1. Suzlon to sell SE Forge, other assets - TOI
Tulsi Tanti-led Suzlon Group plans to raise Rs 2,500 crore by selling its Vadodra-based forging unit, SE Forge, and other assets, as the world’s fifth largest wind turbine maker looks to reduce its debt. Suzlon, which has hired SBI Capital Markets to find buyers for its assets, is close to sealing a deal for SE Forge, said people familiar with the matter.
2. Amazon to take kirana stores online with Kirana Now - TOI
“E-commerce major Amazon is taking your neighbourhood kirana store online. The e-tailer is launching an express delivery platform in partnership with mom-and-pop stores, calling it Kirana Now. While it will first be introduced in Bengaluru on a pilot run, Amazon has plans to scale this up nationally.”
We want to provide maximum convenience to customers when shopping for their everyday needs and enable them to shop from the ecosystem of their local stores on their mobile phones and get things delivered when they really need it.
– Amit Agarwal, Amazon India’s country head to TOI
For more, read here.
3. Spectrum Auction Brings Rs 1.10 Lakh Cr to Govt Kitty - The Economic Times
“The country’s leading carriers Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular are likely to have retained crucial 2G airwaves in India’s largest spectrum auction that lasted a gruelling 19 days and raised nearly Rs 1,10,000 crore for the government.”
“Eight mobile phone companies, some of which are headed by the country’s top industrialists including Mukesh and Anil Ambani, Sunil Mittal, Kumar Mangalam Birla and the Tatas -fought for a total of 465 MHz of spectrum across four bands.” However, “analysts are wary that the high bid levels will push up industry debt levels, hurting future investments.” Read here.
4. Shanghvi Junior Gets a Bigger Role in Merged Entity - The Economic Times
“He has a very interesting job ahead,“ says senior Shanghvi,
Dilip Shanghvi, founder of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and India’s richest man, is known to be a tough taskmaster who, in the past 30 years, managed to turn companies around by pulling them down to brass tracks, and turning them into profitable ventures.
So, when it came to handing out the responsibility for one of the important roles of the merged SunRanbaxy entity, Shanghvi handed the mandate to his son, Aalok Shanghvi, who will be managing the emerging markets business of the combined entity.
5. Sun seals Ranbaxy deal, to invest $300 mn in R&D - Business Standard
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, India’s largest drugmaker, on Wednesday announced the closure of its merger with Ranbaxy Laboratories and said the integration would deliver synergies worth $250 million (about Rs 1,500 crore) in three years.
Dilip Shanghvi informed that the company would “invest about $300 million (about Rs 1,800 crore) in research and development (R&D) this year, six-seven per cent of the combined revenue.”
The merger will make Sun Pharma the world’s fifth-largest maker of generic drugs, after Teva, Sandoz, Activas and Mylan.
6. L&T to Hive off, List Electrical Arm, Exit Non-core Business - The Economic Times
Larsen & Toubro plans to hive off its electrical and automation business, the only product business of the engineering major, into a subsidiary in 2015-16 with a plan to list it the year after, but will exit all other non-core businesses, its chairman AM Naik told the Economic Times.
“Among non-core businesses, we have sold most of them. All small businesses less than Rs. 1,000 crore will be sold. There are some businesses which nobody wants to buy. Fortunately, they are small, so we can make settlements with labour unions to close them, he further added.”
7. Piramal Realty may raise Rs 900 crore via stake sale - Financial Express
Mumbai-based Piramal Realty, led by Ajay Piramal, is believed to be divesting some stake as it looks to raise Rs 800-900 crore. According to Financial Express, talks with US-based private equity (PE) fund Warburg Pincus were in the final stage although the deal has not been closed yet, as per sources.
The investment will be made through a special purpose vehicle (SPV), which will hold four of Piramal Realty’s assets. These include marquee parcels, including a seven-acre plot in Byculla, which the company bought from textile major Mafatlal industries. Also included is a prime one-acre plot that Piramal Realty bought from Hindustan Unilever in 2012. The other two land parcels are in Kurla and Thane.
8. Media industry to grow at 13.9% a yr, says Ficci-KPMG - Mint
The media and entertainment industry in India is expected to grow at a compounded rate of 13.9% every year to touch Rs 1.96 lakh crore by 2019, as per a report by FICCI and consulting firm KPMG. The industry was pegged at Rs 1.02 lakh crore in 2014. The growth will be primarily driven by a surge in the popularity of digital media and e-commerce, with digital advertising growing close to 45% in 2014.
9. Flipkart aims to generate 20 lakh jobs this year - PTI, in DNA
Domestic e-commerce major Flipkart said it will generate over 20 lakh jobs through its marketplace and ancillary services this year.
The Bangalore-based firm expects 60% of this employment to be generated in the logistics and warehousing sector.
Flipkart said the marketplace model has opened up opportunities in metros and non-metro cities. “This year, nearly 50-60% of employment will be created in tier II and III cities. For instance, cities like Jaipur and Baroda have already become the ancillary industry hubs.
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