The special privileges granted to private equity (PE) investors by listed companies are set to go through shareholders' test. Under new rules introduced by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), all such arrangements will require shareholders' nod by way of special resolutions. Legal experts say arrangements that are unfair to other public shareholders may not pass the muster.
With general elections on the horizon, the government's privatisation bandwagon has almost but stalled as a government wary of being accused of selling family silver opts for minority stake sales on stock exchanges over outright privatisation. The result -- the divestment target for current fiscal year is again likely to be missed. Big ticket privatisation plans such as that of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) and CONCOR are already on the backburner and analysts feel meaningful privatisation can happen only after April/May general elections.
The company plans to raise Rs 750 crore; other realtors may follow.
Out of 11 companies that got listed in 2019, nine have outrun the market by gaining more than 10 per cent against their respective issue price.
Nextbillion Technology (Groww), the venture capital-backed broking platform, has dislodged Zerodha Broking as India's largest brokerage in terms of number of active clients. Groww had 6.63 million active clients at the end of September, as against Zerodha's 6.48 million, ending the latter's long run at the top. AngelOne and RKSV Securities (Upstox) were ranked third and fourth with 4.86 million and 2.19 million active clients, according to data available on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
In a memorable year for the equity market, Dalal Street investors added a whopping Rs 81.90 lakh crore to their wealth in 2023 as a raft of positive factors powered a stellar rally in stocks. Experts said India's strong macroeconomic fundamentals, political stability owing to the BJP's success in recent elections in three significant states, optimistic corporate earnings outlook, signals from the US Federal Reserve about three prospective rate cuts next year and heavy retail investors participation played a major role in fuelling the stock market rally in 2023. In the year 2023, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 11,399.52 points or 18.73 per cent.
Sebi also plans to examine if any comments made by company officials or the bankers could have misled investors.
The eight-year-old online messaging service gave potential investors their first glance at its financials on Thursday when it publicly filed its IPO documents, setting the stage for one of the most-anticipated debuts in over a year.
India's largest insurer LIC is likely to list on the stock exchanges on May 17, a week after its bumper initial public offering (IPO) closes. The government is selling over 22.13 crore shares in LIC at a price band of Rs 902-949 a piece in the initial public offering, which opens on May 4 and closes on May 9. As per the final papers filed with Sebi, the allotment of shares to the demat account of bidders will happen by May 16, post which LIC would commence trading of equity shares in the stock exchanges and list "on or about May 17".
'India has always been a bottom-up stock-picking market, and as growth recovers with higher liquidity, mid and small-caps always tend to outperform.'
BharatPe co-founder and managing director Ashneer Grover, who was recently embroiled in a controversy over purportedly using abusive language against Kotak Mahindra Bank staff, has taken a voluntary leave till March-end. Grover informed the company's Board about his decision to proceed on leave earlier in the day, as per a statement issued by the fintech company on Wednesday. "For now, the Board has accepted Ashneer's decision which we agree is in the best interests of the company, our employees and investors, and the millions of merchants we support each day," it said. It added that the company will continue to be led by its CEO Suhail Sameer and its management team.
Byju Raveendran, CEO and founder of the eponymous edtech giant, has told shareholders that the company will set up a board advisory committee (BAC). This was part of a discussion on July 4 with shareholders at an emergency general meeting (EGM). Raveendran also said that in the next EGM in three weeks will give details about BAC's members and composition.
The final guidelines should be there in 3-4 months.
RBI's licensing norms require a bank to bring down promoter holding to 40 % within 3 years of operation - which, for Bandhan Bank, will be by Aug 23
Indian airlines are expected to post a consolidated loss of $4.1 billion this fiscal, similar to what they are estimated to have incurred in 2020-21, taking the total losses of two years to around $8 billion as a result of the pandemic so far, aviation consultancy and research firm CAPA said on Thursday. In a report, CAPA expects domestic passenger traffic to be around 80-95 million in 2021-22 as against 52.5 million in the previous financial year. However, despite this growth, it will be well below than around 140 million passenger volumes recorded in 2019-20, CAPA said in the report. This projection of the traffic volume does not take into account the anticipated third wave of the pandemic, it added.
Will 2022 be a year of contrasting narratives -- one filled with caution and the other with continued optimism?
Government divestment reached record figures after the financial crisis, at the same time as promoters were required to bring down their stake in companies to 75 per cent or less.
Rebalance your portfolio in case it has become overweight on equities vis-a-vis your strategic asset allocation.
'Which fund manager in the world will put money into a company that hasn't filed its annual account?'
Loans for Indian airlines have dried up as banks have become cautious to lend to the sector.
Markets regulator Sebi on Tuesday proposed to rationalise the definition of 'promoter group' and move to the concept of 'person in control' as well as reduce the minimum lock-in periods for promoters' and other shareholders post an IPO. In a consultation paper, the watchdog has also suggested streamlining the disclosures requirement of group companies. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has sough comments from public on the proposals till June 10.
Sebi's change of rules will give the government -- which owns 100 per cent of LIC -- the flexibility to assess market demand and opt for lower dilution.
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and a Republican presidential aspirant have called his fellow rival Indian-American Vivek Ramaswamy a guy who sounds like ChatGPT and described him as an "amateur" Barack Obama.
Stock market minnows put up a stellar show in 2021 giving returns of up to 60 per cent amid Dalal Street dream run and are likely to continue sailing northwards in the New Year too. Trumping pandemic-induced uncertainties, the Indian equity market posted stunning gains this year achieving several feats and smaller stocks benefited the most from the strong momentum. From reaching the momentous 50,000-mark in January to scaling 61,000-level in October, the BSE Sensex had an epic journey this year.
All directors, key officials, and shareholder speakers will be visible and audible and thousands of shareholders, including those from the US, UK, Canada UAE, Japan, HongKong, Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia, will be able to post their questions and eVote on resolutions.
'Calendar year 2023 is going to be big as pessimism takes a back seat.'
'They have helped stabilise our market by acting as a counterbalance to foreign funds.'
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed Nazara Technologies is all set to hit the primary market with its Rs 583-crore IPO on Wednesday. The diversified and online gaming firm's three-day issue will run through March 17-19 and will be entirely an offer for sale (OFS). While 5.29 million equity shares will be offloaded via OFS by some of the shareholders, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, who owns 3.29 million shares or 11.51 per cent stake in the company as of September 30, 2020, has decided to hold on to his stake. The issue has a price band of Rs 1,100-1,101 and will be available in lots of 13 shares and multiples thereof.
Investor wealth zoomed over Rs 10.48 lakh crore in two days as the Budget-driven market euphoria continued to charge bulls on Tuesday.
With Bharatpe's co-founder Ashneer Grover launching an offensive against the firm's investors after facing a probe over alleged fraud, abrasive behaviour and corporate governance issues, the company on Friday said questioning the integrity of board members and misrepresentation of facts is painful. "The (company) board in all its actions has followed due process in the best interest of the company. We would urge that the confidentiality and integrity of the governance review and board meetings is maintained by all," BharatPe said in a statement. The statement followed Grover, who was sent on a three-month leave following allegations of using abusive language against Kotak Mahindra Bank staff and for fraudulent practices, reportedly saying he was "arm-twisted" by the company's investors into going on leave and that he had lost confidence in CEO Sameer Suhail.
'We try to pick up stocks early and hold onto them for the long term.' 'We are not someone who buys and sells on a daily basis.'
At the customary post-Budget media interactions, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her topmost bureaucrats touched upon a number of issues. The minister said the government taxing income from digital virtual assets did not give them legitimacy and that issue was being dealt separately in the planned cryptocurrency Bill. She also expressed confidence that the Budget targets were achievable.
'Largely, new demat accounts are now being opened by the younger crowd, particularly GenZ.' 'This is great news since younger investors start their journey with very little capital, so they are risking less.'
As many as 3.2 lakh shareholders attended the meeting on the newly-minted JioMeet platform from 550 cities in 48 countries.
Zomato has the potential to be an equally important milestone for Indian equity markets, notes Akash Prakash.
In a regulatory filing, Reliance -- the country's most valuable company - said, 'The 43rd AGM will be held on Wednesday, July 15, 2020 at 2 pm though video conferencing / other audio-visual means.'
SoftBank-backed mobility firm Ola, announced expansion of its employee stock options (ESOP) pool to Rs 3000 crore. Ola is also allocating an additional Rs 400 crore worth of stocks to employees in the run up to its IPO. The allocation rewards Ola's high impact employees and will lead to long term wealth creation for them.
The silver lining is that after two years, e-commerce has emerged as the top sector with $689 million in investments across 15 deals, accounting for 43 per cent of all investments in January 2021.
So which sectors are likely to do well in 2022? Should you focus on domestic economy-related sectors or export-oriented ones?