Byju's is in talks with three-four strategic buyers, including Joffre Capital Ltd and language learning platform Duolingo, to sell one of its key assets, US-based digital reading platform Epic, for about $400-$450 million, according to sources. With this, the beleaguered edtech firm wants to meet various commitments, including repaying its entire $1.2 billion term loan B (TLB) within six months. "The binding offers of the bidders to acquire Epic are expected to come in the next few weeks after the due diligence is complete," said a person familiar with the matter.
Ashok Vaswani, a banker with more than three-and-half decades experience in building and scaling up businesses across consumer and corporate banking and payments, will be the next managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of Kotak Mahindra Bank. Last week, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had given its approval to Vaswani's appointment. Vaswani is currently President of Pagaya Technologies, a US-Israeli artificial intelligence (AI) fintech firm, which he joined in June 2022.
Net foreign direct investment (FDI) in India, inflows minus outflows, declined sharply in April-August this year to $2.99 billion from $18.03 billion in the same period last year on moderation in global activities and a rise in repatriation. The Reserve Bank of India's data (October 2023 bulletin) said FDI in India was $7.28 billion and FDI by India, that is money invested abroad from the country, was $4.28 billion in April-August 2023. As for 2022, FDI in India was $22.79 billion and FDI by India was $4.76 billion in April-August.
Central Bank of India classified its loans to Go First as non-performing assets (NPAs) in the July-September quarter (second quarter, or Q2) of 2023-24 (FY24). The no-frills carrier has been under insolvency proceedings since May 2023 and ceased operating flights on May 3 this year. The public sector lender's exposure, including government-guaranteed emergency credit to the ailing airline, amounts to about Rs 2,000 crore.
'Building a whole product with the railways was challenging; we had to figure out how to load and unload a train when it stops for only about five minutes at a station.' 'We also helped them understand the revenues this would generate for them.'
Indian lenders are unlikely to clear the vertical split of BSE-listed Vedanta Ltd in a hurry, considering that the demerger would reduce the fungibility of cash flows across businesses and increase their volatility, according to analysts. The demerger plan, which would result in six separate listed entities, would require approval from shareholders, lenders and other statutory bodies. "We believe that a separate listing of different businesses would reduce the fungibility of cash flows across businesses and increase the volatility of cash flows.
The net financial savings of the household sector has moderated to 5.1% of GDP in FY23 from 7.6 per cent in FY20, as households shifted their savings to physical assets amid low interest rates during the pandemic, according to State Bank of India's (SBI) Research report.
Showing the effect of the slowdown in global economic activity, the equity foreign direct investment (FDI) into India declined sharply to $13.9 billion in April-July 2023 from $22.04 billion a year ago. The net FDI, inflows minus outflows, declined from $17.28 billion in April-July 2022 to $5.70 billion in April-July 2023 on account of moderating gross FDI and a rise in repatriation. Gross FDI into India moderated to $22.0 billion during April-July 2023 from $29.6 billion a year ago, according to Reserve Bank of India data.
The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) decision to withdraw the incremental cash reserve ratio (I-CRR) is expected to benefit banks during the festival season. They are likely to increase deposit rates by up to 25 basis points (bps) in select maturity buckets. The rise in demand for funds to cover tax payments and meet quarter-end business targets could influence rate decisions by banks, according to bankers and money market executives.
'As part of our D33 strategy, the plan is to establish 30 unicorns in Dubai within the next 10 years.'
Reflecting subdued global economic growth, India's outward foreign direct investment (FDI) fell by 33.3 per cent sequentially to $1.21 billion in August, compared to over $1.82 billion in July.
Byju's, India's most-valued startup, has decided to put two of its key assets -- Epic and Great Learning -- on the block to generate $800 million-$1 billion in cash, with an aim to meet the edtech firm's various commitments, including repaying the entire $1.2 billion term loan B (TLB) within six months, according to sources. The cash-strapped company has proposed repaying $300 million of the $1.2 billion loan in the next three months, depending on whether the lenders accept Byju's amendment proposal, said the people familiar with the development. "This loan repayment proposal has been submitted to the lenders and conversations are going in the right direction," said a person in the know.
From those highs, the Bengaluru-headquartered company founded in 2011 is now looking to sell two companies it lists as "well-known acquisitions" on its website - Epic and Great Learning. But strategic buys have been critical to its quick expansion. The company got a valuation of about $8 billion by January 2020 after becoming a unicorn in late 2017.
As a step to entrench its consumer finance business, Bajaj Finance (BFL) plans to scale up its business-to-business (B2B) activity, both in terms of volume as well as value. It plans to add up to 1,000 cities in the next three years and this will mark its presence in around 5,000 cities. The expansion activity will be more in Northern and Eastern India.
Lenders in India, comprising banks and finance companies, anticipate robust growth in retail credit during the upcoming festival season, stretching from September to December 2023. This expectation is based on resilient demand, government initiatives, and elections in key states.
Interrupting a two-month streak of decline, outward foreign direct investment (FDI) rose sequentially to $1.85 billion in July over $1.07 billion in June, an increase of 73 per cent. However, it was lower than the $2.18 billion in July last year, according to the Reserve Bank of India data. Outbound FDI, expressed as financial commitment, has three components - equity, loans, and guarantees.
Three senior executives have resigned from Byju's at a time when the most valuable edtech company has been trying to address challenges such as due diligence issues, legal battles with lenders, challenges in raising fresh capital, and a markdown in its valuation by investors. Prathyusha Agarwal, the chief business officer of Byju's, has quit, according to sources. They said Himanshu Bajaj, business head of Byju's tuition centres, and Mukut Deepak, business head for Class 4 to 10, have also moved on.
The sectors that received most of the investment during this period included manufacturing, financial services, business services, computer services, electricity, and other energy sectors.
The flow of money into Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) deposits witnessed a substantial increase, touching $2.14 billion in the first quarter of this financial year (Q1FY24), compared with $349 million in the same period in FY23. The outstanding NRI deposits rose by $2.5 billion, standing at $141.28 billion at the end of June 2023, up from $138.77 billion in May 2023, according to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data. RBI released the updated data in the bulletin after almost three months.
Ola Electric, India's largest maker of electric scooters, launched its most affordable ride on Tuesday, in an attempt to woo more customers and expand its electric two-wheeler lineup.
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