Corporates News

Abu Dhabi's International Holding Company, one of the first high-profile investors in billionaire Gautam Adani's conglomerate, has decided to sell its stake in two Adani companies - Adani Green Energy and Adani Transmission. IHC had in April 2022 invested about USD 500 million each in renewables arm Adani Green Energy and power company Adani Transmission, and a further USD 1 billion in the group's flagship Adani Enterprises.

Asian Paints' Non-Executive Director Ashwin Dani, passed away on Thursday after a brief illness. He was 79. Dani was associated with the company since 1968 and has been a strong force in heralding the company to technological excellence, Asian Paints said. He joined the Company's Board in 1970, and held the position of Vice Chairman and Managing Director of the Company from 1998 to 2009.

FMCG maker Procter & Gamble India on Thursday announced a Rs 300 crore fund to collaborate with external partners and innovators for co-creating solutions for a modern supply chain ecosystem. P&G Supply Chain Catalyst Fund will provide an opportunity to startups and innovators to collaborate with Procter & Gamble (P&G) India on customising business solutions, accelerating its journey towards Supply 3.0 initiatives, said a statement from the company.

The Indian cement sector saw good growth in demand and profitability in the first half of the year. In a further boost to sentiments, the sector’s realizations might also improve as it’s likely to see pricing-led growth as well. The sector saw weak pricing growth across most regions this calendar year, with a few even seeing a drop. On a pan-India basis, prices dipped by around 2.5% between April to August 2023. But September has seen a trend reversal. East India has seen two price hikes with one in September and yet another announced in October.

Since the start of September, Brent crude has risen from $85 per barrel to $92 a barrel approximately and this will play negatively for the operations of most sectors. India’s oil marketing companies (OMCs) like Indian Oil, HPCL and BPCL are directly impacted by rise in crude oil prices. And their margins have already fallen into the negative zone.

Flexible workspace provider WeWork India on Tuesday announced the appointment of two senior leaders to its executive leadership team. Debosmita Majumder has joined WeWork India as Chief Marketing Officer, while Rupesh Kumar has taken up the role of Head of Engineering, the company said in a statement. "As we continue on a path of profitability, marketing and engineering will play a key role in elevating member experience and amplifying our market presence," said Karan Virwani, CEO, WeWork India.

The Company Law Committee is likely to take up a proposal to introduce tighter regulatory norms for big unlisted companies. According to sources, among the steps that are being considered is the mandatory submission of quarterly financial statements by unlisted companies including major startups in order to keep a closer scrutiny on their financial position and check malpractices. The Company Law Committee has been set up by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to help look at such issues.

The telecom to retail conglomerate Reliance Industries could eventually transform into a holding company — which holds majority stakes in entities that operate major business verticals — says a report by CreditSights. Currently, RIL is both a holding company as well as an operating company across business verticals. While oils-to-chemicals (O2C) and upstream oil and gas segments are wholly owned and held directly under RIL, telecom, retail and new energy segments are held under unlisted operating companies.

Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd, the retail arm of Reliance Industries, has received the full subscription amount of Rs 2,069.50 crore from the global investment firm KKR and has allotted 1.71 crore equity shares. Following the share allotment, KKR's shareholding in Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL) has increased to 1.42 per cent, from 1.17 per cent.

​The Glenmark Pharmaceuticals stock was almost down 5% in Friday morning trade after the pharma major announced last evening that its board has approved to divest 75% stake in its subsidiary Glenmark Life Sciences to Nirma Ltd for Rs 5,651.5 crore. Glenmark says one of the reasons for divestment is the divergent business models of the company and its subsidiary.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has suspended Air India's Chief of Flight Safety for a month after an inspection found lapses in the airline's accident prevention protocol. DGCA found deficiencies in the accident prevention work carried out by the airline and the availability of the requisite technical manpower as required in the approved Flight Safety Manual and the relevant civil aviation requirements.

Budget airline Akasa Air has moved the Delhi High Court, seeking direction to aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to take action against those pilots who left the airline without serving their mandatory contractual notice period. 40 pilots have left the airline without serving the mandatory notice period. The CEO has said that the airline is well-run with strong finances.

Adani Green Energy (AGEL) and TotalEnergies have entered into a binding agreement to create a new JV, equally owned by TotalEnergies and AGEL. TotalEnergies, which is a strategic partner of Adani Green Energy, will invest $300 million into the joint venture which will hold a portfolio of 1,050 megawatts. This portfolio will comprise a mix of already operational capacity to the tune of 300 megawatts. It will also include 500 megawatts under construction and 250 megawatts which is under development — with a blend of solar and wind power.

The CBI has registered an FIR against Mumbai-based Unity Infraprojects Ltd, its chairman managing director (CMD) Kishore Avarsekar, three directors and unknown public servants for allegedly defrauding State Bank of India and a consortium of 15 banks. Prima facie, the complaint discloses the commission of offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating and criminal misconduct.

Tata Motors plans to set up separate sales network for its electric passenger vehicles in current fiscal year as it looks to give differentiated experience to the buyers opting for the environment-friendly models, according to a top company official. The Mumbai-based auto major, which on Thursday introduced all-new versions of its Nexon EV and Nexon (internal combustion engine), said it will start experimenting with new outlets in some of the cities where EV volumes have gone up.

Grasim Industries, a flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group, is all set to launch its paint business in the last quarter of the current fiscal year, under the brand name – Birla Opus. Grasim said that the company will offer a full suite of high-quality products in the decorative paints segment. It had previously committed an investment of ₹10,000 crore towards setting up the paints business.

Elon Musk-run satellite internet service Starlink, which is searching for various routes to somehow enter the growing Indian internet market, generated $1.4 billion revenue last year. During his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June in the US, Musk said he hopes to bring Starlink internet to the country as soon as possible.

The Supreme Court has issued a stern warning to SpiceJet Chairman and Managing Director (CMD), Ajay Singh, for default in making the due payments to global investment bank and financial services firm Credit Suisse AG. A bench comprising of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah ordered the low-cost airline to deposit the monthly installment of $500,000 by September 15 along with an additional $1 million out of the defaulted amount.

In one of the biggest land deals in the financial capital, Wadias-run Bombay Dyeing on Wednesday announced the sale of a 22-acre land parcel to Japan's Sumitomo for Rs 5,200 crore. The plot in central Mumbai's Worli houses the Wadia International Centre, the nearly three-centuries old group's headquarters and other establishments.

Amidst the ongoing debate about using Bharat instead of India, courier service giant Blue Dart has rebranded its Dart Plus service and it will now be known as Bharat Dart. Blue Dart says that the rebranding has been done after extensive research. The Blue Dart stock is up close to 8% in the last five trading sessions.

A dividend is a reward companies often provide to their shareholders, though not mandatorily, from a portion of their earnings.

Hindalco Industries, the world's largest aluminium rolling and recycling company, on Tuesday said it has signed a technology partnership agreement with Italy-based Metra to manufacture high-speed aluminium rail coaches. The Aditya Birla group company in a statement said the partnership is aimed at sharing extrusion and fabrication technology for building high-speed aluminium rail coaches. For the last six decades, Metra has been known for its cutting-edge knowhow in aluminium extrusion, machining and welding.