Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd has picked up around 16% stake in Liberty Whiteware - a new venture by the Liberty Group for manufacturing and marketing of bathroom products and accessories made of ceramic. "Our association with BCCL has come at a right time. BCCL, being the largest media company in the country, would help us experimenting new media channels and repeating our success story to make Liberty Whiteware a household name," says Adarsh Gupta, CEO, Liberty Whiteware. The products are manufactured at the company's state-of-the-art facility set up at Neemrana, Rajasthan at an investment of Rs 100 crore. With the machinery and the know-how imported from SACMI of Italy, the plant will have an initial capacity of 3,00,000 units, which will be gradually doubled to 6,00,000 units by 2009.   more »

Bhushan Steel, India's third-largest steelmaker, has taken up a 15 pct stake in Australia's Bowen Energy for an estimated 3.2 mln aud, the Economic Times reported.

'We have taken the stake through a preferential allotment,' the report quoted Bhushan Steel chief financial officer Nitin Johari as saying.

It also quoted unnamed sources close to the company as saying Bhushan has the option to hike this stake.

Earlier this week the companies had signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at creating a strategic partnership.

The deal is expected to give Bhushan Steel access to coal mines in the Australian state of Queensland, to gain a long-term supply of quality Australian coal for its expanding steelmaking operations across Asia, according to the report. (Forbes)