Bullets

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.
 

Meta's third round of layoffs, or the "Year of Efficiency", is coming to India. Saket Jha Sourabh, Avinash Pant, and Amrita Mukherjee, directors of media partnerships, marketing, and legal team, are some of the Indian employees affected by this round of layoffs.

The "Year of Efficiency" consists of removing 10,000 employees and freezing hiring for 5,000 open positions, as managers from various departments are asked to become "individual contributors".

This Bullet feed's getting filled with layoffs, something needs to change.

Kicking big tech firms to the curb, IAMAI's council selects members from startups. Dream11’s founder & CEO, Harsh Jain, is the chairperson, while Rajesh Magow from MakeMyTrip and Satyan Gajwani from Times Internet are chosen Vice-Chirperson & Treasurer, respectively.

The 24-membered governing council surprisingly doesn’t contain a single member from either Google or any of the other big tech firms.

Looks like the big kids were not invited to the trendy tech party!🤭

Nykaa experienced a remarkable surge in revenue but encountered a turbulent journey in net profit during the Q4 of FY23.

While their revenue from operations bloomed by a splendid 33.7% to ₹1,301.7 crore, their net profit took a detour and declined by 71.8%, landing at a mere ₹2.4 crore.

Nykaa seems to have taken us on a rollercoaster of surprises with the financial performance. Let’s hope their next quarter brings smoother sailing for their margins!
 

The roads of Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru will see 25,000 four-wheelers and 10,000 two-wheelers EVs running from next week. This initiative is part of the Uber Green category and is the first step toward Uber’s sustainability goals by 2040.

As an MoU agreement with Tata Motors, Uber will also release XPRES–Tata Motor EVs in a premium category.

The boom of EVs in India is a good sign of the nation’s movement toward creating greener surroundings.🚗

After withdrawing around $7 billion from Indian startups, reaching funding worth $15 billion in the country, Japanese Investment firm SoftBank is looking to reinvest around $400-$500 million.

The investment will be directed towards 5 startups in India, each with a valuation of around $400-$500 million, with investment in each firm exceeding $100 million if its investors want to exit, owing to the ongoing funding winter.

The aim behind the investment is to help these startups reach unicorn status.

Based on an Economic Times report, JioMart has laid off around 1,000 employees and plans to let go of up to 10,000 employees. Apart from the layoffs, many employees have been placed on Performance Improvement Plans as well.

Reliance's acquisition of Metro Cash and Carry India Pvt Ltd- Metro AG's Indian arm, which added close to 3,500 employees to its workforce, led to this decision.

Perfect, even the big shots are now jumping on the lay-off train! Who's next? Tata?

Meta has finally found a taker for Giphy after the UK's antitrust authority demanded the tech giant to sell the GIF library. 

Shutterstock snatched Giphy for a price of $53 million, leaving Meta's wallet hurting from their initial $315 million investment.

However, they can still enjoy Giphy's content through an API agreement.

This rollercoaster ride encountered a roadblock when the UK regulator said, "Undo it!" After a detour through the Competition Appeal Tribunal, the deal wraps up next month. Phew!
 

Media intermediaries like Twitter & Facebook might soon be held accountable for the content on their platforms. With the public unveiling of the Digital India Bill, the neutral ground for these platforms is in danger of poofing.

MoS for Electronics & Information Technology, Rajiv Chandrasekhar, is releasing the draft of the Digital India Bill for public consultation in June’s first week. 

Here’s hoping the 22-year-old IT Act’s replacement would bring much-needed changes to make the digital world safe for netizens.

The Adani Group has recently seen the market capitalisation of the various stocks of the conglomerate rise to their all-time highs since the ill-fated release of the Hindenburg Research report on 24 January 2023.

Adani Enterprises showed the strongest hike of all the stocks, reaching ₹2,600 on Tuesday from the ₹1,900 range last week.

After losing around ₹82,000 crore last week and making the same amount back through the ongoing rally, Adani is turning out to be one volatile underdog!

Meta, the proud owner of Facebook, has just been slapped with a mind-boggling fine of 1.2 billion euros! 

Since 2020, the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), acting as the EU's watchdog, has diligently investigated Meta Ireland's practice of transferring user data to the United States.

This marks the third hefty fine Meta has faced in the EU this year and the fourth in just six months. 

Ouch! Looks like Meta's piggy bank is taking a hit.
 

BSNL, the government-owned telecom company, has placed advance purchase orders worth over ₹15,000 crores to TCS and ITI for deploying 1,00,000 4G sites nationwide. 

Tejas Networks, a key player in the TCS-led alliance, will provide the essential Radio Access Networks (RAN) equipment for the project. 

Will this ambitious project finally bring high-speed communication services to every BSNL user?
 

The slowdown in e-commerce left logistics company Delhivery with consecutive losses in its quarterly revenue. After an 8.5% loss in Q3, the March quarter also saw a 10% decline.

Despite negative results, Delhivery is planning to invest in the SaaS platform Vinculum Solutions. Delhivery is set to buy 10.94% Vinculum stakes at ₹72.54 per share.

Will this initiative to boost the D2C approach increase Delhivery’s next quarterly results? Only the future would tell!

SBI declared its Q4 result yesterday, and it's looking good! Beating estimates from various brokerages, the largest bank in India declared a PAT of ₹16,694.51 crore for the March quarter, growing by a whopping 83.18% compared to last year's ₹9,113.53 crore for the same period. The bank's NII also increased from ₹31,197 crore to ₹40,392.50 crore, rising by 29.5%.

SBI is no hoarder either, as it has declared a 1,130% dividend at ₹11.30 per share!🤑

🎵 Uh-oh brace yourselves for the government’s latest single hit! 

Starting July 1, all your international credit card payments are getting a 20% tax twist. The TCS rate was cranked up from 5% to 20% in this year's union budget. 

The government has put them under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme, burdening banks and travelers with higher costs, remittance limits, and refund complexities.

So, whether you're swiping in Santorini or tapping in Tokyo, be prepared to sing the tax blues!

Fast fashion brand Shein is planning to re-enter India. Reliance Retail is partnering with Shein, which was banned in 2020 due to the India-China border situation.

After being shunned by the US for using Xinjiang cotton from China, Shein is facing difficulties in sourcing. By collaborating with Reliance, Shein will get one of its fabric sources back in India.

By bringing the previous general of the fashion empire back, Reliance is ready to dominate the industry yet again.

Tesla officials met Indian government officials from various departments to plan to establish an automobile manufacturing unit in India. This plan comes as a result of Tesla not wanting to sell its product somewhere it cannot manufacture and service them and India's aversion to importing goods manufactured in China.

Tesla currently has manufacturing units established in US, Germany and China. A manufacturing unit in India could help the economy by generating jobs and bringing competition to the near-monopolistic EV industry.

After being slapped with a hefty ₹936.44 crore fine by the Competition Commission of India in October for playing rough with its Play Store policies, Google faced the consequences. 

The Alliance of Digital India Foundation stormed in, waving their banners of non-compliance, seeking a CCI review at the Delhi High Court.

But hold your popcorn, folks! In a high-stakes showdown, Google now bravely marches forward with its new payments policy in India, boldly proclaiming compliance with the CCI’s directives.
 

Chief Executive of Amazon Web Services (AWS), Adam Selipsky shared the company’s plans to invest over $12.7 Billion in India. This investment will boost the cloud infrastructure as well as add $23 Billion to the country’s GDP.

AWS has already invested $3.7 Billion in the country between 2016-2022.

After firing above 500 employees from Amazon India, is this the company’s way to placate the nation’s emotions?

Kishore Biyani's Future Retail has lost all favour, going from 49 ambitious bidders to just 6, with Reliance Retail and the Adani Group being the most recent and significant dropouts.

Space Mantra is the highest bidder, aiming for the whole business, while Pinnacle Air, Palgun Tech LLC, Lehar Solutions, Goodwill Furniture and Sarvabhishta e-waste management are bidding for parts of the company.

From 1,500 outlets to struggling for bidders, Future Retail really lost the plot.

Zomato has upped the game by introducing its own UPI offering called Zomato UPI in collaboration with ICICI Bank. 

This exciting development allows customers to seamlessly make payments within the Zomato app, eliminating the need for redirection to external platforms like Google Pay or PhonePe. 

They aim to entice users to embrace UPI payments over cash on delivery, by the simplification of the payment process. 

Can this fancy manoeuvre provide a smoother customer experience and improved efficiency for Zomato?
 

Manish Chopra, Meta India’s Head of Partnerships and Director, has decided to resign. After holding the fort at Meta for 4.5 years, Manish is now looking for a new phase in his professional life.

This is not the first time a chief position holder at Meta has stepped down. Meta’s India head Ajit Mohan and Whatsapp Head Abhijit Bose, also resigned last November.  

Am I the only one curious about what’s happening behind the scenes at Meta?🤔

The troubled $69 billion deal between Microsoft and Activision is now finally going to see the light of day. While UK competition regulators were opposed to the deal going through, the European Union has allowed the acquisition.

Problems seem to revolve around the phenomenon of "exclusive titles", which allow certain video games to be released on specific platforms only. One of the biggest video game producers getting acquired and limited to one platform could negatively affect the consumers' interests.

Cipla is bidding adieu to its stake in Saba Investment, UAE. They're handing over their 51% ownership to Shibam Group Holding, UAE. Sayonara, subsidiaries! 🙋‍♂️

Cipla Middle East Pharmaceuticals FZ LLC and Cipla Medica Pharmaceutical and Chemical Industries will no longer be Cipla's sidekicks. But fear not, Cipla's not vanishing, they're revamping their game. 

Be prepared for a pharma rollercoaster of change as Cipla is ready to serve you with a fresh business model.
 

As part of laying off around 27,000 employees globally, Amazon India is now leaving 500 employees in the dust.

As per CEO Andy Jassy’s announcement in late March, employees from Amazon Web Services (AWS), Human Resources and multiple functions are targeted. This decision can also be the result of the slow growth the Seattle-based company is witnessing in its e-commerce business in India.

Seems like Amazon India will be delivering bad news instead of happiness today!

Guess who's joining the engineering game? 🏏

Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar has stepped up to the plate, making a sizzling strategic investment in AZAD Engineering. While the exact investment amount remains a secret, Tendulkar's involvement allows AZAD Engineering to power up its dedication to the “Make in India” and “Atmanirbhar Bharat” initiatives.

With this unexpected collaboration between sports and engineering, let’s see how big they score in the world of innovation!

Separating its pharmaceutical business, Sanofi plans to demerge in its wholly-owned subsidiary, Sanofi Consumer Healthcare India. As a sign of a decision well made, Sanofi India’s plans to demerge its consumer healthcare business have boosted its stock prices.

The announcement has increased their stocks by 12%, making investors satisfied with the plans.

Focusing to improve its Diabetes business, this demerger seems like a sweet success for Sanofi!

Hero Electric, a prominent Indian electric two-wheeler manufacturer, plans to go public by 2025-26.

Its goal is to achieve a sales target of 2 million vehicles in the next 3-5 years. They plan to expand their production and sales network to reach the ambitious targets.

With the increasing demand for eco-friendly transportation, they are in a favourable position to capitalize on this trend. Will their plans electrify investors and spark a new wave of interest in the company?

The Board of Directors accepted the proposal to raise ₹12,500 Crore for Adani Enterprises & ₹8,500 Crore for Adani Transmission Ltd. The fundraising would be accomplished by issuance of shares through the Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) route.

The approval to raise funds will likely boost investors’ confidence regarding the company’s future prospects. It also proves the group’s ability to handle its debt.

Is this funding a “We Are Back” message from the Adani group & companies?

SoftBank had a good run in India, but it seems like the investment company is ready to say goodbye to the country. After reducing its stake in Alibaba and Delhivery, Softbank is now making a withdrawal from Paytm.

The Japanese investment firm has reduced its stake in the fintech player by 2.07%, selling 13,103,148 shares. SoftBank's stake in the company has gone from 13.27% to 11.17%.

How India startups feel as investors jump ship:

India’s EdTech major, Byju’s, has secured $250 million in fresh funding from Davidson Kempner as part of a $700 million fundraise.

The funding will aid the repayment of a $1.2 billion term loan, providing much-needed support to the world’s most valuable EdTech startup.

By relying on external funding to repay their massive term loan instead of addressing their internal financial issues, is Byju's taking the easy way out?

After stoking speculations of another change, Elon Musk has crowned Linda Yaccarino as Twitter’s new CEO. NBCUniversal’s former head of advertising, Yaccarino will take on her responsibilities in six weeks.

Meanwhile, Musk will be the executive chairman & take on the position of CTO (Chief Technology Officer). Musk believes this decision is another step in making Twitter into X, their everything app.

Whether Linda’s expertise in advertising help Twitter surpass its profitless phase would become clear with time!

Hyundai is revving up EV production in India with a ₹20,000 crore investment over the next 10 years.

The automaker plans to increase output at its Chennai factory, set up a battery pack assembly unit with an annual capacity of 178,000 units, and install 100 EV charging stations across Tamil Nadu in the next five years.

Hyundai is driving full speed ahead to modernize its vehicle platform. Let’s see if it reaches its destination or crashes midway!

Conquering the ONDC platform with a third of total orders, Paytm is now heating the market by planning to forego its 3% commission. As a buyer app, Paytm will remove the commission on orders fulfilled by sellers with no customer complaints.

This step will boost orders paid by Paytm as well as increase competition for platforms like Zomato & Swiggy. 

Looks like the ongoing decline in Zomato & Swiggy’s orders will soon see another steep dive.📉

Vanguard, a US investment company, has reduced the valuation of the ride-hailing firm Ola by 35%, from $7.4 billion to $4.8 billion. 

Vanguard's share value in Ola fell to $203.78 from $314.58.

After making an exit from the verticals like food & grocery delivery and second-hand car marketplace, the company has decided to focus just on their keystone ride business.

It seems like the investors have lost faith in Ola's ability to succeed in the cutthroat market.

Taiwanese multinational tech company Foxconn has recently bought a 300-acre land worth ₹300 crore on the outskirts of Bangalore. The purchase was made on May 9th, and the possession will be transferred after the May 10th elections.

The purchase was made by Foxconn's subsidiary entity, Foxconn Hon Hai Technology India Mega Development, and is a part of Foxconn's "Project Elephant".

Employment opportunities for the country are nice and all, let's just hope "the sweatshop effect" does not follow the company.

After a difficult year, Adani seems to have found a way out of the financial crunch. On May 13th, the company’s board is approving a proposal for funding from the public market.

To raise funds, issuing equity shares, private placement, qualified institutional placement, or preferential issue are being considered.

Hindenburg revealing Adani Enterprises' stock manipulation & accounting frauds have cost the company a ₹20,000 crore follow-up public offering.

Will the new funding help Adani find its footing again?

JSW Infrastructure, a port business owned by JSW Group, has submitted its DRHP to SEBI for an IPO worth ₹2,800 crores.

They offer services related to ships and the transportation of goods, such as loading and unloading cargo, storing goods, and helping with logistics. They are working towards becoming a company that offers a complete range of logistics solutions.

JM Financial will be the lead banker for this fresh issue.

One-and-only foreign social networking company in China, LinkedIn, has decided to shut down its job-based app, InCareer. 9th August is the set date for InCareer’s exit from China market.

After its exit from China in 2021, LinkedIn is closing its last connection with the country. Plus, LinkedIn is slashing 716 employees due to slow revenue growth & a shift in consumer behaviour. 

Removing over 700 employees & shutting down a popular job-posting platform, LinkedIn did a number on China.

Mankind Pharma, which was oversubscribed by 15.32 times, got listed on the exchange today at a 20% premium to the issue price.

The Initial Public Offering worth Rs 4,326 crore was one of the largest IPOs of 2023 up to this point. It is the second largest by a local pharmaceutical company since Gland Pharma's issue of Rs 6,480 crore in 2020.

The pharmaceutical industry's baby step has paved the way for a giant leap for Mankind.

Geological Survey of India (GSI) officers recently claimed that Lithium reserves have been traced in Rajasthan. According to these claims, the newfound reserves are larger than the ones recently found in Jammu and Kashmir.

The reserves, if they turn out to be as abundant as they are thought to be, could substitute 80% of India's demand for lithium. India imported around ₹6,000 crore in 2021-22 with China contributing around ₹3,500 crore.

Even Indian geography wants to go China Plus One!

Taking a “reverse flip”, Razorpay plans to return to India. After flipping to the USA as part of the Silicon Valley Y Combinator’s 2015 batch, Razorpay is now planning to move its branch again.

This seems to be the result of the Indian government’s efforts to bring back fintech companies as well as Razorpay’s chance to secure licences from RBI.

Does this transition open the gates for Razorpay’s IPO? Who knows!🤔

Fashion and beauty brand Shopper's Stop is planning to open India's biggest beauty store in Kolkata. The details of the store are still being kept a secret.

Reliance recently entered the beauty segment with its 4,300 sq. ft. "Tira" store in Mumbai. With Shopper's Stop drawing 17% of the company's revenue from beauty segment, it wasn't going to lose its place in the game!

Now it's only a matter of time to see if cash burn will beat market loyalty.

Flight regulator Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has ordered insolvency-bound airline Go First to halt bookings of its flights indefinitely, effective immediately. The aviation regulator had also issued a show-cause notice to Go First under the provisions of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, for its "failure to continue the operation of the service in a safe, efficient and reliable manner".

From the top 3 in budget carriers to carrier budget troubles, why did Go First crash? Find out here.

Paytm is aiming to turn "Free-Cash-Flow positive in the near future", as well as integrate Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) into its processes. The declarations come through a letter to the shareholders from the CEO.

Paytm recorded ₹2.3 thousand crore in Q4 revenue, a 51.5% increase from the previous year as a result of a growing loan book. Paytm's losses have also narrowed to ₹168.4 crore.

So, is Paytm getting ready for a comeback, or is this just smoke and mirrors?