Chasing a third spot, cab majors go on a food trail at hefty $400-mn bill
Online food discovery, ordering and delivery apps Foodpanda and Uber Eats, owned by cab aggregating giants Ola and Uber, respectively, spent almost $400 million in 2018 on rapid expansion as well as discounting to gain new customers, it is learnt. Read more here
Jessop, Dunlop stare at a bleak future amid lack of clarity on ownership structure
Nearly three years after the West Bengal Assembly passed two consecutive Bills to take over Jessop & Company and Dunlop India, neither could be taken over nor liquidated to settle the outstanding dues of banks and workers. The crux of the problem is lack of clarity over their ownership. Click here to know more
Telcos turn to first recharge plans to retain loyal customers, boost gains
Incumbent telecom services providers are turning gatekeepers to keep out low-revenue subscribers after they witnessed some growth in the average revenue per user (ARPU) through minimum monthly recharge plans. With telecom disruptor Reliance Jio not raising tariffs, incumbents Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea are focusing on the minimum monthly recharge and higher first recharge offers to ensure they retain only loyal and revenue-incremental subscribers. Read more here
M-cap erosion: Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group firms recommend legal action
A day after accusing L&T and Edelweiss entities of causing huge market value erosion by "illegal and motivated" sale of their pledged shares, Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group Saturday said boards of its three listed firms have recommended "all appropriate legal steps" to protect shareholders' value.
In separate regulatory filings, Reliance Capital, Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Power said their respective boards met on Saturday to review the events of last week, leading to a sharp fall in their market capitalisation and destruction of wealth. Click here to know more
JLR looks at financing options following shock $4 billion write-down
Jaguar Land Rover, reeling from a $4 billion writedown, a slump in China sales and uncertainty around Brexit, said conditions aren’t right for it to borrow from the bond market and that it’s seeking alternative funding. The luxury automaker needs to raise $1 billion within 14 months to replace maturing bonds, while feeding an investment program for electric cars that’s burning through cash. Read more here
After local opposition, Amazon looking for alternatives to New York HQ
Amazon.com Inc is exploring alternatives to locating part of its new headquarters in New York in case the plan should fail due to local opposition, a person briefed on the matter told Reuters on Friday. The online retailer has not yet acquired any land for the project, which would make it easy to scrap its plans, the source said. The Washington Post reported the story earlier on Friday. Click here to know more
Sale of pledged shares by L&T Finance, Edelweiss illegal: Reliance Group
Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Group alleged on Friday that misconduct by certain non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), particularly L&T Finance and Edelweiss, had led to the recent slump in shares of some of its companies, and termed their action “illegal, motivated, and wholly unjustified”. L&T Finance and Edelweiss refuted the allegations and said they had followed the due procedure. Read more here
Sirpur Paper Mills on revival mode; begins trial production
The ailing The Sirpur Paper Mills Limited is on a revival mode with trial production commencing from one of its machines after it was taken over by JK Paper through a Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process in 2018, reports The Hindu BusinessLine.
Stake sale: Promotors of Igarashi Motors may exit firm
Promoters of Igarashi Motors India are understood to be looking to exit the firm and have initiated discussions with both strategic players as also private equity funds, persons close to the development indicated. According to Financial Express, the persons indicated the promoters have had initial talks with funds like Carlyle, Apax Partners, AION Capital and Advent as also strategic players like Samvardhana Motherson, Varroc Engineering and Kirloskar Electric.
Dassault-Reliance kicks off Falcon jet production
At the heart of the controversy over offsets in the Rafale deal, the Dassault-Reliance facility in Nagpur has kick started production, with the delivery of major components for the Falcon 2000 LX executive jets that are currently being assembled in France, The Economic Times reports.