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Market News Top 10 News

LTIMindtree to Replace HDFC in Nifty 50 From July 13 – Top Indian Market Updates

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Here are some of the major updates that could move the markets tomorrow:

LTIMindtree to replace HDFC in Nifty50 from July 13

LTIMindtree will replace HDFC in the Nifty 50 index following its merger with HDFC Bank. The change will come into effect on July 13. HDFC Ltd will stop trading from July 13. Nuvama’s preliminary calculations expect LTIMindree to see an inflow of $150 million to $160 million. IT firm LTIMindtree is a subsidiary of Larsen & Toubro Ltd.

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SBI gets approval for buyout of SBICAPS stake in SVL for Rs 708 crore

The Executive Committee of the Central Board (ECCB) of State Bank of India (SBI) has approved the acquisition of the entire stake held by SBI Capital Markets Ltd in SBICAP Ventures Ltd (SVL) for ₹708 crore. SBI Capital Markets Ltd (SBICAPS) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SBI. The reason behind SBI’s acquisition of SVL is for better governance.

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Indian Oil to consider fundraise via rights issue on July 7

Indian Oil Corporation’s (IOC) board is planning to consider raising capital. The capital raise will be through a rights issue of equity shares. The company will use the funds to meet the capital expenditure plan for its various projects. The company plans to host the board meeting on July 7.

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REC set to raise $1 billion via loans

REC Ltd plans to raise about $1 billion through term loans to help fund infrastructure projects. The external commercial borrowing is split into two tranches, with the first expected to close this month amounting to $505 million. The company expects to raise the second tranche of $520 million in August, as it has applied to the RBI for approval.

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Sun Pharma promoter creates pledge on 51.30 lakh shares on June 30

Sun Pharma created a pledge of 51.3 lakh equity shares on June 30, 2023. The company has pledged the shares in favour of Tata Capital Financial Services. The promoters have a shareholding of 54.48 %. Some large promoters of the company are Dilip Shanghvi with 9.6% shareholding, Shanghvi Finance Private Ltd with 40.3% shareholding, and AdityaMedisales Ltd with 1.67% shareholding.

Pledging of shares means taking a loan against the securities you own.

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IDFC-IDFC First Bank merger gets board approval

IDFC First Bank has received approval from its board of directors for a merger with IDFC Ltd. The share exchange ratio for the amalgamation will be 155 equity shares of the face value of ₹10 each fully paid-up of IDFC First Bank for every 100 equity shares of the face value of ₹10 each fully paid-up of IDFC Ltd. The bank’s standalone book value per share would increase by 4.9%, as calculated on audited financials as of March 31, 2023.

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HPL Electric bags orders worth Rs 903 crore for smart meters

HPL Electric and Power Ltd (HPL) has secured orders worth ₹903 crores for smart meters. With this contract, the company’s total pending pipeline order book stands at over ₹2,250 crores. HPL Electric claims these smart meters contribute to a greener and more sustainable future by empowering consumers and utilities to optimise energy usage.

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Adani Green Energy to consider fundraise on July 6

Adani Green Energy will hold a board meeting to discuss and approve a fundraising proposal. The proposal involves issuing equity shares or other eligible securities through different methods, including private placement, qualified institutions placement, and preferential issue. However, the specific details regarding the amount to be raised and its utilisation are undisclosed. 

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Chalet Hotels to raise up to Rs 600 crore

Chalet Hotels’ board of directors has approved raising funds of up to ₹500 crores. The purpose of this fundraising is to refinance the company’s high-cost debt. The company plans to raise the funds through non-convertible debentures (NCDs) or other debt instruments in multiple tranches. Additionally, the board has also authorised raising funds of up to ₹100 crores by borrowing from the company’s promoters. These funds will be utilised to cover expenses related to the residential project in Koramangala, Bengaluru.

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Tata Steel’s NINL plant reaches 100% capacity utilisation within 1 year of acquisition

Tata Steel’s NINL plant has reached 100% capacity utilisation within one year of its acquisition by the company. The company completed the acquisition of Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd (NINL) through its subsidiary Tata Steel Long Products Ltd (TSLPL) for a consideration of ₹12,000 crores. After being shut down for almost three years, operations at the NINL unit were started by Tata Steel in October 2023.

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Biocon Biologics launches biosimilar adalimumab in US

Biocon’s subsidiary Biocon Biologics has launched a biosimilar version of AbbVie’s top-selling biologic Humira in the US market under the brand HULIO. Adalimumab is used to treat certain inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. Humira contributed $21.2 billion in sales to AbbVie for 2022, making it the world’s top-selling non-COVID prescription drug until recently.

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Hero MotoCorp commences Harley-Davidson X440 bookings

Hero MotoCorp has started bookings for the Harley-Davidson X440 motorcycle across the country with deliveries expected to commence from October onwards. The 440-cc bike is being manufactured by Hero MotoCorp at its Neemrana plant. X440 is the smallest and most affordable Harley-Davidson bike to come to India ever since the Street 750. 

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Editorial

Why are Indian Pharma Companies Investing in ABCD Technologies?

Indian pharma market is one of the biggest in the world. And, it is ready to add a new dimension to it. I am talking about the online business of pharma companies. In the last few days, we have seen reports where the Indian pharma companies are acquiring some stake in the same company. 

India’s top pharmaceutical companies, namely Sun Pharma, Cadila Healthcare, Lupin and Torrent Pharma are reportedly in talks to acquire business-to-business (B2B) healthcare platform Pharmarack. These reports also mention that the above mentioned four companies have invested Rs 40 crore each for 20% in the newly formed venture ABCD Technologies. 

This ABCD Technologies will be renamed IndoHealth Services. Then it will acquire Pune-based Pharmarack which we are talking about. But why is this sudden fuss all about? Pharmarack currently has 3,000-4,000 distributors and 100,000 retailers. The major pharma companies want to facilitate efficient goods distribution and digitalise the healthcare system. 

They want to efficiently utilize the resources of Pharmarack to have a robust presence in the online B2B marketplace and online pharmacy. The plan is that ABCD Technologies will buy full 100% equity in Pharmarack which is eventually owned by the leading pharma companies. A perfect case of acquisitions and mergers! 

The said group of pharma companies have also reportedly hired KPMG to make a strategy that will help them to compete in the online pharmacy segment. We have mentioned four companies above which are Sun Pharma, Cadila Healthcare, Lupin and Torrent Pharma. But according to recent news, even Dr Reddy and Cipla have invested in ABCD Technologies. Thus, things are still very unclear as to which company has bid for what much stake. But one thing which can be said definitely is that the race for the e-pharma market is heating up very fast.

A Fight against Reliance and Amazon

Reliance and Amazon have already started entering the online pharmacy market. Maybe this is why the established pharma companies are trying to stay together and fend off any monopoly to get established. Reliance has been selling healthcare and pharmaceutical products through JioMart since last year. They also acquired Netmeds last year who tags themselves as “India’s most convenient online pharmacy”.

Even Amazon was seen delivering medicines in Bangalore last year which raised a lot of concerns among the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD). The organisation represents 8.5 lakh chemists from different parts of the country. Last year, they tried to contest against the entry of corporate giants like Reliance and Amazon in the Indian pharma market. 

AIOCD wrote a letter to many parties including Mukesh Ambani, Amit Shah and PM Narendra Modi expressing their concerns. “It is pertinent to mention that this move will not only threaten the livelihood of millions of our citizens, but it will also create a monopoly in a perfect competition market and of course create a concentration of wealth while taking it away from our citizens and putting it in Reliance’s pocket,” the letter said.

There’s a fear that if Reliance and Amazon are allowed to operate their business freely in this domain, then we might see misuse of antibiotics. Also, the big corporate giants will have the margin to offer deep discounts on their medicines or some other financial incentives to the customers. This will attract customers and leave a very small portion of the current pharmacy market. This might jeopardise hundreds of jobs of chemists. 

E-Pharma to revolutionise the Indian drug market in future?

The Covid-19 has forced people to stay inside their homes. The rise in Covid cases always gives birth to the threat of another lockdown. Since the last 12 months, we have seen people depending on online shopping a lot more than they used to do earlier. In countries like the US and in Europe we are already seeing how nicely the e-pharma space is flourishing. 

Due to the unstructured and fragmented nature of the e-pharma market in India, the success has been slightly delayed. But Covid-19 might act as a perfect stimulus to force this change in behaviour among the people. Covid-19 has also given the opportunity to people to consult their doctors online. Now no longer they are forced to leave their home in sickness and visit a doctor. All this can be done solely on your smartphone or laptop! This has aided the doctors to increase their business as well.

In our opinion, the e-pharma market is the way to go ahead. But the authorities need to regulate the market. It is them who need to be the in-charge of this space. People should get the medicines at a reasonable price and at the same time, there should be no risk to their health. Government has to make sure that e-pharma space does not turn into a monopoly or an oligopoly form of market. In the meantime, let’s sit and see what are the further updates regarding ABCD Technologies in the next few weeks. Till then, keep reading!