Bullets

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.

The company has received the Letter of Approval (LOA) from the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) for the rehabilitation and upgradation of the Chandikhole-Paradip Section in Odisha. 

This order demonstrates RVNL's skill in executing diverse railway projects. From new lines to electrification and major bridges, they do it all!

To know more about RVNL's transformative impact on India's transportation landscape, click here.
 

With the acquisition of 21st Century Fox, Walt Disney got Star India & Hotstar. Now Disney is looking to form a JV with a good prospect or outright sell the company.

Losing the Indian Premier League’s streaming rights to Viacom 18 last year cost Hotstar around 8-10 million subscribers.

Forming a joint venture with a worthy partner might be the only way to keep Star India under Disney’s wing. If not, letting the media company go might be Disney’s call.

Temasek Holdings Ltd posted a net loss of $6 billion for this year and its worst shareholder returns since 2016. The net loss was a first in the decade, and the shareholder returns fell by 5.07% for the year.

The loss, according to the company, comes as a result of "mark-to-market accounting" of its assets- a phenomenon where fair value is calculated using the current market price of the asset/organisation.

Is the 2023 Bank collapse heading to Asian geographies?

At the 50th GST Council meeting, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the application of 28% GST on online gaming, horse racing, and casinos.

With this decision, the long-held debate on taxation rates for chance-based and skill-based games has concluded. These rates will be added under GST law schedule III as taxable actionable claims.

The online gaming industry is not happy with this development and finds it to be “unconstitutional”, “irrational”, and “egregious”, as per AIGF’s CEO.

In an all-cash agreement worth ₹537 crore, CarTrade Tech is about to purchase Sobek Auto India Pvt. Ltd, the auto sales section of OLX India. 

According to the exchange filing, CarTrade and Sobek have reached a share purchase agreement that will allow CarTrade to acquire Sobek's entire stock. 
Within 30 days, the agreement is anticipated to be completed. 

The search for a buyer for OLX Autos' Indian business has finally come to an end.
 

Attention future iPhone buyers and tech enthusiasts in general! Your expectations for lower gadget prices might have experienced a little glitch.

The ambitious and long-drawn partnership between Vedanta Ltd and Taiwan-based chip manufacturer Foxconn has abruptly come to an end, with Foxconn withdrawing from the $1.9 thousand crore deal.

Vedanta Ltd's shares, which have shown ~23% growth in the last year, have experienced a fall of ~10% in the last six months and fell 2% overnight due to this withdrawal.

Amidst the many obstacles in Zee’s path, promoter Subhash Chandra and CEO Punit Goenka’s requests were blown away by SAT.

Securities Appellate Tribunal decided not to intervene in the ban placed by the SEBI regulator on their authority in Zee Group. SAT refused to intervene after finding no reason to do so!

So, Chandra & Goenka have been barred from holding key managerial positions as per June 12 order. By when the punishment ends is unclear at present.

Harley Davidson is looking to re-enter the Indian premium motorbike race with its economically priced X440, but the company does not intend to stop at just selling in India.

By manufacturing the bike in India, partnered with Hero Motocorp, HD can avoid the heavy import tariffs on bikes.

HD is looking into using these manufacturing units to produce bikes in India for exports. If HD succeeds, the Indian economy could thrive, while certain "Lifestyle Company" struggles.

The split of Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries and its financial services division has been approved by the National Company Law Tribunal, as a result of which the stock price has gone almost 4%⬆️.

 The newly rebranded Jio Financial Services Limited will likely be listed by September. 

This decision is anticipated to create India's fifth-largest financial services giant and unleash enormous potential for shareholders. 

Meanwhile, to read about Jio’s success story, click here.  

The largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world is simplifying crypto investments in the nation by providing trading facilities in Rupees. After a trade is finalised, Binance will work as the third party between buyer and seller for crypto assets transfer.

Investors can trade by transferring funds from banks, GPay, or even physical cash.

This step is likely to meet allegations of lawbreaking and money laundering and is now under the eyes of regulators in the country.

IOCL approved the plan to raise ₹22,000 via the rights issue of equity shares. This funding is part of the government’s plan for state-owned fuel retailers to contribute funds to net zero carbon emission projects.

The initiative will apply to the three state-owned fuel retailers; Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (HPCL), and IOCL.

With the government being the company's primary owner, the rights issue will likely be subscribed by the state.