1. Reliance Signs Deal to Merge JioMusic with Saavn
Mukesh Ambani-helmed Reliance Industries Ltd on Friday announced an integration with leading music app Saavn for its digital music service JioMusic.
In a statement, Reliance said it has executed definitive agreements for the combination of Saavn with JioMusic.
“We are delighted to announce this partnership with Saavn, and believe that their highly experienced management team will be instrumental in expanding Jio-Saavn to an extensive user base, thereby strengthening our leadership position in the Indian streaming market,” Akash Ambani, director at Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, said in the statement.
The combined entity is valued at over $1 billion, with JioMusic’s implied valuation at $670 million, the statement added.
Reliance will also invest up to $100 million, out of which a rupee equivalent of $20 million will be invested upfront, for growth and expansion of the platform into one of the largest streaming services in the world.
(Source: Livemint)
2. Forex Reserves Fall by $152 Million
India’s foreign exchange reserves fell by $152.40 million on 16 March to $421.334 billion, data from the RBI show.
Foreign currency assets (FCAs), which form a key component of reserves, fell by $175.20 million from the previous week to $396.156 billion. FCAs are maintained in major currencies like US dollar, euro, pound sterling and Japanese yen.
Movement in the FCA occurs mainly on account of purchase and sale of foreign exchange by the RBI, income arising out of the deployment of foreign exchange reserves, external aid receipts of the government and the revaluation of assets.
Gold reserves rose by $13.2 million to $21.562 billion. Special drawing rights (SDR) from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) rose by $4.1 million from the previous week to $1.538 billion. SDR is an international reserve asset created by the IMF and allocated to its members in proportion to their quota at the IMF. The reserve position in the IMF rose by $5.5 million to $2.077 billion.
(Source: Financial Express)
3. Tata Steel Wins Bid to Acquire Bhushan Steel
Tata Steel Ltd has been declared the successful resolution applicant for Bhushan Steel Ltd by the committee of creditors (CoC), the firm said in a stock exchange notification on Friday. The resolution plan finalized by the creditors will now need approval from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
In a report dated 7 March, Mint said Tata Steel has emerged as the highest bidder for the debt-ridden steel firm, outbidding JSW Steel Ltd.
Bhushan Steel owes about Rs44,000 crore to its creditors. As per the resolution plan, Tata Steel has offered upfront cash of about Rs34,800 crore to the financial creditors, along with Rs1,200 crore to operational creditors.
Even as the steel firm’s resolution plan has been finalized by CoC, pending cases against the firm in Kolkata NCLT can create hurdles for its bid.
Tata Steel had also participated in the bidding for Electrosteel Steels Ltd. Its bid, however, has been challenged by Abhishek Dalmia-led Renaissance Steel India Pvt. Ltd.
(Source: Livemint)
4. Vedanta Unlikely to Participate for Second Round of Bidding for Essar Steel
Metals and mining giant Vedanta Ltd is unlikely to participate in the second round of bidding for debt-laden Essar Steel, according to a source.
Vedanta had submitted an Expression of Interest (EoI) for Essar Steel but did not bid for the bankrupt steelmaker which owes over Rs 450 billion to its lenders.
The bids closed on 12 February, 2018, with only ArcelorMittal and Numetal submitting resolution plans for the troubled Essar Steel.
There is a second chance for companies who had submitted EoIs as the SBI-led consortium of creditors this week rejected the bids submitted by ArcelorMittal and Numetal finding them ineligible under the IBC (Insolvency Bankruptcy Code) laws that debar related parties from bidding.
The CoC has, however, voted to allow a second round of bidding for the Essar Steel's nearly crippled 10-million tonne-asset at Hazira in Gujarat. The lenders have set 2 April as the deadline for the second round.
(Source: Business Standard)
5. Farm Distress Is Now Haunting Us: Niti Aayog’s Rajiv Kumar
The spectre of farm distress has finally begun to haunt policymakers and the government is doing everything it can to address the situation, Rajiv Kumar, vice-chairman of central government think tank NITI Aayog, said on Friday.
“We in the NITI Aayog and the government have decided it is finally time we must focus only and only on farmers and farmers’ distress,” Kumar said, adding, “that’s a real issue which is beginning to haunt us... and (the issue is) so amazingly complex.”
“Thirty-eight percent of our children are undernourished... and 60 million tonnes of foodgrains are being stocked somewhere while farmers are throwing away their produce (for want of a fair price)... I think it’s just a crying shame,” Kumar said at an event organised by the International Food Policy Research Institute in Delhi.
“Despite six decades of agricultural development, we still have a situation like this and it’s time to introspect deeply,” Kumar said.
Kumar’s comments come in the wake of repeated farmer protests, beginning in June last year, following a record harvest and a sharp fall in crop prices.
(Source: Livemint)
6. Hero MotoCorp to Invest Rs 1,600 Cr on Andhra Pradesh Plant
World’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer Hero MotoCorp has laid the foundation stone for its 8th manufacturing plant at Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh (near Sri City), the first in the southern region, on Friday in the presence of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
With this new plant, the company will achieve the milestone of crossing the 10 million units production mark per annum. Spread over 600 acres, the facility will have an installed capacity of 1.8 million units per annum to be achieved in three phases.
The construction work will begin soon and the plant is expected to go on stream by December 2019, said Pawan Munjal, chairman, managing director and CEO of Hero MotoCorp.
The plant is expected to provide jobs to over 2,000 people directly. The company currently has five plants in India and one each in Colombia and Bangladesh.
“The company currently has a combined installed capacity of 9.2 million units per annum, which is highest in the country now. Post commencement of this AP plant, the installed capacity will touch 11 million units per annum.
(Source: Financial Express)
7. Global Trade War Spooks Markets; Sensex Dips 1.2%, Nifty Lowest Since Oct
The Indian markets came under pressure on Friday amid a sell-off in global equities due to escalating trade tensions between the US and China. The feud between the two largest economies of the world raised concerns of slowing global economic growth and weak corporate earnings.
Hours after President Donald Trump announced the US’ plans to impose tariffs on $60 billion worth of annual Chinese imports, Beijing retaliated by unveiling tariffs on $3 billion worth of US imports.
The move hit equity assets hard with markets across Asia, Europe, and the US tumbling up to 4 percent. Losses posted by Indian markets were relatively moderate due to the surprise buying support from overseas investors.
The NSE Nifty fell below the 10,000 mark for the first time since 9 October. It ended at 9,998, down 1.15 percent. The Sensex declined 410 points, or 1.24 percent, to 32,597, its lowest close since 5 December.
The Indian markets have been under pressure due to high oil prices, political uncertainty, and frauds at public sector banks. The Sensex is down 10 percent from the record highs of January.
(Source: Business Standard)
8. Uttam Galva Gets Nod for Change in Arcelormittal Netherlands’s Profile
Stock exchanges on Friday accepted the request of Uttam Galva Steels Ltd to reclassify ArcelorMittal Netherlands BV as a public shareholder in the company, said two people with direct knowledge of the matter.
“Uttam Galva had written to the exchanges on 9 March asking that ArcelorMittal be reclassified as a public shareholder. The exchanges agreed it was a technical issue. While National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE) granted reclassification on 22 March, BSE Ltd did it today,” said one of the two people cited above, on condition of anonymity.
The reclassification was important for ArcelorMittal as the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) prevents promoters from bidding for assets of an insolvent firm. Uttam Galva is in the second list of NPA (non-performing asset) accounts referred by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for resolution.
Promoter status would have prevented ArcelorMittal from bidding for Uttam Galva as and when it was referred for resolution under IBC.
(Source: Livemint)
9. Tata Power Sells Stake in Panatone Finvest to Tata Sons for Rs 15.42 Bn
Tata Power on Friday said it had sold its stake in Panatone Finvest to Tata Sons for Rs 15.42 billion.
The company also entered into an agreement with Panatone for sale of its stake in Tata Communications for Rs 6.13 billion, it said in a statement.
"The company has entered into a share purchase agreement with Tata Sons for sale of 590,882,000 equity shares in Panatone Finvest, representing 39.98 per cent in Panatone and has also entered into a share purchase agreement with Panatone for sale of 13,396,200 equity shares in Tata Communications, representing 4.7 per cent in Tata Communications," the company said.
Both of these transactions, the company said, was subject to shareholders' approval. Panatone is a subsidiary of Tata Sons, which is the promoter of Tata Power. The power producer had earlier said it would look to divest non-core investments made by the company.
(Source: Business Standard)
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