Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and ChrysCapital are in advanced talks to invest up to $600 million in Lenskart. The deal is expected to offer Lenskart an enterprise valuation of $4.5 billion. While the finer details are expected, it is reported that ADIA may invest $500 million while ChrysCapital may invest $100 million in Lenskart. It will be a big boost to the start-up scenario in India amidst the funding winter. For FY22, Lenskart reported total revenues of Rs1,502 crore and net losses of Rs102 crore due to cash burn.
Axis AMC appointed B Gopkumar as the new MD and CEO in place of Chandresh Nigam, who leaves the AMC after a 14-year stint. Currently, Gopkumar is MD and CEO of Axis Securities, the broking arm of the Axis Group. Ashish Gupta from Credit Suisse will take over as the CIO of Axis Mutual Fund. Axis MF currently does not have a CIO. This move is obviously a reaction to SEBI barring chief dealer, Viresh Joshi, for flagrant front running. SEBI also passed a disgorgement order worth Rs30.6 crore against the guilty.
TCS is about to close one of the biggest deals of the year worth $1 billion with Marks & Spencer; the UK based retailing company. TCS will also renew its current 5-year engagement with Marks & Spencer. It will not only help in the business process, but also in digital transformation. The deal is likely to be spread out over the next 8-10 years. TCS and Marks & Spencer have a relationship that stretches back to over 10 years and TCS had also used the Microsoft Azure Databricks technology to build a platform for the client.
Glenmark Pharma signed an exclusive agreement with Cediprof Inc for supply and distribution of the latter’s generic drug for treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Under the deal, Glenmark will manufacture the generic versions of Adderal tablets of 5 mg, 10 mg, 15 mg, 20 mg, and 30 mg. Glenmark expects to start distribution in the US during the second half of 2023. The product has been in the FDA shortage list for some time. The drug is a highly prescribed medication in the US for ADHD.
The US and India will sign an MOU on semiconductors to coordinate investment and continue dialogue around policies to spur private investment. The CEOs of top semiconductor companies are in India to explore the opportunities of manufacturing semiconductors in India. The US and India plan to map the semiconductor supply chain together and identify opportunities for JVs and technology partnerships. India has been working hard to attract big-ticket investments under a $10 billion incentive plan for chips.
Funding flows into Indian start-ups further slipped 38% QOQ to just about $598 million in February. The figure stood at $962 million in January 2023. The number of deals also fell from 84 to 67 deals. In fact, deal volumes have been consistently slipping since the December 2021 quarter. CY2021 had been a record year for Indian and global start-ups with record capital raised. However, in the last one year, investors have cut down on deal sizes and the Russia Ukraine war and the Fed hawkishness has dried up the funds.
REC Ltd announced its plan to raise Rs120,000 crore via different debt instruments in FY24. It has already secured approval from the board of directors. REC will raise Rs105,000 crore through domestic bonds, capital gains tax exemption bonds, rupee term loans, and external commercial borrowings. In addition, Rs10,000 crore will be raised from NBFCs and Fintechs while Rs5,000 crore will come from CPs. That would be more than 3 times its current market capitalization. In Q3FY22, REC posted net profits of Rs2,915 crore.
HFCL partnered with Microsoft in the lucrative private networks. They will jointly create converged private 5G solutions of IOT, Cloud, Edge Computing, AI, and Analytics. They will look to apply these ideas to sectors like manufacturing, retailing, mining, education, defence, railways etc. HFCL is deploying a private 5G enabled Industry 4.0 solution using Microsoft Azure. Currently, nearly 41% of private networks being deployed by enterprises are private 5G networks that enable robotics, drones and AI based automation.