Morning Scan: All the big stories to get you started for the day

A round-up of the biggest articles from newspapers

Within days of State Bank of India putting its 25 percent stake in Yes Bank on the block, there is interest from West Asia and Japan, the Hindu Businessline reported, citing four unnamed bankers. First Abu Dhabi Bank, the United Arab Emirates largest lender, and Mizuho Bank, a leading bank in Japan, have shown interest acquiring the State Bank’s stake in Yes Bank. A deal would also spark an open offer.

Why it’s important: The sale of Yes Bank stake is expected to fetch top dollar foreign direct investment into India’s banking space. Both the Japanese and West Asian lenders have operation in the country. A stake purchase would give them an instant boost to their local expansion.

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and KKR have invested Rs 12,864 crore ($1.5 billion) in Reliance Retail Ventures’ warehousing assets, the Economic Times reported. This is outside of the infrastructure investment trust that Reliance Retail Ventures set up last year to house about half its retail warehousing assets. The transaction is yet to be formally announced.

Why it’s important: Both the fund houses are already invested in other Reliance initiatives. Reliance Retail Ventures has in less than 20 years has emerged as India’s largest organized retail business by revenue, scale, and profits, and is only set to get bigger.

Adani New Industries, which was selected for a pilot on indigenous technology-based electrolyzer production under the National Green Hydrogen Mission, is looking to set up cumulative electrolyzer manufacturing capacity of 5 GW with an investment of up to $3 billion, the Mint reported. The company plans to set up 2 GW capacity by the end of the current financial year.

Why it’s important: Adani intends to make full use of the business incentives the government is offering to make India a green hydrogen hub. Reliance also has big plans in the space that could expand dramatically in a few years as the world transitions to greener energy.

A probe by the Competition Commission of India into a four-year-old case against Amazon and Flipkart has found the e-commerce giants were in contravention of the country’s antitrust laws, the Business Standard reported. The findings would soon be shared with parties involved, including the informant and the companies, followed by a hearing by the competition overseer.

Why it’s important: The top two online retailers are accused of giving deep discounts on online sales of smartphones, cherry picking sellers, and indulging in predatory pricing and exclusive partnerships. If found to be true, they could be staring at huge penalties.

The decks are clear for the demerger of Vedanta into six separate companies, with key lenders agreeing to sign off on the proposal after a deadlock of nearly seven months, the Mint reported. So far, two large private sector banks have accorded their in-principle approvals, and another large state-owned bank is likely to greenlight the proposal soon.

Why it’s important: Vedanta’s demerger into six different listed firms has been delayed by doubts of banks over the redistribution of its $7 billion debt between the demerged companies. The spilt would still require regulatory approvals.

Premji Invest, the family office of Wipro founder Azim Premji, is in advanced talks to acquire a majority stake in Nainital Bank, a subsidiary of state-run Bank of Baroda, the Economic Times reported. The proposed investment is likely to value the Uttarakhand-based lender at around Rs 800 crore.

Why it’s important: Bank of Baroda is expected to divest its entire 98 percent stake in Nainital Bank. If deal goes through, this would be Premji’s debut in India’s banking space.

Manipal Group chairman Ranjan Pai’s investment office Claypond Capital and Axis Bank are in discussions to invest in gold loan startup Rupeek, the Economic Times reported. The valuation would be around $200-250 million, which will be at a discount of around 60 percent from its peak valuation of $600 million in July 2022. The fundraising round will see existing investors part-sell their shares.

Why it’s important: This could be an opportunity for new investors at Rupeek, which has seen business slow down amid a regulatory crackdown. The outlook of the gold loan business remains robust though.

Bottling company Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, owned by Coca-Cola India, is planning an initial public offering, the Economic Times reported. The listing plans are at an internal discussion stage and Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages has been sounding out potential bankers to prepare blueprints for the listing.

Why it’s important: Coca-Cola India is betting on growth prospects in the country of 1.4 billion people as demand for cold drinks outpace other FMCG products.

When Freshworks first brought in Dennis Woodside as president in September 2022, there were murmurs on whether founder and chief executive Girish Mathrubootham would be stepping aside. Mathrubootham has now announced acknowledged this in a note to employees, saying he will be transitioning into the role of executive chairman and Woodside has taken charge as CEO from May 1.

Why it’s important: The software as a service firm is going through a well-thought through plan for succession as it transitioned from a start-up to a publicly trade company. It would be an exemplar for other to emulate.

Electricity prices on exchanges have risen by a fourth in a month, as persistent heatwaves force homes and offices across the country to run power-guzzling cooling systems for longer, the Mint reported. Electricity traded at Rs 5.8 per unit on the Indian Energy Exchange on Thursday, up from Rs 4.6 a month earlier.

Why it’s important: Spot prices of electricity is only expected to head north as power demand spikes in May and June, the hottest months. The heatwaves in eastern and peninsular India are yet to recede.