India looses one rank in world competitiveness

India slipped one rank, to 32nd position in overall competitiveness among 59 nations, according to the ‘World Competitiveness Rankings’

The recovery of financial markets pushed the US and Hong Kong to first two  places, followed by last year’s topper, Singapore, which fell to third spot. In 2010, the US and Hong Kong ranked second and third, respectively.  Sweden jumped to fourth, from sixth and Germany came sixth

China,  slipped one rank, to 19th and Japan went up one rank to 26th slot .  Though India’s ranking is below the midway mark, it still did better than Indonesia (37) Philippines (41), Brazil (44) and Russia (49).

Glenmark in licensing deal with Sanofi

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals signed a  licensing agreement   with Sanofi  where the prior company is  expected to receive  USD 613 million  in addition to  royalties on sales  for the   molecule - GBR500 which is  used  for treatment of Crohn's disease .

 Under the deal, Sanofi will have exclusive marketing rights for North America, Europe, Japan, Argentina, China and Uruguay  while   both the companies would co-market in Russia, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand. 
Glenmark will retain exclusive marketing rights in India and other countries in the rest of the world.

Solvay to Acquire Rhodia

Solvay has agreed to acquire Rhodia for €3.4 billion in cash and  expects to close the deal in late August 2011 subject to antitrust approval both  in Europe and the U.S. The merged entity will retain Solvay’s name.

The merged company will have combined sales of more than  €12 billion/year.  Solvay posted sales of €7.1 billion and Rhodia posted sales of €5.23 billion in 2010. About 40% of combined sales will be in emerging markets.  Solvay expects transaction should create synergies leading to annualized cost savings of €250 million within three years.

About 90% of the combined company's sales will be generated by businesses in which it has a top-three position worldwide. In Solvay's case, these businesses include specialty polymers, soda ash, and hydrogen peroxide. For Rhodia these include silica, rare earths, surfactants, acetate and nylon-6,6 engineering plastics. 

CW