It is time for the men's and women's professional tennis bodies to merge says former world number one Kim Clijsters.
Dwaipayan Bose simplifies the whys and hows of revisiting your financial goals
'A rigid or overly broad interpretation could lead to a chilling effect on investments and growth in sectors traditionally driven by private initiative.' 'Entrepreneurs may fear that their assets could be arbitrarily appropriated by the State under the guise of serving the 'common good' without sufficient legal safeguards.' 'The judgment thus supports a more nuanced view, one that balances individual property rights with public welfare objectives.'
Amidst strained ties with China, the pre-budget Economic Survey on Monday made a strong case for seeking foreign direct investments (FDI) from Beijing to boost local manufacturing and tap the export market. As the US and Europe are shifting their immediate sourcing away from China, it is more effective to have Chinese companies invest in India and then export the products to these markets rather than importing from the neighbouring country, the Survey said.
Hospital chain Aster DM Healthcare's plans to sell its Gulf business may run into rough weather with voting advisory firm Institutional Investor Advisory Services (IiAS) raising concerns over the transaction. Recommending an 'against' vote on the resolution, IiAS has said there is no clarity on how Aster DM will utilise the proceeds that it will obtain by selling the unit, which contributes to bulk of its revenues. In November, Aster DM had announced its plans to sell its wholly-owned subsidiary Affinity Holdings, which conducts business in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, to Alpha GCC for $1 billion.
Market regulator Sebi does not expect a large number of foreign portfolio investors to be impacted by the new beneficial ownership disclosure norms, according to sources. The norms are set to come into effect from February 1 and against this backdrop, the equity market has witnessed significant volatility, with the benchmark Sensex crashing over 1,000 points on Tuesday after shedding early intraday gains. The sources in the know said FPIs which may be required to provide enhanced disclosures are expected to be significantly less than estimated in the consultation paper and the Sebi board note of October 2023.
Privatisation-bound Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) may sell a part of its stake in Petronet LNG and Indraprastha Gas (IGL) to shed its promoter status to obviate the need for its new owner to make open offers for the two gas companies, sources said. BPCL holds 12.5 per cent of shareholding in India's largest liquefied natural gas importer, Petronet, and a 22.5 per cent stake in city gas retailer, IGL. It is a promoter of both the listed companies and holds board positions. As per the legal position evaluated by Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) - the department running the process for sale of government's entire 52.98 per cent stake in BPCL - the acquirer of BPCL will have to make an open offer to the minority shareholders of Petronet and IGL for acquisition of 26 per cent shares, three sources with knowledge of the matter said.
In a deal that had marked India's first-ever hostile takeover bid in the IT space, L&T had bought 20.32 per cent shares in Mindtree from V G Siddhartha and his coffee enterprise for over Rs 3,000 crore in March. Nalanda India Fund and Nalanda India Equity Fund have also sold majority of their holdings in Mindtree in L&T's open offer.
India's mutual fund (MF) industry had barely any retail footprint when it completed 50 years in 2013. MFs had Rs 7 trillion in assets under management (AUM) in March 2013, of which around Rs 5 trillion was in institution-focused debt funds. By comparison, bank deposits in the country stood at Rs 67.5 trillion around the same time.
There were certainly qualities adhering to the Tata Group, which emanated from the persona of Ratan Tata. Most notable of these would be the low profile he maintained, which sharply contrasted the in-your-face celebrity status, celebration of wealth and pursuit of importance many of liberalised India's rich, love, notes Shyam G Menon.
Fair trade regulator CCI on Tuesday said it has approved the demerger of the hotel business of diversified entity ITC Ltd into a separate entity. After the completion of the demerger, shares of ITC Hotels Ltd, a new entity, will be listed on the stock exchanges. The proposed combination relates to the demerger of the demerged undertaking to ITC's wholly-owned newly incorporated subsidiary, ITC Hotels.
Trade links with Israel have strengthened in the past few years, even as the value of goods exchanged with Iran has diminished. Iran accounted for $3.9 billion worth of India's exports in the four quarters ending December 2019, compared to $3.6 billion to Israel. However, India's exports to Iran dropped to $1.2 billion as of December 2023, on a rolling four-quarter basis, while exports to Israel grew to $6.1 billion in the same period.
Adani group opened a $1.2 billion copper plant, bought a port in Odisha, raised stakes in a cement company and stitched an alliance with rival Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries, all in a matter of one week in signs that the apples-to-airport conglomerate has shrugged off the Hindenburg effect and is back to rapid expansion spree. In the last one week, Adani group has through regulatory filings and press statements announced expansions and investments in its mainstay ports business, diversification into metal refining, fund infusion into a two-year-old cement foray and continuing progress in the commissioning of its mega solar project.
The authority said in its order that it believes that the movable assets and equity shares that were attached by the ED are proceeds of crime and linked to the offence of money laundering.
Eleven companies have launched their initial public offerings (IPOs) in December 2023, making this month the second-best December for public offerings since 1996. Collectively, they are raising Rs 8,182.7 crore this month. In December 2021, 11 companies raised Rs 9,534 crore. However, excluding December 2021, this month marks the best December for IPOs since 1996.
US private equity firm I Squared Capital is dropping out of the race to buy India's second-largest state oil firm, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) owing to a complex deal structure and lack of financial backers for the transaction, sources said. I Squared Capital through its Indian arm, Think Gas was among the three suitors that had evinced interest in buying the government's near 53 per cent shareholding in BPCL. "The company has made a decision not to participate in the financial bidding," a source with direct knowledge of the development said.
Promoters' holding in private sector BSE 500 companies declined to 43.4% in Sept
Paramount Global has agreed to sell its 13 per cent stake in its Indian TV business to Reliance Industries for Rs 4,286 crore, the Indian firm said on Thursday. In a stock exchange filing, Reliance said it has signed a binding agreement with two subsidiaries of Paramount Global to acquire 13.01 per cent equity stake of Viacom 18 Media Private Limited held by Paramount Global. Similarly, in a filing on the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Paramount Global said the closing of the transaction is subject to the satisfaction of certain customary conditions, including receipt of applicable regulatory approvals, as well as the completion of a previously announced joint venture involving Reliance, Viacom18 and Star Disney.
As much as Rs 47,810 crore was spent on share buybacks by 48 companies in 2023 -- the highest amount since 2017. This surge in value was largely driven by a few large-sized issues, including those by Tata Consultancy Services (Rs 17,000 crore), Larsen & Toubro (Rs 10,000 crore), and Wipro (Rs 12,000 crore). In 2022, 58 companies had repurchased shares worth Rs 38,305 crore, according to data from Prime Database.
From the Sensex basket, Tata Consultancy Services, Nestle, Bajaj Finserv, Wipro, Maruti Suzuki India, Reliance Industries, Larsen & Toubro and NTPC were the major laggards. Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, JSW Steel and Bharti Airtel were among the gainers.
The promoters of Satyam Computers, currently facing the wrath of shareholders over corporate governance issues, used to own as much as 25.60 per cent equity in the company till few years ago before reducing their stake in phases.
'Mankind's experience, sharpness, and execution will make it happen. We are not going for short-term gains.'
Investors say they see large companies going through the grind, as their promoters struggle with liquidity because they are levered up at the holding company level and are starting to get margin calls thanks to the crashes in the stock market, and in the next six months, the targets that will come up for PE companies will make for a harvest season like never before.
Trump's comments prompted immediate criticism.
4 MNCs among top 10 companies with dividend-earning promoters in FY15.
The Competition Commission of India has approved the acquisition of 31.27 per cent of additional stake in Religare Enterprises by four entities of Dabur India promoter Burman family, enabling them to become majority owners in the financial services firm. The fair trade regulator allowed the four entities to acquire Religare's 5.27 per cent through stock market purchase and another 26 per cent through an open offer.
Banks, so far, were not keen in financing solar power projects.
Electrical Consumer Durable (ECD) companies like Havells India have seen strong Q4FY24 sales and continuing seasonal demand across fans, air coolers, and room air conditioners (RAC) in addition to business-to-business sales of cables, switchgear, and professional lighting, among others. Havells India's Q4FY24 revenue rose 12 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 5,400 crore, in-line with consensus. Strong summer demand led to robust volume growth in fans and RAC and volume growth in cable and wires (C&W) due to infrastructure spending and real estate activity.
Insurance sector regulator IRDAI has given conditional approval to Hinduja Group firm IndusInd International Holdings Ltd (IIHL) for the takeover of debt-ridden Reliance Capital. "We are happy to acknowledge the receipt of approval from IRDAI yesterday (May 10, 2024) on the auspicious occasion of Akshay Tritiya. "The approval is subject to certain 'regulatory, statutory, and judicial' clearances/compliances," an IIHL spokesperson said in a statement.
Of 194 entities thrown off the exchange, BSE doesn't have promoter names or addresses for 168 firms; yet it has ordered all promoters to buy back shares
Mauritius-based IndusInd International Holdings and other Hinduja group entities are expected to make payments worth Rs 9,661 crore for the acquisition of bankrupt Reliance Capital (RCap) only after getting all the legal and regulatory clearances, including from the Supreme Court, thus delaying the closure of the transaction. A source close to the development said that according to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) order dated February 27, the payment for the acquisition was to be made within 90 days from the NCLT's approval of the resolution plan and after receiving all legal and regulatory clearances.
Satyam Computer on Monday sank deeper into a crisis with two more directors quitting the board and the company announced that lenders were possibly selling promoters' equity that is entirely pledged with them.
'Rather than taking a very short-term view on the markets, equity investing should be premised on longer term growth opportunities.'
IT major Wipro on Thursday reported a marginal year-on-year decline of 0.4 per cent in net profit to Rs 3,074.5 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2023 and announced a share buyback of up to Rs 12,000 crore. The Wipro board approved the buyback of 26.96 crore equity shares at a price of Rs 445 apiece. "Board...of Wipro...has approved a proposal to buyback up to 26,96,62,921 equity shares, being 4.91 per cent of the total paid-up equity shares of the company, for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 120,00,00,00,000 at a price of Rs 445...per equity share," the company said a regulatory filing.
Many promoters still consider the cash in the company as their money and are averse to sharing this pie with minority investors, points out Akash Prakash.
'Business families like the Godrej group are increasingly realising that an amicable settlement is better.' 'Else, the wealth of all shareholders gets destroyed.'
Discussion has started between blank check companies in the US and Indian PEs on possible deals in certain key sectors.
Insolvency appellate tribunal NCLAT on Tuesday upheld the resolution plan of grounded carrier Jet Airways and approved the transfer of its ownership to Jalan Kalrock Consortium. The NCLAT bench has directed the Jet Airways monitoring committee to complete the transfer of ownership within 90 days. Besides, it has also directed the lenders of Jet Airways to adjust the Rs 150 crore paid by the consortium as performance bank guarantee.
In another example of the growing focus on security in the telecom sector, the Foreign Investment Promotion Board has asked whether US-based Verizon Wireless operates in Pakistan, while deferring its proposal for transfer of equity shares.