IBBI AMENDS INSOLVENCY RESOLUTION PROCESS NORMS
New Delhi, Oct 6: An insolvency resolution plan will need to have a statement spelling out how the interest of all stakeholders will be dealt with, according to the amended regulations under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.
The move would help in ensuring more clarity in terms of taking into consideration interests of stakeholders, including home buyers, concerned during the insolvency process.
With the latest amendment by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI), a resolution plan should have a statement about dealing with the interests of all stakeholders.
The IBBI is implementing the Code.
“A resolution plan shall include a statement as to how it has dealt with the interests of all stakeholders, including financial creditors and operational creditors, of the corporate debtor,” an official release said.
In this regard, regulations pertaining to Insolvency Resolution Process for Corporate Persons as well as to Fast Track Insolvency Resolution Process for Corporate Persons have been amended by the IBBI.
The Code, which became operational in December last year, provides for a market-determined and time-bound insolvency resolution process.
A case is taken up for resolution under the Code only after receiving approval of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for the same.
The IBBI has also amended the rules for information utilities, providing more leeway for setting up such entities.
Now, a listed Indian company can hold up to 100 per cent stake in an information utility — which stores financial information that helps to establish defaults as well as verify claims expeditiously.
With the latest amendments, a person can, either alone or together with persons acting in concert, have a maximum of 51 per cent stake in an information utility for up to three years from the date of its registration.
Besides, an Indian company listed in India can hold up to 100 per cent of the paid-up equity share capital or total voting power of an information utility for three years from the date of inception.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
INDIA’S FUTURE RETAIL, SHOPPERS STOP SHARES RISE ON $100 MLN HYPERCITY DEAL
MUMBAI – Shares in Indian retailer Shoppers Stop rose nearly 9 percent to a three-year high on Friday, a day after it agreed to sell its supermarket chain Hypercity to domestic rival Future Retail for 6.55 billion rupees ($100.42 million).
The deal also sent shares of Future Retail sharply higher, as investors bet it would improve its growth prospects as Indian shoppers increasingly switch from buying groceries at mom-and-pop stores to bigger supermarkets such as Hypercity.
In a deal announced late Thursday, the companies said Future Retail is buying a 100 percent stake in Hypercity by purchasing Shoppers Stop’s 51.09 percent shareholding and the remainder from real estate developer K. Raheja and related companies.
Analysts said selling off its supermarket chain would allow Shoppers Stop to focus on its core department store business and cut debt levels, while Future Retail, which operates the Big Bazaar supermarket chain, will be able to expand its store count in the country to more than 900.
“We expect the deal to be a win‐win proposition for both players,” said Edelweiss in a note to clients.
Shoppers Stop shares were up 1.1 percent at 0940 GMT, after earlier rising as much as 8.7 percent to their highest since October 2014. Future Retail shares were up 2 percent after earlier rising as much as 6.1 percent.
The cash-and-stock deal includes 1.55 billion rupees in cash and 5 billion rupees worth of shares with the remainder being debt.
The deal is expected to close in three to five months, the companies said.
Shoppers Stop also received a boost last month when an affiliate of Amazon.com agreed to buy a 1.79 billion rupee stake in the Indian retailer.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
INDIA, EU HOLD 14TH SUMMIT TALKS
New Delhi, Oct 6 () Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the top leadership of the European Union deliberated on a range of key issues to boost overall ties between India and the 28-nation bloc.
The two sides reviewed a full spectrum of their ties at the 14th summit with a focus on ramping up two-way trade and investment.
European Council President Donald Franciszek Tusk, and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker were part of the high-level EU delegation.
“Consolidating the Strategic Partnership. PM@narendramodi, @eucopresident and @JunckerEU review bilateral relations at 14th #IndiaEUSummit,” the spokesperson of External Affairs Ministry, Raveesh Kumar, tweeted.
India and the EU have been strategic partners since 2004.
The bloc is India’s largest regional trading partner with bilateral trade in goods standing at USD 88 billion in 2016. India received around USD 83 billions of foreign direct investment from Europe between 2000 and 2017, constituting approximately 24 per cent of the total FDI inflows into the country during the period, said Kumar.
The 13th summit was held in Brussels in March 30 last year.
The meet had failed to make any headway on the long- stalled negotiations for a free trade agreement.
Launched in June 2007, the negotiations for the proposed EU-India Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) have witnessed many hurdles with both sides having major differences on crucial issues such as intellectual property rights and duty cut in automobile and spirits.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
[ads1]
SELECT PULSES SLIDE ON MUTED DEMAND
New Delhi, Oct 6 () The wholesale pulses market ended on a weak note as prices of select pulses led by kabuli gram fell by up to Rs 200 per quintal owing to slackened from retailers.
Traders said easing demand from retailers against adequate stocks position on increased supplies in the market from producing belts mainly pulled down kabuli gram and other pulses’ prices.
In the national capital, kabuli gram small variety drifted down by Rs 200 to Rs 9,300-10,500 per quintal.
Arhar and its dal dara variety drifted lower by Rs 150 and Rs 200 to Rs 3,850 and Rs 5,900-7,800 per quintal, respectively.
Urad and its dal chilka (local) also finished lower by Rs 100 each to Rs 4,400-5,700 and Rs 5,300-5,400 per quintal, respectively. Its dal best quality and dhoya followed suit and enquired lower by a similar margin to Rs 5,400-5,900 and Rs 5,800-6,000 per quintal.
In line with the overall trend, gram too quoted lower at Rs 5,600-5,900 instead of Rs 5,600-6,050 per quintal. Its dal local and best quality traded lower by Rs 200 each to Rs 6,200-6,600 and Rs 6,600-6,700 per quintal.
Following are Friday’s pulses rates (in Rs per quintal):
Urad Rs 4,400-5,700, Urad Chilka (local) Rs 5,300-5,400, Urad best Rs 5,400-5,900, Dhoya Rs 5,800-6,000, Moong Rs 4,800-5,500, Dal Moong Chilka local Rs 5,500-5,700, Moong Dhoya local Rs 6,100-6,600 and best quality Rs 6,600-6,800.
Masoor small Rs 3,600-3,700, bold Rs 3,650-3,800, Dal Masoor local Rs 3,800-4,300, best quality Rs 3,900-4,400, Malka local Rs 4,450-4,650, best Rs 4,550-4,750, Moth Rs 3,600-4,000, Arhar Rs 3,850, Dal Arhar Dara Rs 5,900-7,800.
Gram Rs 5,600-5,900, Gram dal (local) Rs 6,200-6,600, best quality Rs 6,600-6,700, Besan (35 kg), Shakti bhog Rs 2,750, Rajdhani Rs 2,750, Rajma Chitra Rs 7,700-10,000, Kabuli Gram small Rs 9,300-10,500, Dabra Rs 2,700-2,800, Imported Rs 4,700-5,100, Lobia Rs 4,800-5,000, Peas white Rs 2,625-2,650 and green Rs 2,675-2,775.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
INDIAN STARTUPS BACK ON RADAR OF GLOBAL INVESTORS
NEW DELHI: Global hedge funds and asset management companies, including several from Hong Kong, are making a cautious return to India’s resurgent startup ecosystem, some 18 months after they pulled back amid a churn in the domestic market.
A number of Hong Kong-based funds including Janchor Partners are in talks with Droom Technology, an online marketplace for used automobiles, for its next fundraising, estimated at about $50 million (Rs 325 crore), according to people aware of the discussions.
ETechAces Marketing and Consulting, which owns online financial services marketplaces PolicyBazaar and PaisaBazaar, recently secured funding from Boston, Massachusetts-based Wellington Management and other investors. In August, Treebo Hotels raised Rs 226 crore in funding led by Hong Kong-based hedge funds Ward Ferry Management and Karst Peak Capital.
“We have taken money from Steadview Capital and Tiger Global (as well). Look, it’s easy and non-interfering capital, with its own pros and cons. But it’s mostly been pros,” said Yashish Dahiya, chief executive of PolicyBazaar.
“At every stage you need different things. If you want someone to just give you capital, and once in a while guidance, it’s great. But if you are looking for specific leverage, on-the-ground support, then maybe not.”
John Ho, chief investment officer at Janchor Partners, did not reply to an email seeking details on the firm’s talks with Droom, while Sandeep Aggarwal, CEO of Droom, declined to comment.
Apart from Steadview Capital, other Hong Kong-based funds including Myriad Asset Management and Tybourne Capital were among the earliest to come to India and scout for and close deals at a rapid pace, including in Snapdeal and FreeCharge.
“What we are seeing now is a very credible set of investors… Assets that have created scale and competitive moats are clearly the targets for these funds to make early investments,” said Nitin Bhatia, managing director at investment bank Signal Hill India. “The markets now are much more in line with their global peers, and it is easier to justify valuations now.”
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
NCLT SETS ASIDE MISTRY PLEA TO SHIFT CASE TO DELHI BENCH
New Delhi, Oct 6: The National Company Law Tribunal dismissed the plea of ousted Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry seeking transfer of his case challenging the ouster to the New Delhi bench from Mumbai.
The principal bench of the NCLT headed by Chairman Justice M M Kumar also imposed a cost of Rs 10 lakh on Mistry’s two investment firms, which would be shared by both.
The two companies — Cyrus Investments Pvt Ltd and Sterling Investments Corporation Pvt Ltd — had held that the Mumbai bench could have a cause of bias.
Last month, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) had granted Mistry waiver in the minimum shareholding rule for him to file a case of alleged oppression of minority shareholders after observing “exceptional” and “compelling circumstances” in the entire episode.
The Mistry family owns 18.4 per cent stake in the closely-held Tata Sons. The holding is less than 3 per cent if preferential shares are excluded, not meeting the criteria of at least 10 per cent ownership in a company for the filing of a case of alleged oppression of minority shareholders.
It had directed the NCLT, which had previously dismissed Mistry’s petition against Tata Sons on the ground of not meeting the minimum shareholding criteria, to decide the case in three months.
Mistry has been locked in a legal battle with the Tatas since his unceremonious exit as chairman of Tata Sons — the promoter company of the USD 105-billion salt-to-software Tata group — in October last year.
Mistry was ousted as Tata Sons chairman on October 24, 2016, and was also removed as a director on the board of the holding company on February 6, 2017.
Cyrus Investments Pvt and Sterling Investments Corporation Pvt had moved the NCLT against Tata Sons after Mistry’s ouster last year alleging oppression of minority shareholders and mismanagement.
However, on April 17, the Mumbai bench of the NCLT had rejected the waiver plea filed by the investment firms while on March 6, it had set aside the one over maintainability.
Following that, both the investment firms had moved the appellate tribunal.
The NCLAT, however, dismissed another petition filed by the Mistry family’s investment firms on maintainability, saying the firms do not have more than 10 per cent in Tata Sons.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
GOLD PRICE DIPS RS 49 ON MUTED DEMAND FROM JEWELLERS
NEW DELHI: Gold plunges by Rs 49 to Rs 29,338 per 10 gram at the bullion market mainly due to muted demand from local jewellers even as the metal strengthened on the global market.
The gold for expiry in the month of December fell by Rs 49 to Rs 29,338 per 10 gram at the Multi Commodity Exchange where as the metal for expiry in the far month of February was trading at Rs 29,458 in early market hours.
As per market experts the muted demand from local jewellers and retailers at the spot market is the reason for fall in the gold prices but a firm trend overseas capped the slide.
Internationally, the metal rose 0.06 per cent to USD 1,275.40 an ounce in Singapore.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
KEY GST MEETING UNDERWAY: 5 THINGS TO EXPECT
NEW DELHI: The GST Council, headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday is meeting for another set of deliberations on the new tax regime. The meeting which is the 22nd of its kind holds significance given the repeated promises of reforms by the government amid concerns of an ‘economic slowdown’. On Thursday, Jaitley, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah went into a huddle, reportedly to discuss the economy. It is widely expected that the government will dish out a number of GST-related sweeteners in the middle of the festive season.