In The Loop➰

Welcome to the first edition.

May 05, 2021

Hey 👋

Welcome to the first edition of In The Loop➰

A newsletter that brings you the latest news from finance, business, and tech straight to your inbox every morning. Sign up below 👇

There’s so much to cover today so let’s get started.

First up,

Market Snapshot 📈

Sensex: 48,253.51 (-0.95%) ↓

Nifty 50: 14,496.50 (-0.90%) ↓

Dow Jones: 34, 133.70 (+0.70%) ↑

Nasdaq 100: 13,799.72 (-0.44%) ↓

Top Stories 📰

1. Serum Institute of India (SII) to invest £240 million in the UK 💉

Adar Poonawalla's Serum Institute of India is making a £240 million investment in Britain to expand its vaccine business. The announcement comes after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed a new trade and investment deal with India worth £1 billion, expected to create around 6500 jobs in the country. “Serum’s investment will support clinical trials, research and development and possibly manufacturing of vaccines," Downing Street said. The Pune-based biotech company has already begun phase one trials of a one-dose nasal coronavirus vaccine in partnership with Codagenix Inc. The Serum Institute of India, which is spearheading the production of lower-cost AstraZeneca vaccines in India, is the latest among the 20 Indian companies that announced major investment plans in the UK.

Why it matters? Besides expanding vaccine development in the UK, the new partnership would pave the way for a future UK-India Free Trade Agreement and strengthen economic ties between the two countries.

2. Verizon to sell Yahoo, AOL to Apollo for $5 billion 📱

Verizon Communications has decided to sell its former internet empires Yahoo and AOL to Apollo Global Management in a $5 billion combo deal. The telecom giant will receive $4.25 billion in cash and will retain 10% of the stake in the company, now known as Yahoo. Verizon has been recently offloading its media properties as it struggled to grow its revenue against bigger players like Facebook and Google who swept the digital advertising market. The New York-based private equity firm is now counting on Verizon's 900 million active monthly users to boost its revenue, while Verizon will focus on its wireless networks and other internet provider businesses. Verizon had originally purchased AOL for $4.4 billion in 2015 and subsequently acquired Yahoo for $4.5 billion in 2017.

Why it matters? Other telecom companies like AT&T are also exiting the media business as they struggle to keep up revenues against Google and Facebook.

3. SEBI checks Zomato's IPO papers to see if Chinese backers have any 'control' 🍔

Zomato's draft red herring prospectus (DRHP), a preliminary registration document filed by companies seeking public funds, is now being reviewed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) who want to investigate whether the company's Chinese investor Ant Group has any "control" in Zomato's undertaking. According to Business Standard, which first reported the story, SEBI is "looking at certain aspects, including whether start-ups are controlled by Chinese investors and whether the foreign investor has any controlling interest under the Takeover Code." The regulator is also checking whether the company will be issued any bonus shares or rights shares that would require approval under the amended foreign direct investment (FDI) norms for China. The company had filed its DRPH last month with SEBI for a $1.1 billion initial public offering. Ant Group currently holds a 25% stake in Zomato, up from 14.7% when it first invested in the company in 2018.

Why it matters? If SEBI finds that Ant Group has some control, it will allow the Chinese company the right to appoint a majority of directors, and control management and policy decisions as defined under its regulation.

Tweet Of The Day 🌟

Well, that's all from us. Until next time 👋

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