MC Insider: A secure data centre pact, MSME wrath at govt conference, HNIs bullish on a chemicals firm and more

The recent exit of a CEO from a bank had triggered speculations of a rift in the Board. The CEO, considered as a high achiever during his stint, abruptly decided not to seek re-appointment citing personal reasons. It turns out that the speculations were indeed far-fetched and far from the truth and the CEO's decision was largely on account of his desire to spend more time with the family, mainly due to ill-health of a close family member. In the meantime, the race for his seat has begun and a few veterans have thrown the hat in the ring, including from competition, sources say.

In an attempt to fix the media leak within the organisation, a little birdie told us this startup which laid off staff, reached out to their employees on a messaging platform used internally, requesting them to follow ethics and maintain the culture that the organisation holds. The company went to the extent of saying that this will only damage the reputation of the employees as well and quoted many instances where the company was very supportive to staff at all times. The irony is that some employees chose to share this message to media as well. Guess there is no stopping bad news from traveling fast!

According to a NASSCOM report, global data center market investments are expected to reach $200 billion per annum by 2025. And in terms of CAGR, India is expected to grow at twice the global rate. No wonder many groups are making a beeline for this segment. Meanwhile, whispers on the street indicate that a real estate player is mulling a tie-up in this segment and is likely to be the first of the block to partner with government entities. Keep a watch on this space.

HNIs and a Middle East long only fund are said to have taken a bullish view on this specialty chemicals firm. Pray why? The company’s margin had suffered since the last couple of quarters due to an inventory pile up which had led to stretched working capital. Raw materials had piled up because the firm had expected to secure an export order which it did not get. Now that the high-cost inventory has been utilized, the pressure on margin is expected to ease.

We hear a recent sarkari conference took a dramatic turn when industry stakeholders, mostly comprising of MSME owners, started venting out their anger in between presentations given by a leading power generator. The conference meant to discuss the achievements of the National Biomass (SAMARTH) Mission, soon descended into a tirade of accusations and shouting and the event had to be paused for a couple of minutes! Buzz is that industry stakeholders were constantly shooting tough questions at this state-owned power generating giant which apparently has to off-take biomass pellets for blending in coal-fired thermal plants. Some of the agitated audience members had to be escorted out of the conference hall! Phew!

This global advertising agency that has recently got a new South Asia CEO is undergoing a lot of new changes under the new boss. The critical post, which was filled after over a year, has already led to a senior C-suite executive leaving the agency. Many in the agency rue the fact that the top boss who comes with no experience from the agency business can negatively impact the understanding of the delicate nuances of the business. Some executives are already looking out for greener pastures since the agency has been dealing with multiple issues including senior level exits, leadership vacuum, loss of big accounts and a rather complex agency structure which is too strenuous to run.

According to buzz in industry circles, the movement of goods at a port has been hit due to a new rule that directs all factory stuffed export containers to be routed only through the Centralized Parking Plaza (CPP) developed by the port authority instead of container freight stations around the port. According to observers, this new regime is allegedly leading to a loss of more than 20,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) a month to container freight stations set up by several logistic companies. What could have been the trigger for this unique move? Hmm...