General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - October 2018

Oct 2018

Apr 20, 2019

Pine Labs Acquires Qwikcilver

Singapore-based merchant platform company Pine Labs has acquired gift solution company, Qwikcilver for $110 million.
The company is backed by Sequoia India, PayPal, Temasek, Actis Capital, Altimeter Capital, Madison India Capital and Sofina.
Qwikcilver is a gift card service provider, managing an annualised gross transaction value of $1.5 billion across India, Middle East and South East Asia.
With this acquisition, Qwikcilver and Pine Labs have a combined gift solutions business comprising 250 brands and retailers and 1,500 enterprise customers.
Qwikcilver co-founder and chief executive officer, Kumar Sudarshan, has joined the Pine Labs leadership team.
Pine Labs provides financing and last-mile retail transaction technology. Its offerings are used by merchants in 3,700 cities and towns across India and Malaysia.

Tata Tech. and FutureMove Automotive Sign Agreement

Tata Technologies Ltd. has entered into a strategic partnership with FutureMove Automotive of China to develop comprehensive and unique connected mobility solutions for automotive manufacturers in China and worldwide.
Tata Technologies has strong capabilities in delivering end-to-end vehicle programmes across the world and FutureMove Automotive, with its digital and mobility services, is a strategic partner to its customers in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and the U.S.
Through the agreement, the two companies would integrate technologies, products, solutions and resources to respond to demands within the automotive industry.

Asian Tea Alliance Launched in China

The Asian Tea Alliance (ATA), a union of five tea-growing and consuming countries, was launched in Guizhou in China.
The members of the alliance are the Indian Tea Association, China Tea Marketing Association, Indonesian Tea Marketing Association, Sri Lanka Tea Board and Japan Tea Association.
ATA plans to work towards enhancing tea trade, cultural exchanges, technology exchanges as well as globally promoting tea.
It will also work towards enhancing global consumption of tea, while creating a sustainability agenda for the future of Asian tea.

Royal Enfield Enters South Korean Market

Niche bike maker Royal Enfield has forayed into the South Korean market.
The company, part of Richer Motors, has entered the country by opening its first flagship store in Seoul with Vintage Motors (Kiheung International) as its official distribution partner.

Apr 19, 2019

New Norms for Taxing MNCs Proposed

The income tax department proposed a change in the methodology for taxing multinational companies (MNCs), including digital firms, having permanent establishment in India by giving weightage to factors like domestic sales, employee strength, assets and user base.
As per the CBDT Committee on 'Profit attribution to permanent establishment (PE) in India', MNCs that are incurring global losses or a global profit margin of less than 2% and have operations in India will be deemed to have made a profit of 2% of Indian revenue or turnover and will be taxed accordingly.

Amazon to Shut Down China Operations

Amazon.com Inc said that it will shut its China online store by July 18, as the U.S. e-commerce giant focuses on the lucrative businesses of selling overseas goods and cloud services in the world's most populous nation.
The move underscores how entrenched, home-grown e-commerce rivals have made it difficult for Amazon's marketplace to gain traction in China.
As per consumer research firm iResearch Global, Alibaba Group Holding's Tmall marketplace and JD.com controlled 82% of the Chinese e-commerce market in 2018.

RIL Q4 Profit Surges

Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) reported a 9.8% growth in its fourth quarter net profit to Rs. 10,362 crore driven by increasing contribution from consumer-facing business of retail and telecommunications while the core refinery vertical disappointed with a fall in margins.
The profit came on a 19.4% rise in revenue to Rs. 1,54,110 crore on account of strong growth in retail and digital services businesses, which rose 51.6% and 61.6% respectively.

SBI Plans to Raise Fund for Expansion

State Bank of India planned to raise $2.5 billion (about Rs. 17,000 crore) through bonds to fund expansion of its overseas business.
The executive committee of the central board will take a decision in this regard later in April.
The executive committee would decide on the long-term fund-raising in single/multiple tranches up to $2.5 billion through a public offer or private placement of senior unsecured notes in dollar or any other convertible currency during 2019-20.

Co-lending Alliance

Srei Equipment Finance Ltd. and Bank of Baroda (BoB) will come together to offer joint loans for infrastructure equipment under a new agreement.
The partners will be able to leverage each other's customers and cross-sell their products.
The offerings would include both business-to-business and business-to-customer propositions.

Apr 18, 2019

Saudi Aramco Eyes stake in RIL's Refinery

Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil exporter, is in talks to buy a stake in Reliance Industries' oil refineries and petrochemical complex.
Aramco opened talks with Reliance as the $44-billion mega refinery-cum-petrochemical complex, where it was taking a 50% stake along with UAE's ADNOC, got delayed after the government scrapped plans to acquire land for the project in coastal Maharashtra.

Crisil Board Clears Transfer of Rating Business

The board of directors of Crisil has approved the transfer of the ratings business to a 100% subsidiary of Crisil.
This has been done to comply with the rules laid down by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), which states that rating and non-rating businesses of credit rating agencies have to be segregated.
This segregation will have no impact on Crisil's businesses and the financial value to Crisil's shareholders will remain unchanged.

Etihad Airways-IBS Software Sign Contract

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE and IBS Software (IBS) have signed a contract to enhance the airline's operations.
IBS, a leading provider of new generation IT travel solutions, was selected to replace the airline's existing network control system and develop a hub management system, allowing the airline's staff to move away from manual processes to highly intuitive technology.

Mindtree Joins $1-billion Club

Twenty years after it was founded, mid-tier IT firm Mindtree crossed $1 billion in revenue during the fiscal ended March 31, 2019.
Amid a hostile takeover bid from Larsen & Toubro, the board of directors of Mindtree has declared an interim dividend of 30% (Rs. 3 per share that will be paid before May 10).
The board also recommended a final dividend of 40% and special dividend of 200% (Rs. 20 per equity share of face value of Rs. 10 each) to celebrate the twin achievements of exceeding $1 billion annual revenue milestone and the company turning 20.
For the payout of the final and special dividends, the company will seek shareholders' approval in June-July period, after L&T's open offer closes on May 27.

RIL in Talks to Buy Hamleys

Reliance Industries is in talks to buy centuries-old British toy retailer Hamleys as the company expands its presence in the consumer space.
Currently, Reliance Industries' retail arm Reliance Retail has the licence to sell Hamleys' products in India.
In 2015, China's C.banner International had acquired Hamleys in a £100-million deal. In October 2018, Sky News reported that C.banner International, which is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, had launched a strategic review of the loss-making Hamleys and was looking to sell it.

ArcelorMittal to Sell Steel Assets

ArcelorMittal received approval from the European Commission to sell steel-making assets in Europe to Liberty House Group.
The assets included within the divestment package are ArcelorMittal Ostrava in Czech Republic, ArcelorMittal Galati in Romania, ArcelorMittal Skopje (Macedonia), ArcelorMittal Piombino (Italy), ArcelorMittal Dudelange (Luxembourg) and several finishing lines at ArcelorMittal Liège (Belgium).

Cashless Claim Settlement of Motor Cover

Policybazaar.com, an insurance comparison portal, has launched a new initiative to help its motor insurance customers get assured cashless settlements at the time of claims.
Called cashless assurance, the new initiative allows customers to opt for cashless approvals of claims across all garages in India within few hours.
In the past, this service had been provided through a select insurer of network-garages.
With the latest initiative of Policybazaar, policyholders can avail this service at any garage across the country without paying the money upfront and filing for reimbursement thereafter.
Insurers such as New India Assurance Co., The Oriental Insurance Company, IFFCO Tokio General Insurance and DHFL General Insurance have partnered Policybazaar.com to offer customers easy access to cashless settlement options.

RIL Arm Ink Pact with MOL

Reliance Ethane Holding Pte. Ltd. (REHPL) has entered into a binding definitive agreement with Mitsui O.S.K Lines Ltd. (MOL) of Japan and a minority investor for strategic investment in six special purpose limited liability companies, each owning a very large ethane carrier (VLEC) of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL).
The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals. Post deal closure, the special purpose vehicles shall be jointly controlled by REHPL and MOL.
According to said P.M.S. Prasad, ED, RIL, MOL is currently the operator of all the six VLECs, investment by MOL will deepen our relationship with them and ensure continued safe and efficient operations of the VLECs.

Apr 17, 2019

Apparel Exports Drop

Apparel exports last financial year were worth $16.13 billion compared with $16.71 billion in the year-earlier period. However, in rupee terms, the exports grew 4.66 %.
Apparel exports dropped 3.46% in 2018-19 compared with the year-earlier period, mainly because exporting units took time to adjust to the new rates under the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
According to A. Sakthivel, vice-chairman, Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), under the GST, there was almost 7% reduction in the incentives that the exporters were receiving earlier and they also had to adjust to the new system.

Kurl-on Acquires Spring Air

With this acquisition, Spring Air and Englader brands of mattresses will now be under the Kurl-on umbrella. The acquisition will strengthen Kurl-on's presence in the premium bedding segment.
Kurl-on brand of mattresses has acquired Spring Air, one of the top 10 manufacturers of bedding products in the world, for an undisclosed amount, to expand presence across India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
The acquisition will enable Kurl-on to cross the Rs. 2,000-crore revenue mark in the next two years.
Spring Air's product portfolio across the premium and luxury category will now be available across Kurl-on's 1,300 exclusive franchise outlets and 7,000 multi-brand outlets across the country.

Ramco Ind. Hikes Stake in Lynk Logistics

Ramco Industries Ltd. has increased its stake in Lynk Logistics Ltd.
Following its subscription to the rights issue, the shareholding of Ramco Industries in Lynk Logisitcs has gone up to 13.18% from 0.37%.
The company has acquired 7.50 crore shares of Rs. 1 each by subscribing to the rights issue. Right now, it holds 7.69 crore shares against 19 lakh shares held previously.
Lynk Logistics Ltd. was floated to provide a link between the transporters and customers to move documents and parcels at affordable rates.

Export of Cotton Textiles to China

"Raw cotton and yarn exports increased last financial year (2018-19).

According to the Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (Texprocil), export of cotton textiles to China is seeing an upward trend.
Between April 2018 and February 2019, exports of cotton textiles increased 69% compared with the same period in 2017-18.
As per K. V. Srinivasan chairman of (Texprocil), higher export of cotton textiles, mainly fabrics and made-ups, could contribute significantly to further reduction of the trade imbalance and attract investments from Chinese industries that were keen to shift from China.

GRM Partners with MAN Consumer

Basmati rice exporter GRM Overseas has partnered with MAN Consumer in the UAE for distribution of its "Tanoush" brand of basmati rice in the 22 hypermarket Carrefour stores in the UAE.
According to Atul Garg, MD of GRM Overseas, the west Asian countries were a strategic market for the company. The company is keen to tap into the opportunities and cater to this part of the world.

Apr 16, 2019

NBFCs and MFIs Raise Rs. 26,200 Crore

As per a report, non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and micro finance companies (MFIs) raised about Rs. 26,200 crore through securitisation in FY19, a growth of 170% over FY18.
In FY18, NBFCs and MFIs raised Rs. 9,700 crore through securitisation.
The sectors faced tight liquidity conditions in FY19 after a series of defaults by Infrastructure Leasing and Finance Services (IL&FS).

Exports Outpace Imports

India's exports rose to a five-month high of 11% in March on account of higher growth mainly in pharma, chemicals and engineering sectors, marking the outbound shipments at $331 billion for FY 2018-19, official data showed.
Merchandise exports in March stood at $32.55 billion as against $29.32 billion in the same month in 2018. This is the best growth rate for exports since October 2018.

AM International Holdings to Foray into Renewable Energy

Singapore-based AM International Holdings, the holding company of SPIC and Manali Petro, has announced its foray into renewable energy by setting up a floating solar power plant.
Ashwin Muthiah, founder chairman of AM International Group, laid the foundation stone for the 24 MW floating solar power plant at SPIC's Thoothukudi factory complex.
Once completed, the project would take care of SPIC's electricity needs and the surplus would be sold to state power utilities.
The project is owned by Greenam Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of AM International Holdings.
The project is one of its kind and one of India's first floating renewable energy initiative to optimise energy production in industrial plants.

Twelve Months to Sell Non-core Assets

State-run companies will have 12 months to monetise non-core assets identified by a ministerial panel headed by the finance minister, failing which the finance ministry may restrict budgetary allocations to the CPSEs.
The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) issued guidelines for monetisation of non-core assets of CPSEs and immovable enemy properties.
According to the guidelines, an inter-ministerial group (IMG) chaired by the secretary of DIPAM will identify the non-core assets of the CPSEs on its own, and also on the basis of recommendations of the Niti Aayog.
The final call will, however, be taken by the finance minister-headed panel.

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