Top headlines: Rs 5K cr zero-coupon bonds for P&SB; Apple to expand in cars

From centre issuing Rs 5,500 cr worth of zero-coupon bonds for P&SB recapitalisation to Anil Ambani's Reliance Capital getting 10 more bids for subsidiaries, here are top headlines this morning

P&SB recapitalisation: Centre issues Rs 5,500 cr worth of zero-coupon bonds

The Centre, in a first move of its kind, has issued Rs 5,500 crore in zero-coupon bonds for recapitalising Punjab and Sind Bank (P&SB) and allowed it to park the paper in its held-to-maturity (HTM) category at face value rather than the discounted market rate. Zero-coupon bonds do not bear any interest and are traded at a discount to the face value. Read More

DHFL bidder selection: Oaktree Capital asks lenders for fair treatment

Oaktree Capital, which is in the race to acquire home finance company DHFL, has sought a fair and competitive process in the selection of the winning bid. Oaktree and Piramal Group are engaged in neck and neck competition to get control of the mortgage lender, for which the selection process has entered the final stage. Adani Group is also in the fray. The lenders are to begin voting this week to select the winner. Read More

How vernacular platform Dailyhunt plans to take on Facebook in Bharat

Local language content and news aggregator platform Dailyhunt is ending 2020 on a high. Flush with over $100 million in funding from technology giants Google and Microsoft along with AlphaWave, a unit of Falcon Edge Capital, its parent VerSe Innovation has become the latest unicorn coming out of India and the first in the local language space. It is learnt that AlphaWave led the round pumping in $50 million followed by Google's around $30 million and Microsoft's $10 million with some commercial arrangement. Read More

InMobi's Glance turns unicorn with $145 mn investment from Google, Mithril

Glance, the world’s leading lock-screen platform owned by Bengaluru-based mobile ad network InMobi Group, has raised $145 million from technology (tech) giant Google and Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel’s Mithril Capital, an existing investor in the company. A co-founder of PayPal and Big Data firm Palantir Technologies, Thiel is known to have invested in Facebook, Airbnb, and SpaceX. Read More

Apple targets car production by 2024, eyes 'next level' battery technology

Apple Inc is moving forward with self-driving car technology and is targeting 2024 to produce a passenger vehicle that could include its own breakthrough battery technology, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The iPhone maker's automotive efforts, known as Project Titan, have proceeded unevenly since 2014 when it first started to design its own vehicle from scratch. At one point, Apple drew back the effort to focus on software and reassessed its goals. Read More

Durables makers end 2020 at record low, sales down 30% amid Covid-19

In spite of heightened demand for consumer electronics and home appliances after lockdown, the consumer durables sector this year has been hit like never before. The Rs 1.5-trillion-a-year industry has ended the year with a 30 per cent fall in sales because after a steady recovery in the festive season, multiple factors dashed its hopes of revival at the end of the year. Read More

Anil Ambani's Reliance Capital gets 10 more bids for subsidiaries

Reliance Capital (RCL), part of the debt-ridden Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Group, has received 10 more bids, including from SBI Life, for its subsidiaries, sources said. Earlier this month, the Committee of Debenture Holders had extended the last date for submission of expression of interest (EoI) to December 17, 2020. Following this, 10 new bids have come in for Reliance Capital's assets, taking the total number of bids to 70, the sources said. Read More

Wipro to acquire IT verticals of Metro AG in a $700-million deal

Wipro on Tuesday said it has signed a $700-million digital and IT partnership deal with Metro AG, that will see over 1,300 employees of the German wholesaler move to the Indian IT major. “The estimated deal value for the duration of the first five years is approximately $700 million. With the intention to extend up to four additional years, it can be a potential spend of up to $1 billion,” Wipro said in a statement. Read More

Two West Bengal highway projects first to start on new BOT model

The Union government has launched a new contract for private participation in highway constructions by offering two stretches worth around Rs 4,214 crore in West Bengal on build operate and transfer (BOT) basis. The two are for six-laning of Panagarh to Palsit (68 km) at a cost of Rs 2,021 crore and six-laning of Palsit to Dankuni (64 km) at a total project cost of Rs 2,193 crore. Read More