Business News at 05:30 pm on 22nd April, 2024

Let’s begin with the major update, Vodafone Idea’s follow-on public offer (FPO) is fully subscribed and ends today i.e. April 22. The company raised Rs 18,000 crore by offering a fresh issue of 16.364 shares. It opened its FPO on April 18. It set the price band at Rs 10 to Rs 11 per equity share, minimum retail bid is of 1,298 shares aggregating to Rs 14,278. It is expected that the shares will be finalised on April 23, with the listing to be on April 25. The shares will be listed on both the bourses – NSE and BSE. Axis Capital, Jefferies India, and SBI Capital Markets were the book-running lead managers to the issue of VI’s FPO, while Link Intime India was the registrar. Moving on, Welspun Corp on Monday announced that it has received multiple line pipe orders, both in India and USA, cumulatively valued at approximately Rs 872 crore. The orders, the company stated, were received in the last one month to supply multiple-line pipes. Among these orders, one is for supply of Concrete Coated LSAW Pipes and Bends for a critical oil transportation project in the Middle East. Welspun Corp said that the line pipes shall be used for extreme sour service application. Welspun Corp has been executing these types of extremely challenging projects, which reinforces our position as one of the top line pipe manufacturers of the world, the company said in a regulatory filing. In other news, Flipkart Ventures, the corporate venture fund from e-commerce company Flipkart on Monday announced the opening of applications for the third cohort of its accelerator programme Flipkart Leap Ahead. The early-stage tech startup-focused accelerator will invite applications from April 22 to May 26, 2024. Startups leveraging GenAI in their core solutions across sectors will receive equity funding between $200,000 and $500,000 in addition to mentorship to achieve product-market fit, build scalable architecture, and assemble strong teams, the company said in a statement. The two-month mentorship programme will conclude with a demo day where startups will share their progress and plans with potential investors to secure additional funding for their expansion. Meanwhile, CelerityX, the enterprise networking solutions business of OneOTT Intertainment Ltd (OIL), a subsidiary of Hinduja Global Solutions Limited, on Monday announced the launch of OneX – a unified network-as-a-service solution covering network management, security, and LAN-side control solution. It also announced deployment of OneX to tackle the connectivity challenges faced by cooperative credit societies in Maharashtra. Through a strategic partnership with Maharashtra State Cooperative Credit Societies Federation, the company said, it aims to enable secure and high uptime banking connectivity for over 40,000 branches in the state, with the potential to serve over 100,000 branches nationwide. The banking sector often grapples with connectivity issues, especially in tier-II and -III cities, where outdated systems fail to provide security against modern threats. Up next, The shares of Reliance Industries traded marginally higher on Monday, April 22, ahead of the company’s quarterly results for quarter and financial year ending March 31, 2024. In a filing to the stock exchanges, RIL stated, quote, A meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company is scheduled to be held on Monday, April 22, 2024, to consider and approve the standalone and consolidated audited financial results of the Company for the quarter and year ended March 31, 2024, unquote. Additionally, the board would deliberate on a proposal to recommend dividend payout to shareholders for the financial year 2023-24. This marks the second dividend payout to shareholders by Reliance Industries for the fiscal year 2023-24. Moving ahead, JNK India IPO will open on April 23 to raise Rs 649.47 crore through a combination of fresh issue and offer for sale. The company has kept the IPO price band for the issue between the range of Rs 395 to Rs 415 per equity share. JNK India IPO will close on April 25. JNK India is offering 7.6 million shares of the company via fresh issue, while 8.4 million shares by offer for sale. It is expected that the allotment will be finalised by April 26 and the listing on April 30. The company will be listed on both NSE and BSE. In the grey market, the company’s stocks were not seeing any kind of attraction, they were neither having a premium nor a discount. “Lastly, let’s take a look at how the stocks performed today. The benchmark equity indices closed in positive territory on April 22. The NSE Nifty 50 gained 189.40 points or 0.86% to close at 22,336.40, while the BSE Sensex jumped 560.29 points or 0.77% to finish at 73,648.62. Nifty Bank gained 351 points or 0.74% to close at 47,924.90. Meanwhile, BPCL, HDFC Bank, JSW Steel, IndusInd Bank, and Bajaj Auto were the top gainers in the Nifty 50. While NTPC, HDFC Bank, JSW Steel, IndusInd Bank, and Bajaj Auto were the major laggards in the Nifty 50 on April 22 during later hours.”