MC Insider | A bumpy exit road, why 'benching' isn't just for Gen Zs and an instrument that's back in vogue

As truce talks get underway between two high-profile business groups in India, a new sticking point has emerged over the exit options being offered for offloading a stake in a key holding company. The seller has pushed back against a proposed buy-back route, arguing it would lead to a massive capital gains tax bill, making the transaction unviable.

The alternative—selling the stake to an external party—comes with its own complications. Both sides acknowledge that an external buyer is likely to demand a clearly defined exit path, whether through an IPO or a secondary sale, terms that may not be entirely acceptable to one party.

While the outcome remains uncertain, if talks do lead to a deal, it could mark the end of one of India’s most bitter corporate feuds.

It turns out “benching” isn’t just Gen Z dating slang. Corporates have embraced it too, and now banks are picking it up. Here’s the twist though: when it happens at the junior level, it’s benching; at the senior level, it’s called a sabbatical. A very senior employee of a top-tier private bank has been on a long sabbatical, and this has given ideas to some rivals to deal with their senior-level exits. A little birdie tells us that several top executives at this bank have been asked to take long sabbaticals. No one knows if they’ll return to work or quietly exit during their “time off.” Either way, it’s turning into a new way for banks to trim the top layer without making headlines.

Will convertible notes soon be back in vogue in India Inc.? The chatter around this once-popular fundraising instrument has grown louder in recent weeks in investment banking circles. Back in the 2008-2011 era, it was a smash hit but later fell out of favour among issuers. So what seems to be the trigger now? Well, the word is the rather strong demand for the recent mega capital raise by the firm, whose founder is into adventure sports and yoga. The successful transaction turned out to be Asia Pacific’s largest concurrent offering of equity follow-on and convertible notes since 2022.