Bullets

Taiwan-based Foxconn’s subsidiary plans to invest $200 million in an electronics component manufacturing plant in Tamil Nadu. As per Reuters, CEO of Foxconn Industrial Internet (FII) Brand Cheng, government officials and the CM of Tamil Nadu met to discuss the investment.

FII wishes to establish the plant by 2024 with an initial investment of $180 million to $200 million.

Alongside, Foxconn is looking for a new JV partner to enter India’s semiconductor sector after breaking things off with Vedanta.

Apple seems to be going through the same fate as Google. Around 1500 app developers in the UK have joined hands to file a lawsuit worth $1 billion against the tech giant.

The 15-30% commission charged by Apple plays a huge role in its revenue rise as well as a monopoly in the market.

Along with Japan and Europe. the lawsuit filed by the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal is a new addition to Apple’s legal troubles.

ITC will finally separate its hotel business, with 40% stake retained and 60% given to shareholders. 

This move will attract suitable investors aligned with the hospitality industry, subject to board approval on August 14th. 

With travel picking up, it's a stock worth watching closely🧐. 

To know more about ITC and this demerger, click here.

Gujarat really is the GIFT that keeps on giving...

The dry state will establish the brand new Hirasar airport 30 km away from Rajkot, which will be inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi on his Gujarat trip on July 27 and 28.

The airport cost ₹1,405 crore to build under an MoU between the Airport Authority of India and the Civil Aviation Department of the Gujarat Government. The greenfield airport aims to facilitate the ceramic industry in Morbi and similar businesses.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman launched a cryptocurrency project named Worldcoin this Monday. The project is designed to assist in differentiating AI bots from humans present online using an in-person iris scan.

World IDs created using Worldcoin’s “orb” would work as digital passports verifying humanness with iris scans. Worldcoin would offer 25 crypto tokens "WLD" to users on signup.

Worldcoin’s motive to identify humanity in an AI-influenced world seems hypocritical after the development of ChatGPT.

Byju's has reached an initial agreement to renegotiate its $1.2 billion term loan B with lenders holding over 85% ownership. 

Before August 3, 2023, the parties want to complete the amendment, preventing the possibility of speeding up the process of repayment of loan. 

Byju's COO, Mrinal Mohit, also gave staff assurances that there would be no more layoffs in the tuition-centre sector.

Seems like their train is getting back on track.
 

Adani Group bids adieu to the financial sector by selling its 90% stakes in Adani Capital and Adani Housing to Bain Capital. The 90% stakes value is around ₹1600 crore, with CEO & MD Gaurav Gupta holding the remaining 10% stake.

The transaction between both parties is expected to occur by the year's fourth quarter.

Chairman Gautam Adani finds Bain Capital a credible investor and deems it the right time for the group to exit the NBFC sector.

BYD Motors, the world's largest EV maker by sales, has been rejected by the centre from establishing a manufacturing unit in India. FDI policy's strict regulations seem to be the cause for rejection.

BYD Motors with Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd. submitted a proposal to set up a $1 billion four-wheeler manufacturing facility in Hyderabad which was seemingly rejected.

With the proposal's decline, BYD Motors' wish to compete with Tesla in the global market is likely delayed.

Infosys reported a Q1 FY24 net profit of ₹5,945 crore, up 11% from the previous year. 

However, because of the revised revenue growth prediction of 1%-3.5% for the whole year, as opposed to the original estimate of 4%-7%, the company's share price opened lower and fell by about 10%. 

Despite this, major companies' increasing focus on Indian markets indicates well for our economy.
 

Suspended in March 2023, Adani Enterprises led PVC project in Mundra will resume with a ₹34,000 crore funding. An SBI-led consortium has provided significant backing, with ₹14,500 crores funded by public sector banks and the other half by private lenders.

A PVC plant with an initial capacity of 1 million tonnes would be set up by Mundra Petrochem, Adani Enterprises’ subsidiary, under the project.

Dharavi project and now Mundra PVC project, Adani is back in action.

Tata Group plans to invest $5.2 billion in the UK, establishing an electric vehicle battery plant to support Jaguar Land Rover and other European manufacturers. 

This action will strengthen the UK auto industry significantly and generate about 4,000 new direct employment. 

The gigafactory will start producing batteries in 2026 to supply JLR's next electric vehicles.

To me this signals a turning point for the UK's automobile sector and a move towards a more environmentally friendly automotive future.
 

Disney+, Hotstar, Voot, Zee5, SonyLIV, Manorama Max, SunNXT, and Discovery+ have joined Indian startups’ fight against Google’s infamous billing policy. These streaming apps are being represented by the Indian Digital Media Industry Foundation (IDMIF).

IDMIF stated its dilemma to CCI in a letter stating the commission being charged by Google to be “unjustified”.

A war with Indian startups and OTTs on one side and tech giant Google on the other is brewing. What would the outcome be?

In the June quarter, iPhone sales in India surpassed those in Germany and France, making it the fifth largest market. 

Recognizing the potential, Apple plans to begin manufacturing in India to reduce its dependence on China. 

Notably, Apple's market share in the Indian smartphone market increased to 5.1%, and the nation accounted for approximately 4% of all iPhone sales worldwide. 

This trend signifies a positive shift as major companies focus on the Indian market, forecasting well for our economy.
 

SoftBank's Vision Fund’s stake in Paytm dropped to 9.15% as they recently sold another 2% of their shares. 

SoftBank has sold a total of 12,771,434 equity shares. Also since the lock-in period's end in November, they have offloaded 4.5% in November, and then an additional 2.07% of the company's stock. 

Paytm's stock price was rising, but SoftBank's divestment caused a downward turn.

What does this imply for the future of Paytm? Time will only tell.
 

Sheela Foam, manufacturer of Sleepwell Mattresses, plans to raise ₹1500 crore through a combination of debt and equity to purchase stakes in competitors Kurlon Enterprises and Furlenco. 

The deal with Furlenco and Kurlon is expected to be finalised by August and  November respectively. 

They will acquire a majority stake of nearly 95% in Kurlon for ₹2150 crore and about 35% in Furlenco for ₹300 crore. 

The company's share price has jumped, bouncing like a well-rested sleeper on a brand-new mattress.
 

Instant delivery startup Dunzo is in talks with Reliance Retail for a ₹164 crore investment. Dunzo tried raising ₹615 crore through convertible notes in 2019 but couldn’t raise more than ₹369 crore.

As Dunzo plans to focus on its B2B operations instead of consumer business, it desires assistance from its largest investor, Reliance Retail.

From laying off employees to shutting down 70% of dark stores, Dunzo has been the bearer of bad news this year. Can Reliance save Dunzo?

Tata Consumer Products, Wipro Consumer Care, and Lighting are reportedly competing for a ₹1,000 crore majority share in Chennai's popular Aachi Masala Food. 

In 2017, Aachi had discussions with private equity funds, but regrettably, no deals happened. 

This marks Wipro's second move into the segment after acquiring Kerala-based Brahmins. With Tata's Sampann brand already in the mix, who will hold the spice throne once Aachi's promoters step back?
 

Flair Writing Industries has filed to raise ₹745 crore through an IPO. Per the DRHP filed by the pen-making company, fresh equity shares worth ₹365 crore and ₹380 crore shares would be issued and sold by promoters, respectively.

Funds raised by the IPO would be utilised to establish a writing instruments manufacturing unit in Valsad, Gujarat, fund capital expenditure, and pay a ₹43 crore debt.

With a 9% share, Flair can be added to the most-awaited IPO list.

HCL Technologies is upgrading its automotive capabilities with the acquisition of ASAP Group for $280 million in cash. 

However, the corporation stated that junior and mid-level staff will have their appraisals postponed by a quarter and that senior personnel will not receive compensation increases this year. 

The company's strategy and treatment of its top personnel are both called into question by this mismatch🤔.
 

Foodtech firm Swiggy announced to acquire retail distribution company LYNK Logistics soon. LYNK reported 158.6% operating revenue growth but faced a surge of 74.8% in its losses. 

This would be Swiggy's third major investment in two years, although the deal's value was kept undisclosed. With this deal, Swiggy plans to enter the $70 billion+ FMCG market.

After Rapido and Dineout, let's see if Swiggy's third bet in two years dons out the expected results.