Indonesian Major Mek Seeks Ally
The Multi Eka Karma (MEK) group, through its holding finance company, is in talks with Telco, Ashok Leyland and Hero Motors for a joint venture company in Indonesia.
The group has already tied up with two Dalal Street Journal (DSJ) companies, Dalal Street Communications, and Dataline & Research Technologies (DART), for two media ventures.
The Indonesian major has firmed up a cement plant with Larsen & Toubro and is also negotiating for engineering support with the Indian company.
Talks are also on with the Hinduja group company, Gulf Oil, and others to set up a lube oil plant, and with Tata BP for a solar cell plant. Besides, the company is also looking at the RPG group, Larsen & Toubro and Jyoti Towers for setting up of transmission towers in Indonesia.
MEK is a widely diversified group set up by the General Sedirman Foundation and the three wings of the Indonesian armed forces.
The group's activities involve, telecommunication, power generation, automobiles, oil and gas, mining, jewellery, engineering and construction besides a host of other activities. The holding finance company set up a couple of years back has a turnover of Rs 1,750 crore and is expected to gross over a billion dollars by the turn of the century, said Sunil H Bharwani, group chief (operations), MEK.
The company is talks with Hero Motors to launch the 65hp and 75hp two wheelers.
It is also in consultation with Telco and Ashok Leyland are also on for the manufacture of army and civilian passenger and cargo vehicles. The company has already signed a memorandum of understanding with Ashok Leyland Information Technology for a info-tech venture, he added.
With the DSJ group companies the Indonesian firm will be setting up two 60:40 joint ventures.
Though the majority stake will be with MEK the DSJ group will have the management control in both the ventures, Pratap Patode, of DSJ said.
According to Bharwani, DSJ with its experience will help in the collection, interpretation, and dissipation of hard data.
With DSJ the group intends to launch niche economic publications., DART will lend technical support for the group's plan to disseminate real time hard data.
The tie-up will also help in developing database for the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Besides, plans are afoot to launch a cluster of TV channels for Asian countries.