ONGC to acquire Tide Water

TIDE WATER OIL CO. (INDIA) LTD. said it has renewed its marketing agreement with Japans Nippon Oil Corp., clearing the way for its take over by Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC).  According to Arindom Mukherjee, chairman of Tide Water and managing director of Andrew Yule & Co Ltd., we have been assured of their continued support in the form of transfer of technology for producing high tech lubricants and their marketing in India. The agreement was set to expire knowledge_base year and was a precondition to the purchase by ONGC. The Board for Reconstruction of Public Enterprises (BRPSE) approved the sale of Tide Water and two other associated companies of Andrew Yule to raise funds to restructure the parent company in May. Andrew Yule owns 27.71% of Tide Water Oil. ONGC will take over the lubricant maker for Rs37 crores (US$7.96 million). (July 5, 2006)