Morning Buzz: More trouble at Byju's, GE Aerospace-HAL sign deal and more
Here are the top business headlines this morning, to get your day started
More trouble at Byju’s, with reports of directors, auditor quitting
The troubles at edtech giant Byju’s just seem to continue. In recent days the startup has been to court, battling lenders over term-loan repayments, it has fired more employees, and minority shareholder BlackRock has cut its valuation of Byju’s. Now, in the latest development, there are media reports of three board members—GV Ravishankar, managing director at Peak XV Partners (earlier Sequoia India), Russell Andrew Dreisenstock of Prosus group, and Chan Zuckerberg's Vivian Wu—stepping down. Byju’s auditor Deloitte has also resigned from its function. Byju’s has dismissed these reports as ‘entirely speculative’.
(Economic Times, Times of India, Mint, Business Today, CNBC-TV18)
GE Aerospace-HAL sign significant deal during Modi-Biden meet
The Modi-Biden talks got busier, with a range of deals and alliances being announced. GE aerospace announced it has inked a pact with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to jointly produce fighter jet engines for the Indian Air Force’s Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mk-II Tejas. This took place during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ongoing US visit, where he said it gave India-US defence co-operation “a new character”. The GE-HAL deal gains significance as it indicates the US is willing to give India access to its technologies. The deals involving semi-conductors, space cooperation and minerals all signal stronger ties between the two countries.(The Print, Al Jazeera, Economic Times, Times of India, CNBC-TV18, Zee Business)