Allotment could be low, and expected listing-day gains can quickly morph into losses if sentiment takes a turn for the worse
Embattled retailer Future Retail Ltd (FRL) on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court to avert insolvency proceedings over missing a loan repayment deadline, even as its independent directors rejected an Amazon-supported offer to sell the company businesses at less than a third of what Mukesh Ambani's Reliance is offering. India's second-largest retailer, which operates multi-brand retail chains such as Big Bazaar, Easyday and Heritage, failed to pay Rs 3,494.56 crore to lenders by the due date of December-end and sought a 30-day grace period to resolve the situation. Unable to find money, it moved the apex court seeking to restrain its lenders from declaring the company a defaulter, which can invite initiation of insolvency proceedings.
It is alleged that the company floated 32 subsidiaries in several tax haven countries to bring foreign funds to India through sham transactions.
Hindustan Zinc (HZL), a subsidiary of Vedanta, announced an interim dividend of Rs 21 per share last week, resulting in an outflow of Rs 8,863 crore. The announcement has turned the spotlight on India Inc's dividend-paying policy - more so for reasons driving the generosity of firms. An analysis of BSE 500 companies by Business Standard Research Bureau shows that some of the top 20 dividend-paying companies in 2021-22 (FY22) include Vedanta, Tata Consultancy Services, HZL, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Indian Oil Corporation (IndianOil), Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Reliance Industries (RIL), and Bajaj Auto, among others.
In a wide-ranging overhaul of rules to make India an easier, safer and attractive investment destination, Sebi on Tuesday unveiled a new set of streamlined entry norms for foreign investors, while putting in place checks against any wrongdoings by the company promoters.
Nancy Pelosi's gritty refusal to backtrack on her plans to visit Taiwan is part of who she is.
The company will now focus on value creation for shareholders in the defence and construction businesses.
It's raining IPOs, with eight issues hitting the market in a span of six days. However, the pace of new filings points to a deluge during the latter part of the year. So far this year, 58 companies have filed their draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the market regulator for initial public offerings (IPOs), exceeding the combined tally of 50 in the last two years. Industry participants said the filing count could cross 100 this year, setting a new benchmark in terms of amount mobilised in a calendar year.
Fintech firm MobiKwik on Monday filed a draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the markets regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), for its initial public offering (IPO). According to its DRHP, the company plans to raise Rs 1,900 crore, which includes a fresh issue of Rs 1,500 crore and an offer for sale of Rs 400 crore. The selling shareholders include American Express Travel, Bajaj Finance, Cisco Systems and Sequoia Capital India, besides founder Bipin Preet Singh. MobiKwik is the latest among tech majors wanting to list on stock exchanges. Food delivery start-up Zomato will launch its IPO on Wednesday.
Sebi proposes to relax ownership rules to allow more entrants in the exchange space, which is seeing a disruption globally with the emergence of new technologies such as block chain.
'The pandemic ends only when 70 per cent of the world is vaccinated with two doses.'
Coming down heavily on MF players who in recent past chose to use shareholder fund to buy out debt of bleeding invested companies, Sebi said MFs can't have standstill agreements with companies and will take action against fund houses for such deals.
At a closed-door meeting with global investors, the largest asset manager in the country boasted of its nearly Rs 37 trillion assets under management (AUM) - 16.6 times that managed by the second-largest insurer SBI Life. The numbers are as of March 31, 2021. The assets of LIC are 1.2 times the net assets of the entire Indian mutual fund industry, which had AUM of Rs 31.43 trillion as of March 31, 2021 (about Rs 37.3 trillion until November this year). The standalone assets that LIC manages are equal to 18.7 per cent of India's GDP and worth more than gross domestic product (GDP) of the UAE, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Africa, New Zealand, and Pakistan.
The past appears to have interrupted the future of the New Delhi Railway Station (NDLS). With two protected heritage buildings sitting in the way of the plan to redevelop the railway station, officials in the know say the project may end up back on the drawing board since the National Monuments Authority (NMA), the body tasked with the protection and preservation of monuments and sites, is yet to give its approval. "A nod from NMA is awaited before going into the next phase of bids for the redevelopment of the New Delhi Railway Station," a senior official of the Ministry of Railways told Business Standard. While the Railways ministry is hopeful of getting approvals from the NMA before the end of the current financial year, there is no clarity on this yet.
If raters get away by moving from AAA to D overnight after companies default, as happened with DHFL, YES Bank, RCom, and IL&FS, it shows a complete breakdown in the rating system. It calls for exemplary punishment, not kid glove treatment, says Debashis Basu.
If convicted, the offences entail a maximum punishment of seven years.
RailTel Corporation of India, Indigo Paints, Home First Finance Company, Indian Railway Finance Corporation, and Suryoday Small Finance Bank are among the companies looking to tap the market.
Zerodha will not raise external funds now or in the future, because it is profitable and has zero debt.
Maybe Modi could ask a patriarch of the stature of the late G D Birla to flesh out the details of a new company to manage government land privatisation.
If the central banks act harshly now, the markets will crash and then rally. If they are hesitant, the pain will be prolonged, predicts Debashis Basu.
Digital payments provider Paytm is all set to make its market debut as early as this year, with an aim to raise $3 billion (around Rs 22,000 crore). If successful, this could be the biggest initial public offering (IPO) by an Indian company, breaking Coal India's 2010 record of Rs 15,475 crore. According to media reports, the board of One97, parent company of Paytm, is all set to meet this Friday to formally approve the IPO plan.
The new wing will be known as the corporate finance investigation department, which will be headed by one of Sebi's executive directors. This department will have information technology solutions experts, particularly to detect the menace of frauds.
While a DFI will help banks derisk their loan portfolios, creation of a bad bank will clean up their balance sheets.
The group, headed by former RBI deputy governor H R Khan, has also pitched for liberalised investment cap, review of prohibited sectors for foreign investment for FPIs, permitting FPIs for off-market transactions and review of restriction on sovereign wealth funds for investment in corporate debt securities.
The government is considering a proposal to privatise some state-owned banks in phases.
Several institutional investors were ineligible to invest in these companies as they failed to meet the disclosure norms
State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and a joint venture of billionaire Gautam Adani's gas arm and Total of France -- Adani Total Gas Ltd -- have bid for maximum number of licenses to retail CNG to automobiles and piped cooking gas to households in the latest city gas bidding round.
The Indian State's arbitrariness may have come to be accepted with resignation within the country, but when it behaves in the same manner with external players, it gets a push-back, observes T N Ninan.
'We go through 18 years of school and college, but we lack many necessary skills.' 'The biggest lessons we need, to live life, are somehow not taught, and they are only learned on the job.' 'My intention, through my content, my books, and my start-ups, is to make college kids become life ready.'
'You can't take money from Shaktikanta Das (the RBI governor) and give it to Nirmala Sitharaman (the Union finance minister). She will blow it away on Modi.'
In the past few months, 45 companies have signalled their intent to raise money through the institutional placement route.
NCLT in its judgement said: "The removal of Cyrus Mistry as executive chairperson was because the board lost confidence and not because they were contemplating that he would cause discomfort to Ratan Tata, N Soonawala and others.' "The Board is competent to remove an executive chairman. Mr Mistry's removal from the position of director came because he admittedly sent out company information to the I-T (department), press, and came out in public against the board and the trust."
Private equity player Everstone Capital has sold Modern Foods, which it had taken over in early 2016 from Hindustan Unilever, to Mexican baking major Grupo Bimbo for an undisclosed sum.
While the recent volatility in the secondary markets is a concern, experts believe the sentiment towards IPOs is still buoyant.
A lot of work is needed to be done on the part of the insurance sector behemoth, and the government, before it is ready for its market debut.
The IPO is an offer for sale of 38 million shares by SBI, BOB, LIC, PNB and T Rowe Price. Barring T Rowe and PNB, the others are selling stake to comply with Sebi norms.
State-owned companies have been set stiff targets to increase accountability as they get ready for divestment. Nikunj Ohri explains why meeting them will be challenging.
In a bid to discourage junk food culture,a 14.5 per cent 'fat tax' on burgers, pizzas and pasta will be levied.
As the feud continues between Zee and Invesco, appellate body NCLAT on Thursday directed the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to give reasonable opportunity to the media major to reply to Invesco's plea for holding a meeting of shareholders, and also remarked that the tribunal made an "error" by not providing sufficient response time. With the order capping a day of fast legal developments at the NCLAT as well as the NCLT within a span of a little over an hour, the spat between Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) and minority shareholder Invesco will now come up for hearing before the NCLT on Friday. Invesco is seeking the ouster of ZEEL MD and CEO Punit Goenka and appointment of six new directors on its board.
