L&T bags multiple orders across business verticals in domestic market

 

Infrastructure company Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on Wednesday said it has received multiple orders across various business segments in the domestic market.

The company did not provide the value of the contracts but said the orders fall under the "large" category, which ranges between Rs 2,500 crore and Rs 5,000 crore according to its classification of contracts.

"The construction arm of L&T has secured orders from prestigious clients for its varied businesses," L&T said in a regulatory filing.

The company said its buildings and factories business has won orders from a reputed developer to construct a high rise residential project and an office space in Mumbai.

The factories business has received an order from a leading global shipping and logistic company for the design and construction of warehousing logistics park at Mumbai and also secured an order for construction of 4,000 TPD (tonnes per day) capacity clinker plant in Odisha.

It also received add-on orders for ongoing projects in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

L&T's water and effluent treatment business has secured an order from Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board, for providing 24x7 surface-based water supply to Patiala town, the company said.

It stated that its water and effluent treatment business also received order from Gujarat Water Infrastructure Ltd for design, construction, and operation of Navda to Chavand bulk water transmission pipeline project in Gujarat.

Further, an order from Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board for the construction of ground level reservoirs with associated mechanical, electrical and instrumentation works, along western route of Bengaluru, Karnataka, has also been received.

"The project funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is part of phase 3 of Bengaluru water supply and sewerage project," L&T added.

L&T said its railways strategic business of transportation infrastructure has won order from National Capital Region Transport Corporation.

L&T wins 'large' contract from Indian Army for advanced IT-enabled network

Engineering and construction giant Larsen & Toubro on Tuesday said it has won a 'large' contract from the Indian Army for setting up an advanced IT-enabled system to operate the Armed Forces network under the Network of Spectrum (NFS).

Although the company did not mention the exact value of the contract, according to its project classification, the value of a large order ranges between Rs 2,500 crore and Rs 5,000 crore.

The Smart World and Communication Business of L&T Construction has secured a large order from the Indian Army to establish a unified network management system to manage, support and operate the countrywide Armed Forces Network under the NFS, the company said in a statement.

"This is an extremely crucial and sensitive project for the Ministry of Defence and we are proud that the Ministry has reposed their faith in our technical, engineering and solutioning capabilities to execute this project," said SN Subrahmanyan - CMD, Larsen & Toubro.

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It involves creating a centralised network monitoring, management and control system for all the seven layers under NFS which interconnects 414 Defence stations, he added, describing the scope of the mandate.

The project involves the creation of a resilient Cloud-based IT infrastructure on Infrastructure as a service (IAAS) model.

The scope also includes Next Generation Operations System and Software based Unified Network Management System, Eight Network Operations Centers (NOCs) consisting of National NOCs, Disaster Recovery NOCs, Regional NOCs, Security Operation Centers, Tier III Data Centres and Training Infrastructure, the company said.

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The facilities under this project will allow real-time monitoring of the complete IT network backbone of the Indian army and provide complete visibility of deployed Network assets, leading to optimal utilization of resources, it added.

The project is to be implemented in 18 months followed by three years of warranty and seven years of Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) during which L&T will provide managed maintenance services.

Larsen & Toubro is an Indian multinational engaged in technology, engineering, construction, manufacturing and financial services with over USD 21 billion in revenue. It operates in over 30 countries.

L&T bags significant orders from Oman to develop water infrastructure

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on Wednesday said the water and effluent treatment business of L&T Construction has bagged a significant order in Sultanate of Oman.

The order is for the design and execution of a water infrastructure project to enhance the Al Dhakhlia water transmission system phase II, the infrastructure major said in a statement.

"L&T construction has been awarded significant contract for its water and effluent treatment business... from a prestigious client in the Sultanate of Oman," it said.

The scope of work includes 173 km of pipelines for water transmission with associated civil works, 18 RCC water storage reservoirs, 5 pumping stations with associated mechanical, electrical, control and instrumentation works, it added.

The company did not provide the value of the contract, but said the order falls under the "significant" category, which ranges between Rs 1,000 crore and Rs 2,500 crore according to the classification of contracts.

L&T consortium bags offshore jacket installation project from Saudi Aramco

Larsen & Toubro on Thursday said a consortium of its arm LTHE, and EMAS AMC PTE Ltd has been awarded a project by Saudi Aramco for offshore jackets.

The project is for installing 28 offshore jackets in Zuluf, Marjan, Sfaniya and Ribyan offshore fields of Saudi Arabia, as per a BSE filing by L&T.

"Consortium of L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering Ltd (LTHE) and EMAS AMC PTE Ltd (a subsea7 company) has been awarded a project by Saudi Aramco," it said.

LTHE is a subsidiary of L&T and is based in Mumbai.

The award demonstrates Saudi Aramco's trust on LTHE's capability to deliver to a challenging schedule with excellent safety and quality performance, it said.

LTHE's fabrication facilities in the Middle East and India are fully equipped to execute these challenging projects, the company added.

subsea7 is a Luxembourg-based offshore projects delivering company.

L&T buys Mindtree shares worth Rs 113 cr via open market in takeover bid

Infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro Monday bought shares worth about Rs 113 crore of Mindtree through open market transactions.

According to the bulk deal data available with the NSE, L&T bought over 11.52 lakh shares, or 0.75 per cent, worth Rs 112.91 crore with the average price being Rs 979.94 per scrip.

However, the seller could not be ascertained immediately. Last week, L&T had purchased around 20 per cent stake of V G Siddhartha and Coffee Day in Mindtree through block deal for about Rs 3,210 crore.

Post this transaction, the infrastructure major is in fray to buy up to 46 per cent more stake in Mindtree.

L&T had signed a deal to buy Cafe Coffee Day owner Siddhartha's 20.32 per cent stake in Mindtree and also placed an order with brokers to pick up another 15 per cent of the company shares from the open market for about Rs 2,500 crore.

Subsequent to these deals, L&T would make an open offer to buy additional 31 per cent stake through an open offer.

Mindtree had formed a panel of independent directors to look into "unsolicited open offer" by infrastructure major L&T to give its recommendations.

Mindtree's promoters had called L&T bid as hostile and raised corporate governance issues at L&T and culture difference between the two companies.

Corporate battle looms as Mindtree management rejects L&T's takeover bid

A day after engineering major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) made a hostile bid to take a controlling stake in Mindtree, the managements of both the companies went all out to convince shareholders of their respective stands.

While the management of L&T in a hurriedly convened press conference on Tuesday highlighted the synergy of Mindtree with its IT portfolio companies, sounding a conciliatory tone, the promoters of the Bengaluru-based company were in no mood to relent and vowed to fight till finish.

They said Mindtree under the current management was well-run and had given maximum returns to the shareholders since going public in 2007. The company now is best placed to protect the interests of the stakeholders, including investors, employees and, most importantly, clients, Executive Chairman Krishnakumar Natarajan said.

L&T late on Monday mounted a hostile takeover bid for Mindtree with a multipronged strategy to buy around 67 per cent in the IT services firm for about Rs 10,733 crore. While it has entered into an agreement with Mindtree's single-largest investor, V G Siddhartha, to purchase his entire 20.32 per cent stake for Rs 3,269 crore, it is also eyeing an additional 46 per cent through market purchase and an open offer.

“We are reaching out to the fathers and mothers of the Indian IT industry to garner support as this move will be taken as a bad precedent for the whole IT sector and also for startup entrepreneurs who aspire to build large institutions,” said Subroto Bagchi, co-founder of Mindtree. 

Even though Mindtree did not spell out its next course of action, it is learnt the company is evaluating making a counter offer with the backing of a friendly investor. A decision to this effect is learnt to be on the agenda of the board, which is meeting on Wednesday.

The L&T management on Tuesday said the company’s bid to acquire a controlling stake in Mindtree should not be seen as a hostile attempt but a business decision taken in the best interests of its shareholders. The management, led by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) S N Subrahmanyan said it was Siddhartha who approached its management not once but twice in the past five years with the proposal to sell his stake. The management reiterated after the successful closure of the open offer, it intended to run Mindtree as an independent listed entity, at least in the short to medium term.

“We keep businesses as independent and focused verticals with their own objectives. We are not planning integration, but I cannot say what will happen in the future. Things keep changing with time,” said Subrahmanyan.

Market analysts, while finding merit in the deal, say the hostile management team at Mindtree could be cause for concern and jeopardise any plan to delist Mindtree for a full merger with the L&T group’s IT services firm, LTI (L&T Infotech).

“We believe this will inevitably lead to a merger of LTI (L&T Infotech) and Mindtree, as L&T is unlikely to retain two listed entities with complementary capabilities in the same industry,” a note by brokerage firm Elara Capital said.

The report said with the founders holding 13.3 per cent in Mindtree, it will be difficult to hit the 90 per cent threshold required to delist.

“The Mindtree management has made it clear through public statements that it is convinced the L&T stake acquisition is not in the interest of Mindtree stakeholders. We expect L&T to force a merger via share-swap with an attractive swap ratio,” the note added.

The Mindtree management said the company had the backing of all its institutional investors and marquee clients. “Since our IPO, we have given returns to our shareholders at a compound annual growth rate of 21 per cent as against 6.6 per cent returns in the Nifty. We will do everything keeping our shareholders in mind,” said Rostow Ravanan, CEO and MD, Mindtree.