance Industries(RIL). The long and bitter tussle be-tween Dhirubhai Ambani, RIL’sfounder and Nusli Wadia is part ofcorporate history. According to Ba-jaj’s allegations, he was pushed intocarrying the reports by Anthony(aka Tony) Jesudasan and DeepakNeogi, who worked as PR officials ofthe undivided Reliance group, andbusinessman Vijay Kalantri, whowas close to Morarka and oftenpassed on instructions on his be-half. Bajaj alleges that subsequentto the publication of the reports,Gannon Dunkerley received sever-al orders from Reliance.

When contacted by ET, both Mo-rarka and Kalantri categorically

denied the allegations while Jesu-dasan and Neogi (who later left Re-liance Industries to join the AnilAmbani group) did not comment.“I am not aware of this affidavit butI am appalled to hear from you thatRajiv Bajaj has said this in the affi-davit. This is absolutely untrue. Ihave never interfered with the edi-torial functions of my newspapersthough I have always given my fullsupport to my editors and this is tothe knowledge of Rajiv Bajaj,” saidMorarka in an email to ET.

Kalantri, the chairman and MD ofBalaji Infra Projects and DighiPort said (in an email): “This dis-closure looks highly imaginativeand I do not recall any such discus-sion or facilitation nor I had any-thing to do with The Daily.”

Wadia group legal head ParveenMahtani did not respond to textmessages from ET. ET’s email to a spokesman for RIL

also went unanswered till the timeof going to press.

The sequence of events, as allegedby Bajaj, is outlined in the affidavit:A day before the reports were pub-lished, Kalantri visited Bajaj’s Dai-ly office and handed him paperssigned by 72 members of Parlia-ment accusing Nusli Wadia of hav-ing multiple passports and being adrug dealer. Bajaj was told that thepapers, purported to be findings ofthe Intelligence Bureau, were re-ceived from the office of RIL andhad been handed over to the thenhome minister Shankar Rao Chav-han. Neogi, who was then report-ing to Jesudasan, handed over thearticles, along with the headingsand blurbs, with the instructionthat the pieces should be carried adlitteram. Jesudasan, according toBajaj, told him that if he did notpublish the articles someone elsein the Daily would. Bajaj, whose

wife Amita Nayar Bajaj was thenthe Delhi Bureau Chief of The Af-ternoon, another paper controlledby Morarka, alleges that there werehints that he could get into troubleif he did follow the instructions. Je-sudasan and Neogi are not respon-dents in the case filed by Wadia.

As per the affidavit, a few days af-ter the reports appeared, Kalantriasked Bajaj to accompany him for ameeting with Dhirubhai Ambaniat the Reliance office in Maker IV,Nariman Point. Bajaj alleges thatthe elder Ambani complimentedhim on the articles.ET could not independently sub-

stantiate or verify any of the allega-tions by Bajaj who refused to re-spond to text message. Going by theaffidavit, the obvious questions thatcrops up are: first, why did Bajaj, aseditor, let Reliance officials and Ka-lantri allegedly dictate the terms?Second, what made Bajaj wait solong to come out with what he claimsare the “true facts that led to publica-tion of the articles”? According tothe affidavit, Bajaj, who was in fi-nancial difficulties at the time of thepublication of the story, was assuredthat his wife and daughter, who werestaying in Delhi then, would joinhim in Mumbai once the newspaperruns the stories. Bajaj, who is nolonger receiving any legal supportfrom his former employer, finally fil-ed the affidavit on the civil matter af-ter reading a newspaper report thatthe High Court has reopened thecriminal defamation case after 15years. It was perhaps then that hepanicked. In the affidavit Bajaj saidhe is willing to depose before thecourt and give evidence.

Once Upon a Time in Bombay

Nusli Wadia, Chairman, Wadia Group

KAMAL MORARKAOwner of The Daily

Iam not aware of this af-fidavit but I am appalledto hear that Rajiv K Bajajhas said this. This is ab-solutely untrue. I havenever interfered with theeditorial functions

Vikas.Dandekar@timesgroup.com

Mumbai: US drug giant Pfizer is re-portedly moving closer to sign adeal to buy Botox maker Allerganfor $150 billion, or about .̀ 9,88,000crore, in what would be the biggesttransaction in drug industry so far.

The deal, if concluded, will eclipsePfizer’s $90-billion buyout of War-ner Lambert in 2000.

It would mark a peaking point forIrish firm Allergan’s history oftens of acquisitions and selloffs and

Pfizer has been on the prowl for thelast two years after failing in its $118billion attempt to buy Anglo-Swed-ish drug maker AstraZeneca.

Industry experts see Allergan asa company addicted to doingdeals. Led by CEO Brent Saun-ders, who is seen as an aggressive-ly transformation expert, Aller-gan has morphed from being an ophthalmic-focused drug firmto a serious multiproduct brand-ed industry heavyweight througha series of deals over the pastthree years.

provide the $45-billion Pfizer thetax benefits of an Irish domicile.

Experts noted that the moves ofthe US Treasury department toclamp down on inversion deals areunlikely to scuttle the deal current-ly under negotiations between thetwo sides in what appears to befriendly settings.

Last year, Allergan had fended off a hostile and determined ac-quisition bid from Canadian drugmaker Valeant, before getting acquired by Actavis in a $70.5-bil-lion transaction.

Allergan’s Evolution andPfizer’s $150-b Gambit

BIGGEST PHARMA DEAL IN THE MAKING

M&A ChampionAllergan’s Recent Deals

US generic drug maker Watson acquires rival Actavis for $5.9 billion. Watson adopts the name of Actavis for future operations

Actavis acquires Warner Chilcott for $8.5 billion,helping it to domicile in Ireland and pay lower corporate tax rates as compared to the US

Valeant and hedge fund manager William Ackman of Pershing Square Capital Manage-ment agree on a plan to buy Allergan

2012

1948

1990s 2002

1950 1988

2013 2014

20142014Jun 2015Jul 2015Jul 2015

Actavis ac-quires Forest Labs for

$25 billion

Actavis buys Al-lergan for

$70.5 billion

Actavis changes name to Allergan

Allergan sells ge-nerics business to Teva for

$40.5 billion

Allergan, minus the generics business, acquires Oculeve for

$125 million

Allergan Over the Years

Jul 2015 Aug 2015 Sept 2015 Nov 2015 Allergan buys two late stage drugs from Merck for

Allergan acquires Naurex Inc for $560 million to bol-ster mental health business

Allergan acquires ophthalmic drugs startup AqueSys for $250 million

Allergan buys North-wood Medical Innovation, an aesthetic device maker

Founded by Gavin Herbert, who owned a chain of drug stores in Los Angeles. The company marketed its fi rst nasal drop branded as Allergan

Allergan Pharma-ceuticals launchedinto eye care

Allergan ac-quired rights to Botox. US FDA had originallyapproved the product to treat lazy eye

Botox injection was used to treat tight eyelid conditions, later it was found to remove wrinkles near the eyes. Botox was extensively used by skin specialists for off-label use

US FDA approved Botox for its use in removing wrinkles, leading to a strong pick-up in demand for the product. Botox is also used to treat chronic headaches, overactive bladder and obesity

$300 million

KR.Balasubramanyam@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru: Infosys cofoun-der Nandan Nilekani and Ro-han Murty, son of the other In-fosys cofounder N RNarayana Murthy, have to-gether contributed .̀ 1.5 croretowards a corpus that formerstudents of Bengaluru’s Bish-op Cottons Boys’ School arebuilding for retired staffmembers of the school.

Murty and Nilekani areamong the scores of illustri-ous citizens the school hasproduced in its 150-year histo-ry. The alumni are confidentthe corpus will grow in size.

An announcement about thefund, and Nilekani’s anchordonation of .̀ 50 lakh, wasmade by Aditya Sondhi, an-other old Cottonian, and ma-naging trustee of General K SThimayya Memorial Trust atthe school on Saturday.

Murty, who announced acheque of .̀ 1 crore, saidteachers and other staffmembers have given 30-40years of their life to the ser-vice of the school. “I was ve-ry touched by the initiative.And, when I heard aboutNandan’s contribution, I de-cided I should also emulatehim. I hope more people will come forward and con-

tribute,” Murty said. “Thefund is our way of express-ing our gratitude to ourteachers and other staffmembers,” he said.

The fund is reflective of thestrong bond that exists be-tween the school’s alumnusand staff in all ranks, includ-ing those worked as lab as-sistants, attendants, etc. “Wethought we should providean opportunity for ex-stu-dents to express their grati-tude and affection towardsthe teachers and others,”said CN Kumar, a Cottonianfrom the 1970 batch and Nile-kani’s classmate. Kumarruns a startup consultancycalled Advantage OffshoreKnowledge Services, andserves on the Thimayya Me-morial Trust.

Nilekani, Rohan MurtyContribute .̀ 1.5 cr forAlma Mater’s Retirees

The Real DealThe Project

1.2 m sq ft: Development potential of the project at Bhandup

`12,500:Rate per sq ftat which cosare launching it

Action PlanTata Housing to conceptualise, construct and market the project

Neptune Group will provide the land parcel and secure nods from civic authority

Kailash.Babar@timesgroup.com

Mumbai: Tata Housing Develop-ment Company has entered intoan agreement with Mumbai-based real estate developer Nep-tune Group to jointly develop a10-acre residential project inBhandup, an eastern suburb ofMumbai, according to two per-sons familiar with the matter.

Neptune Group will provide theland parcel and secure approvalsfrom the civic authority, whileTata Housing, the real estate armof Tata Group, will take care ofconceptualisation, constructionand marketing the project.

The project, estimated to havetotal development potential of1.2 million square feet, has al-ready secured all approvals tocommence the work. Construc-tion of the project is expected tobe completed in four years.

The project on LBS Marg, onceknown for industrial factoriesbut now transformed into a ma-jor residential hub, is expected tofetch revenue of .̀ 1,700 crore.Ready apartments in the localityare priced at about .̀ 17,000-18,000per sq ft, while Tata and Neptuneare considering launching theproject at .̀ 12,500 per sq ft.

“The agreement was inked re-

cently with the final terms thatprovide for branding of the pro-ject jointly by both the partieswhile sharing revenues in a cer-tain proportion,” said one of thepersons, who did not wish to beidentified. To take the partner-ship further, both the develop-ers were earlier also consider-ing a space-sharing formula,which did not materialise, theperson said.

Email queries to both TataHousing and Neptune Group didnot elicit any response until lateevening on Sunday.

The land parcel to be developedunder the joint venture is part of22 acres of land that NeptuneGroup had acquired through anauction conducted in 2005.

In one of the most expensiveland transactions then, the de-veloper had emerged as highestbidder with its bid of .̀ 101 crore.

Tata Hsg, Neptune toDevelop City ProjectRealty cos join handsto develop residentialproject in 10 acres of land in Bhandup

Krithika.krishnamurthy@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru: Simplilearn, a professional certi-fication platform, has started an in-house star-tup incubation programme to stem the outflowof its entrepreneurially-minded employees.

“Over the last two years, we noticed about15% of people across all levels leaving Sim-plilearn to set up their own venture,” saidchief operations officer Gerald Jaideep.“But not many hit upon success.”

Simplilearn re-hired these employees, andrealised that it might as well allow employeesto test the waters in house before they take theplunge to starting up.

Jaideep said all CXOs of the company will beon the entrepreneurial panel, mentoring em-ployees on their next game plan. The idea couldspan across any sector and is not limited to theedtech segment that Simplilearn operates in.

Other technology firms have also becomeforthcoming in supporting employees starttheir own ventures. Citrix launched an in-house accelerator programme for its employ-ees last year. Globally, Google’s policy of al-lowing employees to work on projects of theirchoice for 20% of their time has garneredmuch admiration from other companies.

Simplilearn Starts StaffIncubation Programme

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