Vodafone Idea plans Rs 45,000 Cr fundraising, Titan acquires 0.36% stake in CaratLane, Patanjali faces SC notice, Baring PE exits CMS for ₹1,503.8 Cr.

Opening Bell:

Gift Nifty is up by 15 points in the early morning trade, indicating a positive opening for Indian stock market.

On Wednesday, Asian markets showed little movement as investors held off for crucial US inflation and China data expected later in the week. Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Topix remained unchanged, South Korea’s Kospi edged up by 0.1%, and the Kosdaq experienced a 1.3% increase. Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index suggested a positive start.

US stocks closed near flat on Tuesday ahead of inflation and other economic data that could shed light on the possible timing of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 96.82 points, or 0.25 percent, to 38,972.41. The S&P 500 gained 8.65 points, or 0.17 percent, to 5,078.18 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 59.05 points, or 0.37 percent, to 16,035.30.

Stocks News:

👉 Vodafone Idea’s Board, as per an exchange filing on February 27, has given the green light to a fundraising plan of up to Rs 45,000 crore through a mix of equity and debt. The telecom company intends to secure Rs 20,000 crore through equity or equity-linked instruments, with the remaining amount raised through debt. The promoters are set to participate in the equity raise. Vodafone Idea plans to convene a shareholder meeting on April 2, 2024, and anticipates completing the equity fundraising in the subsequent quarter, pending shareholder approval.

👉 On February 27, Titan Company announced the acquisition of a 0.36 percent stake in CaratLane, a jewelry brand, for Rs 60.08 crore from individual shareholders. Following this purchase, CaratLane will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Titan, which currently holds 99.64 percent of CaratLane’s total equity share capital. The acquisition involves 1,19,489 equity shares, and the transaction is expected to be completed by March 31, 2024.

👉 Patanjali Foods: The Supreme Court on Tuesday served a contempt notice to Ramdev-owned Patanjali Ayurved and its managing director Acharya Balakrishna for issuing misleading advertisements about health cures in violation of an earlier order. The apex also court barred Patanjali from promoting products claimed to cure diseases such as heart ailments and asthma. However, Patanjali Foods said in a regulatory filing, “The observations of the Supreme Court of India do not relate to Patanjali Foods Limited which is an independent listed entity and operates in the space of edible oil and food FMCG products only”.

👉 CMS Info Systems: In what could be one of its most successful exits from India, global private equity firm Baring Private Equity Asia through its affiliate Sion Investment Holdings, completely exited its stake in leading cash management solutions provider CMS Info Systems. The company offloaded its remaining 26.7% holding, or 41.77 million shares, through a block deal on Tuesday. The sale, estimated to be worth ₹1,503.8 crore, was conducted at a floor price of ₹370 per share, a 7% discount from the Monday’s closing price on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

👉 Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 1,509.16 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought Rs 2,861.56 crore worth of stocks on February 27, provisional data from the NSE showed.

Domestic and International Events

• India is set to conduct a household consumption and retailer survey to update the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Preliminary results indicate a reduction in the weightage assigned to food. Geeta Singh Rathore, the Director General of the National Sample Survey, mentioned that the final report for the 2022/23 household survey is expected to be released within the next two to three months.

• In January, orders for long-lasting US manufactured goods experienced their sharpest decline in nearly four years, according to the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau. Durable goods orders plummeted by 6.1% last month, primarily due to a significant decrease in commercial aircraft bookings, marking the largest decline since April 2020. Economists surveyed by Reuters had anticipated a 4.5% drop in durable goods orders. On a year-on-year basis, orders fell by 0.8% in January.

• Gold prices moved up on Tuesday as the US dollar and Treasury yields lacked momentum, while investors await key inflation reading and comments from Federal Reserve officials this week. Spot gold firmed 0.3 percent at $2,035.92 per ounce. U.S. gold futures rose 0.3 percent to $2,044.10 per ounce.

• Oil prices rose on Tuesday as the market focused on uncertainty over a potential Gaza ceasefire and some expectations that producer group OPEC+ will extend voluntary supply cuts in March. Brent crude futures rose 50 cents, or 0.61 percent, to $83.03 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) were up 60 cents, or 0.77 percent, at $78.18.