Bullets

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has finally approved the merger between Zee Entertainment Enterprises and Sony Pictures Networks India. After reserving the decision in early July, the merger train is finally good to go. 

The merger was halted multiple times since 2021 for reasons like SEBI’s action against key management and shareholders’ opposition. But now it’s finally happening.

Whether Punit Goenka will be the CEO of the merged entity or not is still unclear.

Till then, read what happened when BCCI stole from Zee Entertainment here.

The board of Axis Bank has approved the acquisition of additional shares in Max Life Insurance. With an investment of ₹1612 crore, their stake will rise from 9.99% to 16.2%. 

The bank would acquire the additional stake by subscribing to the preferential issue of about 14 crore fully paid-up equity shares at a market value of  ₹113.06 per share. 

Know in detail about what exactly is happening with Paytm and the change in shareholding. Look over this article.
 

The Monetary Policy Committee has decided to keep the Repo rate unchanged for the third time in a row. Based on this decision, the Repo rate will remain at 6.50%.

Due to increasing food prices, consumer inflation rose to 4.81% in June. While this number is within the RBI's comfortable standards, the central bank is preparing for possible aftereffects reaching into the month of July.

Click here to better understand the quantitative and qualitative aspects of RBI's monetary policy.

Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) says that the central government’s decision to stop the FAME II subsidy will result in a massive loss for EV makers.

Loss of market share, unpaid dues, interest, and additional cost of capital could amount to a loss of ₹9,000 crore.

EV makers falsified localisation claims to avail of the government's incentives. This resulted in the Ministry of Heavy Industries halting the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid) and Electric Vehicles II.

Also, read about how Maruti Suzuki got up to the challenge by Hyundai in India here.

Gautam Adani's conglomerate could possibly be looking into selling its stake in the FMCG joint venture with Singapore's Wilmar. Adani Enterprises currently holds a 44 per cent stake in Adani Wilmar.

Since the release of this news, the FMCG giant's shares have fallen by around 5%.

The company suffered a ₹79 crore loss this quarter, citing falling oil prices and high inventory costs as the reason behind this shortfall.

Is Adani trying to get rid of oils from its diet to preserve its Fortune?🤔

The Adani group has lost even more money since the beginning of this year. Click here to read how.

Founder Byju Raveendran's efforts to appease Byju's Term Loan B (TLB) lenders aren't working. The increased interest rate for the $1.2 billion loan would likely take Byju's another $50-60 million back.

85% of the TLB creditors agreed to work out new terms for the loan by 3rd August, but nothing official has been announced yet.

Even if creditors accept Byju's proposal for a low-interest rate, how would the troubled EdTech generate the amount is the biggest question.

Catch another ongoing war between Indian forces and the foreign tech giant by reading here what happened between Google and Indian Startups.

Mobile Premier League, a company based in Bengaluru, announced 350 employee layoffs in response to the revelation that online gaming companies will now have to pay 28% GST.

In an email to the staff, co-founder Sai Srinivas stated that the 28% tax will increase the tax burden by 350%–400% and thus the company will have to make some difficult decisions.

Even after numerous requests, there is still no indication that the decision is being reconsidered. 

To learn more about the rate increase's specifics and how it will affect Delta Corp Ltd., read this article.
 

Vijay Shekhar Sharma, CEO and founder of Paytm will acquire a 10.3% stake from Antfin, increasing his shareholding to 19.42% making him the largest shareholder. 

Antfin (Netherlands) Holding B.V. held a 23.8% stake in Paytm, which will reduce to 13.5% after this deal. 

No cash is involved in the transaction. Sharma will buy a stake worth $628 million via his Netherlands-based firm Resilient Asset Management.

Stay tuned for an in-depth article about all that is happening.
 

Hero Motocorp's X440 has been received with much fervour by the Indian populace.

The Royal Enfield competitor brought in 25,000 orders for the Hero raising share prices by 3%. According to Hero, 65% of the orders were for the ₹2.69 lakh model.

The new entrant does not seem to steal the spotlight from the old player but adds to it. Siddhartha Lal's Eicher Motors reported a 50% increase in net profit, from ₹611 crore to ₹918 crore for Q1FY24.

The awaited Digital Personal Data Protection Bill is only one step away from becoming a law as it passes Lok Sabha. Now, after receiving maximum votes from the upper house, Rajya Sabha, the bill would become law.

This bill would safeguard the data privacy of 1.4 billion Indians and will include certain improvements from the Right to Information Act 2005.

Fines up to ₹250 crore would be levied on entities violating the bill’s terms. Data thieves, beware!

Read here to know what pointers may be included in the upcoming bills acts by MeitY.

Food delivery, quick commerce, B2B ingredient platform, Deepinder Goyal's startup has been able to do it all, except earn profits. Well, the profit pain point has actually changed (up to some extent).

The 15-year-old startup finally declared a ₹2 crore PAT for the quarter ended June 2023.

The turnaround has led to a rise in share price by over 13% in a single day! The only problem is, the profit is a result of tax provisions, not operational improvement alone.

State Bank of India is trying to sell bad loans worth ₹96,000 crore to Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARC) in order to clear its financial books, 

The non-performing loan amount has witnessed a 3x increase over last year's amount.

A list of 331 accounts had been sent to the ARC which included loans of the Future Group, companies promoted by Anil Ambani, Videocon Group, Jaypee Group, Visa Power, Shirpur Power, ABG Shipyard and a few more.

Meanwhile, you can click here to learn more about another less well-known bank.
 

Reliance's telecom unit, RJIL, obtained $2.2 billion in funding from Swedish Export Credit Agency. The fund would be utilised to finance the equipment and services for the 5G rollout by RJIL.

RJIL has imported gear from Swedish & Finnish companies Ericsson and Nokia to fulfil its 5G network demands.

Also, Reliance's newly demerged entity Jio Financial Services might be listed soon, as per chairman Mukesh Ambani. Ambani wishes to make JFS India's largest non-banking lending arm as soon as possible.

Did you know that Reliance was once the target of the intelligence agency RAW? Check out the mysterious story here.

Byju's has been regularly in the news, much like a daily ritual of sipping morning tea.

After facing a legal dispute with lenders over a $1.2 billion loan, alleging bogus default claims for control. 

The deadline for loan restructuring negotiations was August 3, and as a result, there was uncertainty and a delay in financial reporting. 

Talks with lenders are scheduled for next week. Till then, for those interested in a comprehensive understanding of the matter, click here.
 

In June, Apple achieved a historic milestone by reaching a $3 trillion valuation. 

However, due to reduced sales and disappointing fourth-quarter results, the company's shares recently fell by around 4.2%. 

As a result, Apple's market value decreased by about $150 billion, falling to $2.85 trillion. 

Navigating through such market changes can be challenging. Meanwhile you can click here for interesting success tales of Indian companies.
 

Madras High Court dismissed 14 out of 16 cases filed against Google Billing Policy by Indian startups Bharat Matrimony, Unacademy, and more. Court said that the case falls under the jurisdiction of CCI, and any decision taken by the body would apply to both parties.

Industrial body ADIF, who led the appeal for the startups, has disclosed its decision to appeal for the HC’s decision.

Google’s new billing policy charges 11-26% of commission, previously 15-30%, by app developers.

This fight between Indian startups and Alphabet’s Google will not end soon. To check what happened or will happen, click here.

Temasek, a Singapore-based Investment firm, has agreed to invest ₹1,200 crore into the four-wheeler passenger electric vehicle arm, Mahindra Electric Automobile Limited (MEAL).

The investment will be made in the form of Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares (CCPS) at a valuation of up to ₹80,580 crore, a 15% increase from the previous valuation.

The Mahindra & Mahindra group has set their “wheels” in motion🚗! 
 

Contrary to the panic spread, the import of laptops and other consumer electronics is NOT BANNED. Vendors like Apple, Dell, HP and more will need special licensing to import these devices.

Vendors will have a one-month period to fulfil orders placed before the implementation of this law. Also, devices bought abroad and brought back to India will not face any restrictions.

Coupled with "PLI 2.0", this move will support the "Make in India" scheme...

and ruin your Diwali tech shopping.🤣

SpiceJet, facing financial challenges, plans to offer 5.91% stake to Carlyle Aviation Partners in exchange for reducing its debts. 

Carlyle will convert SpiceJet's dues of $28.16 million into equity shares at ₹48 each, surpassing the airline's recent closing price of ₹31.42 per share. 

The airline also seeks to issue a 20% stake to Spice Healthcare, owned by its CEO Ajay Singh. 

Will these moves help SpiceJet soar again?
 

Digital ID creator Worldcoin will allow third parties, governments and companies, to use its ID-verifying technology. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s company uses iris scanning to create World IDs for individuals.

The motive of Worldcoin’s establishment is to help identify humans among AI bots.

The announcement of sharing data and technology with 3rd parties has raised privacy concerns. Kenya is among those nations that have suspended Worldcoin activities to check data protection & privacy risks.