Bullets

Bengaluru-based Town Essentials is taking Tata-owned big basket to court over a dispute regarding the acquisition of the micro-delivery platform, DailyNinja. The dispute arose due to losses caused to Town Essentials, as its exclusive sourcing partner, DailyNinja's customers, were moved to BigBasket's platform, without informing Town Essentials.

Town Essentials now demands that BigBasket halts any micro-delivery business and fulfils its supply needs from Town Essentials till the end of the ongoing trials. Town Essentials also demands ₹36 crore in damages.

EdTech unicorn Byju’s is planning the launch of its test-prep subsidiary, Aakash Education Services, sometime in 2024. The Byju’s board have already passed the proposal to make the subsidiary public.

The board believes that with this IPO, Aakash will get the opportunity to broaden its reach and improvise its infrastructure.

The announcement of an IPO launch seems like a desperate attempt, especially when parent Byju’s struggles to pay off its $1.2 billion debt.

In May, there was a significant influx of ₹43,838 crore from FPIs into Indian stocks, marking the highest amount since August of the previous year. 

The increased investments can be attributed to robust economic performances and favourable market prices. 

Notably, in March, a significant investment of ₹15,446 crore was made by US-based GQG Partners into four Adani group companies, contributing to positive net flows. 

From Selling to Surging, FPIs seem on a rollercoaster ride of the Indian Equities. 
 

BharatPe hasn’t seemed to rest since the Ashneer Grover fiasco broke out in January. BharatPe’s annual report included an opinion on irregularities from auditor Deloitte.

Apparently, the fintech company’s screening for vendor selection and payment approvals doesn’t follow the necessary guidelines. This can be a huge red flag, resulting in inappropriately approved prices in BharatPe. 

Is BharatPe still suffering from the drastic aftermath of the loss procured by Grover, or as Grover proclaims, is it an internal issue?

EdTech giant BYJU's is faced with yet another monetary issue! As if the allegations of "hiding $500 million" weren't bad enough, the startup now needs to make an interest payment of $40 million on the $1.2 billion loan that lenders are looking to restructure.

Failure in repayment would lead to a default on the loan, which stands to be the largest unrated loan by a startup ever.

India's most valuable startup? What's the point if the value is borrowed?!

IRDAI has directed SBI Life Insurance to take on the liabilities of 2,00,000 policies and acquire the assets of Sahara India Life Insurance due to its deteriorating financial condition. 

SILIC, appointed as administrator in 2017, failed to meet regulatory requirements. SBI Life will establish a specialized unit to serve policyholders and provide necessary information on its website for compliance. 

The outcome of this decision remains uncertain, and its future implications are yet to unfold.
 

Finfluencers are now adding a new feather of innovation to their hats. While SEBI requires individuals to possess an RA license to provide advisory services, which include the infamous "stock tips", they are quite tight-fisted with said license.

According to Moneycontrol and Business Standard, these influencers are now paying 20% of their fees from advisory services to "rent" these licenses from individuals that possess them already to bypass SEBI's rules.

Ye India hai! Yahan har cheez ka jugaad mil jaega!

A deal worth $1.6 Billion is on Tata Group’s next agenda as it signs a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Gujarat government.

The plant is set to be based in Sanand, northern Gujarat, and will have an initial manufacturing capacity of 20 Gigawatt hours(GWH)

This lithium-ion cell plant will surely boost the nation’s efforts to expand the Electric Vehicles supply line. The sustainable automobile era is coming right up!! 🚗

EdTech firm Byju's is having the carpet yoinked from underneath it as it goes through funding and managerial troubles.

Lenders to Byju's are accusing the educator of hiding a whopping $500 million by transferring the money out of the business account, based on a confession by an unnamed manager.

Now, lenders to the firm are withdrawing from restructuring existing debts worth $1.2 billion. Lenders also want to replace existing management with their own representatives.

Practice your finances better, Byju's.

The NPCI announced a remarkable milestone for UPI with a record of 9 billion transactions in May this year. 

This umbrella organization overseeing retail payments and settlement systems shared the information via its official Twitter account. 

The transaction count stood at 9.41 billion, with a transaction amount of ₹14.89 lakh crore. There was a YOY growth of 58% in transaction count and 43% in transaction amount.
 
Get ready for an astonishing leap in digital payments!
 

Beware all Amazon’s Alexa & Ring users, as your activities might be recorded! As a settlement to a privacy violations case, Amazon has agreed to pay a fine of $30.8 million.

Kids’ voice records and locations were stored by voice assistant “Alexa” and video doorbell “Ring” engaged in unlawful surveillance of customers.

Amazon avoided deleting these data for years for profitable use, and now the power of money would help Amazon carry on its usual spying. What a world!

Indian GDP has grown at a rate of 7.2% for the year 2022-23, while the GDP growth for Q4FY23 stood at 6.1%. Both of these growth rates are higher than forecasts set out by the Reserve Bank of India.

This was after multiple financial organisations had reduced the growth projection of the Indian GDP, including the RBI setting the rate to 7.0%.

RBI, staying prudent, has forecast a growth rate of 6.5% for the next financial year.

Failing to raise equity worth ₹1,000 Crore, PharmEasy breached its covenant with investment company Goldman Sachs. The efforts to raise equity for a year included postponing their Initial Public Offering (IPO).

₹2,280 Crore was borrowed by PharmEasy from Goldman Sachs last August to pay off its debt to Kotak Mahindra Bank in the Thyrocare acquisition.

Will Goldman Sachs end up taking over Thyrocare or even the entire PharmEasy, as mentioned in the covenant agreement?

Byju's and Meesho's valuations have joined the infamous valuation tumble. After three months, BlackRock again dropped Byju's valuation to $8.2 billion from an $11.15 billion slash by the US-based investor in March.

Whereas, Meesho saw a 10% cut by US investor Fidelity making its valuation drop from $4.9 billion to $4.4 billion.

Swiggy, PineLabs, Ola, and Oyo are some names joining the valuation tumble this year. What's happening in the investing sector?🤔

WhatsApp is starting to monetise its Business platform with a new pricing policy. Based on the nature of communication, WhatsApp Business will charge ₹0.3082 for utility messages and ₹0.7265 for marketing messages from June 1st.

This news has hit small and medium businesses as they rely most on the medium to carry on their operations.

Many seem reluctant to continue their operations as usual with WhatsApp Business, whereas others think it is a necessity for their operations.

NDTV is currently being temporarily further monitored by the BSE and NSE because of unusual price swings caused by the spike in Adani group shares. 

Since the previous Monday, when Adani companies rallied after being cleared of allegations by a Supreme Court-appointed commission, the stock has increased 34%.

Is it merely a coincidence that the Adani group companies had already been monitored, adding to the general suspicion raised by NDTV's latest investigation?
 

The government banned 232 betting apps in February 2023. To which iPhone maker Apple responded by asking for a “concrete or legal reason” to take down the betting apps from its phones.

After MeitY’s order to ban apps like Betway, Lotus 365, etc., many are still operating in the open with advertisements on digital platforms and Apple App Store. 

Will Apple comply with the government’s clause, or will it take up arms in the court?

PR Sundar has agreed with SEBI to settle a prominent case by returning the advisory fee and surrendering over ₹6 crore.

The mastermind, along with his partner in crime Mangayarkarasi Sundar, both promoters of Mansun Consulting, had been accused of providing investment advice without proper regulatory registration.

Furthermore, they will be forbidden from engaging in any securities-related activities within India for an entire year. Indeed a piece of free advice is never good advice.
 

After asset management company Invesco slashed Swiggy’s valuation three months ago, Baron Capital cut the company’s fair value by 10%. Now the FoodTech company stands at $6.5 billion since March 31, 2023.

The US-based investor Baron Capital has held a 0.75% stake in Swiggy since January 2022.

The economic downturn and increased uncertainty of the rival Zomato’s stock prices have resulted in the downward slipping of Swiggy’s valuation. Or is it the fear of ONDC?

Ola Electric is gearing up for a potentially record-breaking IPO in India. 

With the support of investment banks Kotak Mahindra Capital and Goldman Sachs, the company aims to achieve a valuation higher than $5 billion. By selling 10% of its shares in the IPO, they could secure the largest IPO of the year in India, despite the current market conditions.

The company's decision to go public before the government discontinues electric vehicle subsidies reflects its strategic timing and ambition.