It has been ages since I wrote about the Indian Business or my interests in the world of business in general, but after going through a lot of the news lately I was reminded of my days when I used to write about them.
Pininfarina makes an interesting buy for Mahindra
It started with a startling news that Mahindra may be looking for a stake buy in Pininfarina, the Italian design house for cars. The Aviation to Scooter company is making great strides into picking up key properties across the world, including the recently acquired scooter business from Peugeot. SsangYong is already turning out to be a good addition in terms of sales and Mahindra actually has been able to make them sensible to outside world. Buying this iconic designer will be a shot in its arm, and Mahindra can apply the talent across its businesses.
My only concern with Mahindra buying-spree (remember they also were wanting to bid for Jaguar-Land Rover) is that they have their hands in some many companies and in such diverse industries, they should not end up being completely chaotic to manage. As a layman, I would be confused a lot to see the many companies they own and operate.
Sun Pharma get Ranbaxy
This is a company that keeps itself in the news, less for good and more for bad. No, I am talking about Ranbaxy. Ever since Daiichi Sankyo, the very reputation of Ranbaxy in India and rest of the world had diminished a lot. Once high-flying company was riddled with FDA warnings and bans on its product factories. Sun, who itself were in the media during its volatile takeover of Taro Pharma of Israel, will be looking to change all that, and more.
So in essence, an Indian multinational got sold to a Japanese company, who again sold it back to an India multinational. Daiichi Sankyo will receive 9% stake in Sun Pharma, which also opens up possibility for Sun to collaborate with Daiichi and also give them access to markets/products.
All in all, it is a good marriage and so far, Sun has done an excellent job by self-made Dilip Sanghvi.
Amazon sets up logistics for India
This is another big news for India ‘etail’ story, if I may. The online retail space has seen a lot of activity and will continue to see in the foreseeable future as everyone involved are rushing to gain the advantage and growth in their strides. Poised to be the fastest growing market, India has seen a huge investment in this segment from leaders like Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon.
While Flipkart had eKart and Snapdeal finally managed to buy a stake in logistics firm GoJavas, Amazon needed something of its own to offer better same-day-delivery and next-day-delivery services. So what do they do? Create a new one! ATS(P)L or Amazon Transportation Services Pvt. Ltd., is a subsidiary of Amazon and will ship products from sellers its online marketplace to buyers.
This sector is going to see a huge boost in investments in coming months and so will be the jobs!
MUDRA Bank – financing Small and Medium Enterprises
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that launch of MUDRA Bank will happen on 8th of April. This bank should be of a huge help in getting loans for Small and Medium Enterprises – with a chest of Rs. 20,000 Crores to share. The scheme will particularly be helpful for those from Scheduled Castes and Tribes and can be easily be seen as a significant vote-bank plank from BJP.
Interestingly it will help the SMEs who are collectively employing millions of Indians and who knows many of them may just grow into present day ‘Bharat Forge’ and ‘Infosys’.
India