| | | Question of the Week In 1951, the year of independent India's first elections, the Godrej group had an unusual customer. Who was it? | | |  | Here's a great value proposition A digital subscription to Mint premium can be yours at just ₹213 per month. Check out the convenient and affordable plans we have for you here. | | Good Morning | | The News in Summary Banks and rating agencies may not be on the same page, but Vedanta group founder Anil Agarwal is gung-ho about his plans to carve his holding company into half a dozen potential "Vedantas". Meanwhile, the Godrej family's formal split between Adi and Nadir Godrej, on the one hand, and their cousins Jamshyd Godrej and Smita Crishna Godrej, on the other, is picking up the pace while Dilip Piramal, who built VIP Industries into India's most dominant luggage company may be looking to sell off his family's 50% stake. Elsewhere, Matrix Laboratories founder Nimmagadda Prasad is back in business after buying the active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) business of Viatris Inc. in the country. Finally, after months of talks, JSW group's Sajjan Jindal is tying up with SAIC Motor Corp.-owned MG Motor India to sell its electric cars nationwide. | | |  | | | | Anil Agarwal Undaunted as Vedanta Seeks Funds to Meet Debt Obligations  Staring at bond repayments of $3.1 billion coming up in 2024-25, Anil Agarwal's Vedanta Resources Plc is in advanced talks with several banks, including JPMorgan Chase and Standard Chartered Bank (StanChart), to secure a $3 billion refinancing facility to stave off a possible default. Vedanta Resources, which owns 63.7% of India's Vedanta Ltd, has a net debt of Rs 59,192 crore as of 30 June, up from Rs 26,799 crore in the previous year. The company has announced plans to demerge its business into six distinct listed entities covering the sectors of aluminium, oil and gas, power, steel and ferrous materials and base metals. In an interview, Agarwal explained the move as an attempt to unlock value and said it has the potential to create six Vedantas. Brushing off concerns about the group's rising debt, he said, "In comparison to our business, debt is very, very small." Analysts, however, see the demerger plan as a desperate move to shore up its financials amid a spate of downgrades by rating agencies. | | | | Godrej Family Split in Advanced Stage  The Godrej family, the promoter and key shareholder in the Rs 1.76 trillion conglomerate, is heading for an amicable split between two factions comprising Godrej Industries & Associates, headed by brothers Adi and Nadir Godrej, and Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co. (G&B) led by their cousins Jamshyd Godrej and Smitha Godrej Crishna. The formal split plan, which is still under discussion, will spell out how various business verticals like real estate, consumer products, engineering, appliances, security solutions and agro-commodities are divided. The two most critical issues relate to the usage of the Godrej brand name and the possibility of royalty payments. There is also the question of valuations of the thousands of acres of land, mostly in Mumbai, currently held by G&B. A final division, which has been in the works for the last two years, will include sorting out the intricate cross-holdings among family members and the family trusts. With the different generations of the 126-year-old business family differing in their vision for the business, a formal split, acceptable to all the parties, is the best course for its future. | | | | | | | | Dilip Piramal Looking to Divest Stake in VIP The Dilip Piramal-led promoter group is considering selling its 50% stake in VIP Industries, India's largest luggage and travel accessories maker, with a 44% share of the market. A potential deal, including the mandatory open offer, could be worth as much as $1 billion and would see the promoters completely exit the business. The company, which owns such well-known brands as VIP, Carlton and Skybags, is currently valued at around Rs 9,310 crore, with the promoters' stake worth Rs 4,650 crore. After taking a big hit to its sales and profits during the pandemic years, the company has turned around smartly, with its revenue growing to Rs 2,101.93 crore in 2022-23, up from Rs 1,304.58 crore in the previous year, coupled with a doubling of profit. Private equity firms are most likely to be interested in the stake, given the company's dominance in the Indian market. | | | | Over the years, VIP has been known for its smart marketing and positioning, which includes creating this memorable ad: | | | | Matrix Laboratories founder Nimmagadda Prasad Back in the API Business  Viatris Inc., the result of the merger between Mylan NV and Pfizer Inc.'s Upjohn unit in 2020, has sold its active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) business comprising three manufacturing sites and a research lab in Hyderabad as well as three manufacturing sites in Visakhapatnam to Matrix Laboratories founder Nimmagadda Prasad. For Prasad, who had sold his API business to Mylan in 2006, this marks a return to the sector through another of his firms, IQuest Enterprises. Simultaneously, Viatris has also sold its women's healthcare business, which specializes in oral and injectable contraceptives, to Insud Pharma of Spain. The two deals in India, worth $1.2 billion for Viatris, are part of a global exercise by the company to exit non-core businesses. Last year, it sold its local biosimilar business to Biocon Biologics for $3.35 billion. The divestitures will allow the company, one of the largest generic drug manufacturers in the world, to focus on its off-patent blockbusters such as the cholesterol treatment drug Lipitor, erectile dysfunction drug Viagra and antidepressant Zoloft. | | |  | | | | MG Motors to Power JSW's Electric Dreams JSW's Sajjan Jindal and SAIC Motor Corporation have finalized the terms of the agreement for an alliance between the group and MG Motor India, a fully-owned subsidiary of the Chinese company, to sell electric cars in the country. To start with, Jindal will own 32-35%, SAIC will own 51%, employees and dealers will own 6% and an unidentified domestic financial institution will own 6-7% in MG Motor India, whose valuation will rise to a billion dollars with the deal. The Indian unit's accumulated losses will be written off against SAIC's equity, and after that, SAIC will make an offer for sale (OFS) to gradually bring its share down to 38-40% while that of Jindal goes up to 49-51%. MG Motor has sold about 170,000 of its various models, such as the Comet and ZS electric vehicles, besides the Astor, Hector, and Gloster in India. Jindal's interest in the deal stems from the revival of its plans to enter the electric vehicles business. None of the JSW group's listed companies, including JSW Infrastructure, whose Rs 2,800 crore initial public offering last month was a big success, will be involved in the deal. | | | | Last Word As part of its CEO Bob Iger's turnaround plan, Walt Disney Co. is doubling down on efforts to sell off its once-flourishing streaming and television business in India. In addition to talks with Reliance Industries, it has now held preliminary discussions with Gautam Adani and Kalanithi Maran, besides pinging private equity funds for a possible deal. While Maran runs the Sun TV Network, Adani bought news network New Delhi Television Ltd last year. The US media giant, whose shares are trading at a nine-year low, is exploring a range of options, including selling a part of the Indian operations or a combination of the unit's assets, such as sports rights and regional streaming service Disney Hotstar. The loss of its streaming rights to the lucrative Indian Premier League to Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd, a joint venture between Reliance, Paramount Global and Uday Shankar's investment firm Bodhi Tree Systems, seems to have accelerated the decision to sell off its remaining assets. | | | | Answer to the Question In 1951, the Election Commission asked Godrej, known for its safes and almirahs, to make ballot boxes for the first election in free India. | | | Do you have any questions? Send in your queries to sundeepkkhanna@gmail.com Were you forwarded this email? Did you stumble upon it online? Sign up here. | | Written by Sundeep Khanna. Edited by Saikat Chatterjee. Produced by Shad Hasnain. 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