Top headlines: Govt moves to privatise shipping firm; a new unicorn is born

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Govt invites bids for sale of its 63.75% stake in Shipping Corporation

The government has invited bids for its entire stake in the Shipping Corporation of India, paving the way for yet another privatisation of a state-owned company after BPCL. The interested buyers will have to submit an expression of interest to acquire the government’s 63.75 per cent stake in the shipping company by February 13, 2021. Buyers can submit their queries to transaction adviser by January 23, said the preliminary information memorandum released by the government. Read more

New coronavirus strain still not found in India: Health official

The new more transmissible strain of the coronavirus detected in Britain has not yet been found in India, a senior government official said on Tuesday, as health authorities prepared to screen all passengers arriving from the United Kingdom since Nov. 25. V.K. Paul, a top COVID-19 adviser to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said the new virus strain would have no impact on vaccines being developed in India. Read more

Reliance emerges as biggest wealth creator over last 25 years, finds study

What began as a yarn trading business has emerged as the biggest wealth creator over the last 25 years, growing along the way to enter sectors ranging from oil to telecommunications and retail. Reliance Industries accounted for Rs 6.3 trillion in wealth created since 1995, according to Motilal Oswal Financial Services’ annual wealth creation study, the 25th edition of which was released on Tuesday. The closest rival was Hindustan Unilever which was at Rs 4.9 trillion. Read more

Dailyhunt parent VerSe becomes unicorn after funding from Google, Microsoft

Technology giants Google and Microsoft along with AlphaWave, a unit of Falcon Edge Capital, have invested over $100 million in vernacular content platform Dailyhunt parent VerSe Innovation, making it the first startup for local languages to hit the unicorn milestone. Existing investors Sofina Group and Lupa Systems also participated in the round. Other investors of VerSe Innovation include Matrix Partners India, Sequoia Capital India, Falcon Edge Capital and Goldman Sachs. Read more

Embassy Reit raises Rs 3,680 cr to fund acquisition of Embassy Tech Village

Blackstone-backed Embassy Office Parks REIT (real estate investment trust) has raised Rs 3,680 crore ($501 million) through an institutional placement of its units. The proceeds from this placement will be utilised to fund the REIT’s proposed acquisition of information technology park Embassy TechVillage (ETV) in Bengaluru for $1.3 billion, which was announced in November. The transaction is expected to close by the end of this month. Read more