Top 10 biz headlines: Dish TV-Bharti Airtel deal, AGR crisis, and more

Dish TV-Bharti Airtel deal called off due to differences over valuation

The deal between Subhash Chandra’s Essel group, the promoters of direct-to-home (DTH)) company Dish TV, and Sunil Mittal’s Bharti Airtel has been called off due to differences over valuation. The promoters are now in talks with a global financial investor, which has no operations in the country, to pick up half their stake. Read here
 

Sunil Mittal, K M Birla meet FM on telecom crisis as AGR deadline closes in

Almost three weeks after the Union Budget, two top representatives of India Inc visited the North Block office of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday. Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal and Vodafone Idea chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla were not there to talk about issues related to the Budget, but to seek relief for the deeply stressed telecom sector. Read here
 

Blackstone emerges as front-runner to buy South City Mall in Kolkata 

US-based private equity investor Blackstone has emerged as the front-runner to buy South City Mall, one of the largest malls in eastern India, said sources in the know. A dozen investors, including Blackstone, Xander, and GIC, have put in bids for the mall, measuring about 1 million square feet (sq ft), the sources said, adding that the deal is expected to be around Rs 2,000 crore. Read here

Swiggy raises $112 mn funding led by Naspers from existing investors

Bundl Technologies, the parent company of food delivery firm Swiggy has raised $112 million from existing investors including South African conglomerate Naspers. The other investors include - Hadley Harbour Master Investors and Inspired Elite Investments. Read here

Govt mulls revival package for tea companies, may include one-time grant

The Centre is planning to come up with a financial revival package for the ailing tea companies which have been hit hard owing to mounting costs and lenders expressing their unwillingness to lend to these firms. Read here
 

Facebook makes its second bet in India with investment in Unacademy

Making its second bet in the Indian start-up space, social networking giant Facebook has participated in a $110 million investment round in edtech enterprise Unacademy. Read here
 

Lower costs, regional expansion could make SpiceJet margins fly high

The SpiceJet stock gained 4.3 per cent, thanks to the introduction of new regional routes and expectations of improving profitability from FY21. The carrier launched 20 new flights effective March-end, which will add to its existing network and, more importantly, to a couple of regional routes. Read here

DoT still working on final AGR dues due to varying accounting practices

The Department of Telecom is still working on final adjusted gross revenue dues that service providers have to pay as it has detected variation in accounting practices adopted by different circle offices, according to official sources. Read here
 

Gauging impact of US sanctions on Rosneft unit: Reliance Industries

Reliance Industries (RIL), a key buyer of Venezuelan oil, said it was assessing the impact of the latest US sanctions on Rosneft Trading SA (RTSA), the Geneva-based trading unit of Rosneft that supplies oil to the private refiner. Read here
 

Coronavirus pain for Chinese mobile handset makers may be Samsung's gain

The data from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) shows that the local unit of the Korean major has lined up nine new handset models for launch in early 2020. Among major brands, only Redmi (from Xiaomi) and LG have registered two models each since January 1 with the national standards body, followed by Motorola and Coolpad (one each). Read here