Square Yards, one of India’s foremost PropTech firms, plans to file DRHP with SEBI for a Rs.1,500 crore IPO. The IPO will be a mix of fresh issue and an offer for sale. So far, the company has raised $125 million via debt and equity. Some of the key investors in Square Yards include Kae Capital, ADM, Bennett Coleman etc. Square Yards is into property brokerage, home loan brokerage and rental businesses and straddles the entire value chain from prospecting to delivery including post-transaction support and management.
AMC stocks are not having the best of times with Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC and HDFC AMC touching 52-week lows during the week. Both these AMC stocks have underperformed in the last 3 months. HDFC AMC stock price has suffered due to rapid market loss in the last 6 months even as overall mutual fund flows remained robust. Aditya Birla is trading nearly 20% below its IPO price. Mutual fund AMCs are not only facing risk of lower retention, but also up against competition from direct equities as well as insurers.
Sameer Gehlaut, one of the promoters of Indiabulls Housing Finance, will be leaving the group. Gehlaut has already promoted another company Dhani Services, which was demerged from Indiabulls. However, he is expected to continue to hold 9.8% stake in Indiabulls Housing Finance. Dhani will focus on building a world-class Fintech and DigiHealth platform. Gehlaut has already brought down his stake from 21.7% to 9.8% so as to be declassified as promoter. Gehlaut had stepped down from the chairmanship in Aug-20.
India’s most valuable EdTech company, Byju’s plans to go public through merger with a special purpose vehicle (SPV) of Churchill Capital. This kind of an arrangement is called a Special Purpose Acquisition Company or SPAC. It is reported that Byju’s would look to raise $4 billion via the IPO at a valuation of $48 billion. Clearly, that size of IPO may not have enough demand in India, especially considering that Byju’s is a loss making entity. However, Byju’s is totally open to the idea of doing an India IPO also next year.
Government has slashed GST rate on ethanol meant for blending from 18% to 5% levels. This would be under the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme. Under the EBP, the oil marketing companies sell petrol blended with ethanol up to 10%. This not only creates an alternate demand for sugar but also ensures that there is a shift to cleaner and cheaper fuel. The ethanol procurement by OMCs has increased from 38 crore litre in Sugar Year 2013-14 to 350 crore litres in 2020-21. This is a positive for sugar stocks.
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) signed a Rs.2,400 crore contract with Bharat Electronics for development and supply of 20 types of systems for LCA (Light Combat Aircraft) Tejas Mk1A program. This 5-year contract will extend from 2023 to 2028. It is a major step towards indigenization of defence procurement. The deal entails the supply of critical avionics, Line Replaceable Units (LRUs), flight control computers and night flying LRUs. The order for supply of systems for 83 Tejas fighter fleet will be designed by the DRDO.
Recently listed CarTrade Tech Ltd will invest up to Rs.750 crore in companies in the automotive space that bring new products or help to enter new markets. The entire idea here is to offer the consumer a great digital auto shopping and ownership experience. CarTrade will look for inorganic targets across verticals like auto finance, leasing, insurance, servicing, electric vehicles etc. CarTrade has acquired CarWale, Shriram Automall BikeWale and Adroit Auto. The stock has been a rank underperformer since its listing.
Yes Bank filed a petition in a Mumbai court against the promoters of Dish TV. Yes Bank is apprehensive that Dish TV promoters may again bring a lawsuit to limit Yes Bank from voting at Dish TV’s AGM on 30-Dec. The caveat was filed against Subhash Chandra, Jawahar Goel and family members. Apparently, Dish TV promoters had approached several large shareholders to sign a petition alleging that the bank was acting in a malafide manner to disrupt business at Dish TV. Dish TV postponed its AGM thrice in the past.
