This is a roundup of the day’s top stories in brief.
1. Inside Razorpay: India’s Newest Fintech Unicorn
Razorpay started out in 2014 with a very simple premise—that despite proliferation of businesses around payments in India, small firms, young startups and many others still found it difficult to find the right payment solutions.
And so, two IIT-Roorkee alumni—Harshil Mathur and Shashank Kumar—decided to leave their corporate jobs and take a shot at building a payment gateway focused on these segments.
Six years later, Razorpay became the latest Indian fintech startup to have a $1 billion valuation. A unicorn, joining the league of Paytm, PhonePe, BillDesk and PineLabs.
Here’s how Mathur and Kumar, after a dose of reality check, built out their billion dollar payments startup.
2. Crisis And Recovery: A Mobius-Mukherjea Exclusive
Whenever the economy is hit by a mega-crisis, surprisingly consumption proves to be far more robust than most people expect it to be, write Mark Mobius and Saurabh Mukherjea.
Furthermore, financially strong, dominant franchises consolidate market share during such crises.
Finally, stock markets tend to perform well following major crises.
Read the surprising evidence.
3. Blackstone Nears $2-Billion India Deal
Blackstone Group Inc. is nearing a deal to buy an Indian developer’s commercial properties for about $2 billion, people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg News.
The U.S. private equity group is in advanced talks to acquire Prestige Estates Projects Ltd.’s rent-yielding assets including offices and operating malls, the people said, asking not to be identified as the discussions are private.
Terms haven’t been finalised and negotiations could still be delayed or fall apart, the people said.
4. Nifty Trims Weekly Loss; UPL Slumps
India’s stock benchmarks rose, trimming a weekly loss, after another signal that economic growth is recovering and as government steps to boost liquidity buoyed sentiment.
The S&P BSE Sensex ended 0.6% higher at 39,982.
The NSE Nifty 50 index ended 0.7% higher at 11,762.
Both measures clocked their first weekly loss in three, falling 1.3% each.
Shares of UPL Ltd. posted the worst intraday fall in five months after KPMG Mauritius resigned as auditor to its subsidiary UPL Corp.
Follow the day’s trading action here.
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U.S. Stocks Climb; Crude Slumps
U.S. stocks climbed after gauges of retail sales and consumer sentiment rose, while traders braced for heightened volatility amid the expiration of equity options.
The S&P 500 was poised for its third weekly advance -- the longest streak since late August.
Pfizer Inc. rallied after saying it could seek emergency-use authorization for its Covid-19 vaccine in the U.S. by late November if the shot is shown to be effective.
Boeing Co. jumped as Europe’s top aviation regulator said the 737 Max plane may return to the region’s skies by year-end.
West Texas Intermediate crude slid 1.7% to $40.26 a barrel.
Get your daily fix of global markets.
5. HCL Tech Hikes Guidance
HCL Technologies Ltd.’s quarterly profit rose, surpassing estimates, as constraints from the coronavirus pandemic eased.
Net profit rose 7.4% over the preceding quarter to Rs 3,142 crore, according to an exchange filing.
Revenue increased 4.2% to Rs 18,594 crore.
Margin expanded to 21.6% from 20.5%.
The company raised its EBIT margin guidance to 20-21% from 19.5-20.5% forecast earlier.
Get more on the IT firm’s Q2 results here.
6. RBI’s First OMO For State Bonds
The Reserve Bank of India will buy Rs 10,000 crore in state government bonds under its first such open market operation aimed at easing the borrowing pressure on states.
The RBI has identified debt across 15 states for purchase.
It has not specified either the amount it will purchase from each state or the amount for each security identified.
Find out the details of all bonds that will be on offer.
7. Dividend Distribution Tax, Treaty Benefits And The Chaos
The Delhi tax tribunal may have just given ammunition to Indian companies with foreign shareholders to claim DDT refunds from the tax department.
While determining Dividend Distribution Tax, a non-resident shareholder will get the benefit of the lower tax rate under a treaty, the Delhi bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal has ruled.
This is likely to create significant chaos, experts told BloombergQuint.
Find out what experts are saying.
8. Fight Over Farm Laws: What’s At Stake?
The recently passed farm laws have seen a bitter political divide leading to the resignation of a Union Minister and protests in large parts of the country.
Now, two sitting Members of Parliament and one farmer leader have approached the Supreme Court setting the stage for a showdown between the central government and states.
At the heart of the case is the assertion that the centre has encroached upon the domain of states.
Do states have enough ground to challenge’s the centre’s law?
9. Yes Bank Allowed To Auction Off Singh Brothers' Property
The Delhi High Court allowed Yes Bank Ltd. to auction a property that the Singh brothers offered as a collateral against loans they later defaulted on.
The auction, however, will be conducted under the supervision of a court-appointed commissioner, the court said in its order.
Yes Bank had sanctioned two loans of Rs 500 crore and Rs 565 crore between 2015 and 2017 to companies controlled by the Singh brothers.
Proceeds can only be used after disposal of Daiichi's plea challenging the role of various lenders, including Yes Bank, in the dilution of stake by the Singhs in Fortis.
10. Indian Women Entrepreneurs' Pandemic Playbook
Most female entrepreneurs in Indian cities were quick to change their business model and predict their operations will survive after the coronavirus pandemic ravaged revenues, according to a new study.
Bain & Co., Google, and AWE Foundation surveyed almost 350 women entrepreneurs and small businesses and found that 54% had already made business shifts -- including new products or services -- and another 24% planned to change by December.
About 90% said they believe they will survive the crisis.
Covid-19 had a disproportionate impact on women all over the world.
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