Morning Buzz: MPL fires half of India team; IT hardware companies ask to defer curbs, and more
Here are the top business headlines this morning to get your day started
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Hardware companies ask to defer import curbs by 9-12 months
In a meeting with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, IT hardware companies Dell, Apple, HP and Acer have asked the government to defer by 9-12 months a plan for licences required for the import of laptops, tablets and all-in-one personal computers. The companies said they need reasonable time to set up manufacturing and also sought details on what would be needed to get these licences. The plan was to impose the licence requirement immediately, but it was then deferred to October 31.(Economic Times)
Softbank portfolio companies preparing to list
Four invested companies of SoftBank are preparing to list soon. These include Swiggy, Lenskart, Firstcry and OfBusiness. Cumulatively, they are valued at $42 billion. The first one could be Firstcry, which is expected to file its prospectus by the end of 2023. SoftBank has been selling stakes in its India investments in both the public and private markets. It recently sold its stake during Lenskart’s $600 million funding round most of which came through a secondary sale.(Economic Times)
Adani looks to exit joint venture with Wilmar
The Adani Group is working on exiting its joint venture with the Wilmar Group. Set up in 1999, the company is into the sale of edible oil. It had raised an initial public offering of Rs 3,600 crore in 2022 and the two partners own 43.97 percent of the company each. The sale is being planned so that the Adani Group can focus on its core infrastructure business. At present, the venture is worth Rs 22,461 crore. (Economic Times, Financial Express, Business Standard)
MPL fires half of India team
Online sports platform Mobile Premier League has fired about 350 people due to the recent imposition of 28 percent GST. The new rules would mean an increase of 350-400 percent in the tax burden of the company. While the business can deal with a 50-100 percent increase, adjusting to such a large increase means the company has to take some tough decisions, according to co-founder San Srinivas. In a digital business, variable costs are mainly people, servers and infrastructure.(Financial Express)
