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☆ Prosus cuts India's Byju's valuation to under $3 billion
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration Acquire Licensing RightsMUMBAI, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Tech investor Prosus NV (PRX.AS) said on Wednesday it was valuing Indian education firm Byju's at under $3 billion, 86% less than its peak valuation of $22 billion last year, after the company struggled with governance and cash-flow problems. The disclosure, made by interim CEO Ervin Tu during Prosus earnings call, is the latest cut to Byju's valuation after several executives and board members quit and it delayed filing its 2021/22 financial results by a year. Over the past year, shareholders including Prosus and Blackrock have successively cut Byju's valuation to $11 billion in March, $8 billion in May and $5 billion in June. It has delayed publishing its financial results, prompting auditor Deloitte and three board members quit in June. Byju's filed the delayed but incomplete financial results earlier this month, and is looking to sell off entire business lines to raise cash.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Ervin Tu, Prosus, Byju's, Sriram, Aditya Kalra, Miral Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Tech, Prosus NV, Prosus, Blackrock, Atlantic, Deloitte, Thomson Locations: Rights MUMBAI, Silver

The logo of Indian food delivery company Zomato is seen on its app on a mobile phone displayed in front of its company website in this illustration picture taken July 14, 2021. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMUMBAI, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Chinese payments group Alipay plans to sell its 3.4% stake in Indian food delivery giant Zomato (ZOMT.NS) for nearly $400 million through block deals on Indian stock exchanges, according to three sources and a Reuters review of the deal's term sheet. Alipay, owned by Ant Group, will offload its entire 3.44% stake in the deal, the term sheet seen by Reuters showed. In October, Japan's SoftBank (9984.T) sold a 1.1% stake in Zomato, which is India's biggest food delivery service. In August, China's Antfin sold a 10.3% stake in Indian financial giant Paytm (PAYT.NS).

Persons: Florence Lo, Morgan Stanley, Alipay, Japan's SoftBank, China's Antfin, Sriram, Aditya Kalra, Susan Fenton Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Ant Group, Reuters, Bank of America, Tech, Thomson Locations: Rights MUMBAI, Zomato

[1/6] Ola electric scooters are seen outside the Ola Electric Service Centre, in Thane on the outskirts of Mumbai, India, October 25, 2023. Aggarwal's Ola Electric, which he likens to Tesla in the West, is zipping towards a stock-market listing after going from zero to 338,000 e-scooter sales in about two years. But he acknowledged service capacity issues and said Ola was "aggressively" bolstering its service network by adding 100 new centres and hiring more technicians. 'TESLA FOR WEST, OLA FOR REST'Aggarwal often declares, "Tesla is for the West, Ola for the rest", and he's a man in a hurry. "Electric vehicles are new to people so they aren't aware of how to ride the vehicle to maximise optimal output," he said.

Persons: Francis Mascarenhas, it's, Elon Musk, Aggarwal's Ola, Tesla, Ola, Devendra Ghuge, Aggarwal, Ola EVs, Ravi Bhatia, Bhatia, Japan's SoftBank, Ronald Radhakrishnan, Koradia, Riddhima Talwani, Aditi Shah, Rishika Sadam, Sriram, Arpan Chaturvedi, Anushree, Pandya, Francis Mascerehnas, Varun Vyas, Munsif, Jatindra, Saurabh Sharma, Sumit Khanna, Jose Devasia, Aditya Kalra Organizations: Ola Electric Service Centre, REUTERS, Staff, Reuters, JATO Dynamics, WEST, OLA, West, Singapore's Temasek, Industry, Hero Electric, TVS, EV, Ola, Fayaz Bukhari, Thomson Locations: Thane, Mumbai, India, THANE, HYDERABAD, DELHI, MUMBAI, Chennai, Bengaluru, India's, U.S, China, Kochi, New Delhi, Bhubaneswar, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Jose, Srinagar

Carlyle, which started raising its sixth Asia-focused fund in mid-2022, has bagged less than $3 billion so far, two of the sources said. Investors in private equity companies, known as limited partners, typically reinvest after having booked returns from their previous investments. Private equity firms have made a total of $15.6 billion in exits in Asia, down 82% year-on-year, Dealogic data showed. Sources told Reuters last year Carlyle was aiming to raise $8.5 billion in the pan-Asia fund. Capital allocation to China had been bigger in Carlyle's previous Asia funds, different sources with knowledge of the matter have said.

Persons: Carlyle, Jack Ma's, Harvey Schwartz, Goldman Sachs, Patrick Siewert, Nina Gong, Herman Chang, Kane Wu, Sriram, Xie Yu, Sumeet Chatterjee, Miral Organizations: Carlyle, Investors, Reuters, Yes Bank, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, MUMBAI, Asia, East, Europe, China, U.S, India, South Korea, Carlyle's, Beijing, Hong Kong, Greater China, Carlyle's Hong Kong, Mumbai

A man walks past an advertising hoarding of Byju's, an Education Technology company and one of India's biggest startup, outside one of its branch in New Delhi, India, June 23, 2023. Byju's parent Think & Learn's operating losses fell 6% to 24 billion Indian rupees ($288.67 million) for its core online education business, while revenue more than doubled to 35.5 billion Indian rupees ($426.99 million) for the year ended March 31, 2022. "The takeaways from a uniquely belligerent year, which included nine acquisitions, are life-long learnings," Raveendran said in a statement. Last September, Byju's filed its 2021 numbers after a 17-month delay. ($1 = 83.1400 Indian rupees)Reporting by M. Sriram; Editing by Michael PerryOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Adnan Abidi, Byju Raveendran, Raveendran, Byju's, MBAs, Sriram, Michael Perry Organizations: Education Technology, REUTERS, Rights, Deloitte, Atlantic, Reuters, Thomson Locations: New Delhi, India, Rights MUMBAI, Prosus, Blackrock

SummaryCompanies India's Avendus to launch investment banking in Southeast AsiaKKR-backed Avendus' managing director Gupta to move to SingaporeAvendus expects Southeast Asia to grow fast in coming yearsMUMBAI, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Indian financial services firm Avendus will start offering investment banking services from Singapore to cash in on an expected technology sector dealmaking boom in the Southeast Asia region. Karan Sharma, a managing director for Avendus in India said the operations from Singapore will focus on advising technology sector funding rounds of $40-50 million in Southeast Asia. Sharma said Avendus India Managing Director Varun Gupta will lead the Southeast Asia operations and relocate to Singapore early next year. The demographics and infrastructure challenges are similar," said Sharma, who co-heads Avendus' Digital & Technology Investment Banking division in India. Dealmaking in Southeast Asia should help lift Asian mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the second half of the year, bankers told Reuters in June.

Persons: Gupta, Avendus, Karan Sharma, Sharma, Varun Gupta, GoTo, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Sriram, Yantoultra Ngui, Aditya Kalra, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Asia KKR, Singapore Avendus, U.S, KKR, Avendus, & Technology Investment Banking, Tiger Global, Reuters, Asia, Accel, Lightspeed, Venture Intelligence, Thomson Locations: Asia, Singapore, Southeast Asia, MUMBAI, India

Disney+ Hotstar logo is seen in this illustration taken August 22, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMUMBAI, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Private equity firm Blackstone (BX.N) has held preliminary discussions with Walt Disney (DIS.N) to acquire a stake in the Indian arm of the entertainment firm, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. Blackstone-backed U.S. media firm Candle Media, founded by former Disney executives, led conversations between the two parties last week, one of the sources said. Indian newspaper The Economic Times first reported the talks earlier on Wednesday. Disney has also held talks with Indian billionaires Gautam Adani and Sun TV Network (SUTV.NS) owner Kalanithi Maran, Bloomberg News reported last week.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Walt Disney, Blackstone, Gautam Adani, Kalanithi Maran, Mukesh Ambani's, M Sriram, Aditya Kalra, Christian Schmollinger, Stephen Coates Organizations: Disney, REUTERS, Rights, Blackstone, Reuters, Candle Media, Economic Times, Sun TV Network, Bloomberg News, Indian Premier League, Thomson Locations: Rights MUMBAI, India, Mumbai, New Delhi

Temasek said it does not comment on market speculation, while Mubadala declined to comment. The Singapore state investment firm's talks with Mubadala, which manages $276 billion globally, are at an early stage, said the first of the sources. And Mubadala is "bullish on India (and) wants to double down on investments," the source added. Temasek intends to retain its majority stake in Manipal by continuing to be the largest and majority shareholder with a stake of more than 50%, said the third source. India's private healthcare space, worth about $48 billion, is forecast by PwC to grow 12% to 14% a year.

Persons: サマリー, Mubadala, Temasek, Mukesh, Tata Power's, Khaled Abdulla Al Qubaisi, Sriram, Hadeel Al Sayegh, Aditya Kalra, Clarence Fernandez 私たち Organizations: Temasek, Manipal, fund's, Singapore's Temasek, Mubadala, Tata, Economic Times, Cleveland Clinic Locations: Manipal, Middle, MUMBAI, DUBAI, SINGAPORE, India's Manipal, Abu Dhabi, India, Temasek, Singapore, Bengaluru, Mubadala, Asia, U.S

REUTERS/VarunVyas Hebbalalu/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMUMBAI, Sept 20 (Reuters) - India's Ola Electric plans to file regulatory papers for its up to $700 million IPO before the end of October as the e-scooter maker fast-tracks its listing move, three people with direct knowledge said. Backed by investors including Singapore's Temasek and Japan's SoftBank (9984.T), Ola Electric was valued at $5.4 billion in a recent fund raising. Ola Electric and Kotak did not respond to a request for comment while the other three banks declined to comment. Ola Electric is targeting IPO roadshows for early January or February, said one of the sources. Ola Electric, though, still makes losses.

Persons: Ola, VarunVyas, Japan's SoftBank, Ola Electric, Goldman Sachs, Bhavish Aggarwal, Tesla, Sriram, Aditi Shah, Aditya Kalra Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Singapore's Temasek, Japan's, Ola, ICICI, Bank of America, West, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Pochampalli, Tamil Nadu, India, Rights MUMBAI

Torrent is hoping to secure roughly $3 billion to $4 billion in financing for the bid for its much bigger rival, they said. Blackstone (BX.N) is also interested in bidding for Cipla, sources have also said. Apollo is "quite bullish on their Asia strategy, and India in particular...both Cipla and Torrent have strong balance sheets," the person said. Apollo and Torrent, which has yet to confirm its interest in Cipla, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Foreign banks, including Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and Barclays (BARC.L), are also in talks with Torrent to extend loans and arrange financing for the deal, sources have said.

Persons: Danish Siddiqui, Bernstein, Blackstone, Morgan Stanley, Abbott, Sriram, Aditya Kalra, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: REUTERS, Danish, pharma, Pharmaceutical, Apollo Global Management, Capital Partners, Bain Capital, Blackstone, Mumbai International, JSW, Barclays, Pfizer, Thomson Locations: Cipla, Mumbai, India, MUMBAI, DELHI, Asia

Brochures are seen at a branch of Axis Bank in Mumbai, India, January 22, 2018. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsNEW DELHI, Sept 15 (Reuters) - The co-CEO of Axis Bank's (AXBK.NS) investment banking unit Axis Capital, Chirag Negandhi, has resigned, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters on Friday. The investment bank will likely tap an outside candidate for Negandhi's role, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Axis Capital named another co-Chief Executive Salil Pitale as the interim managing director and CEO, as per the memo. Negandhi spent more than 13 years at the Axis' investment banking unit and would continue for three more months, the source added.

Persons: Danish Siddiqui, Salil Pitale, Negandhi, Sriram Mani, Tanvi Mehta, Sethuraman, Shweta Agarwal Organizations: Axis Bank, REUTERS, Danish, Capital, Chirag Negandhi, Reuters, Axis Capital, Cyient DLM, Mankind Pharma, Bikaji, Thomson Locations: Mumbai, India, DELHI, Axis

Reliance Retail is India's largest retailer and is led by Asia's richest person Mukesh Ambani. Of that, QIA last month announced a $1 billion investment and KKR & Co (KKR.N) this week $250 million. Reliance sold a 10.09% stake in its retail unit in 2020, valuing it at 4.68 trillion rupees ($56.4 billion). When ADIA invested in Reliance Retail in 2020, it said it was part of its strategy of targeting market leading businesses in Asia linked to the region's consumption-driven growth. Reliance Retail reported a consolidated net profit of 91.81 billion rupees ($1.11 billion) for the financial year that ended in March 2023, on revenue of 2.6 trillion rupees.

Persons: Singapore's GIC, Mukesh Ambani, QIA, ADIA, PIF, Marks, Spencer, Ambani, Sriram, Aditya Kalra, Yantoultra Ngui, Alexander Smith Organizations: Reliance, Asia's, Reuters, KKR, Co, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Reliance Industries, Reliance Retail, Unilever, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI, DELHI, DUBAI, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, GIC, Asia

[1/2] A view shows packets of snacks on the shelves inside a Haldiram's restaurant in Mumbai, India, September 6, 2023. Tata Consumer shares surged and closed nearly 4% higher in Mumbai trade after Reuters reported news of the talks. The potential acquisition represents an exciting opportunity for Tata, the person said, adding: "Tata (Consumer) is seen as a tea company. A spokesperson for Tata Consumer Products said it "does not comment on market speculation". The $10 billion valuation sought by Haldiram's for the deal translates to 6.6 times its annual revenue of $1.5 billion, sources said.

Persons: Sriram, Tata, Mukesh Ambani's, Tetley, Haldiram's, Krishan Kumar Chutani, Bain, Ankur Bisen, Manohar Lal Agrawal, Aditya Kalra, Chris Thomas, Edwina Gibbs, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: REUTERS, India Tata, Tata, Pepsi, Bain Capital, Tata Consumer Products, Starbucks, Tata Consumer, Reuters, Haldiram's, Euromonitor International, Tata Group, CNBC TV18, Bikaji Foods, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson Locations: Mumbai, India, MUMBAI, DELHI, Singapore, United States, Bikaji

That implies a potential $2.5 billion investment will be equivalent to a 2.5% stake in the company. "Several marquee global strategic and financial investors have shown strong interest in Reliance Retail. Ambani said in 2019 that the group planned to list the retail business in five years. Reliance Retail has more than 18,000 retail outlets, but also a growing e-commerce operation where it competes with the likes of Amazon (AMZN.O) and Walmart's (WMT.N) Flipkart. Reliance Retail reported a consolidated net profit of 91.81 billion Indian rupees ($1.11 billion) for the financial year that ended in March 2023, on revenue of 2.6 trillion rupees.

Persons: Ambani, Mukesh Ambani's, Reliance, Morgan Stanley, QIA, Ambani's, Isha Ambani, Aditya Kalra, Scott Murdoch, Sriram, Munsif Vengattil, Susan Fenton Organizations: Retail Ventures, Reuters, Qatar Investment Authority, India's, Burberry, Reliance, Reliance Retail, KKR, Saudi Public Investment Fund, General Atlantic, United Arab, Unilever, Thomson Locations: SYDNEY, Qatar, U.S, China, United Arab Emirates, New Delhi, Sydney, Mumbai

REUTERS/Niharika Kulkarni/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMUMBAI, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Reliance Industries' retail unit is attracting "strong interest" from other top investors after raising $1 billion from Qatar Investment Authority, its billionaire chairman Mukesh Ambani said on Monday. "Several marquee global strategic and financial investors have shown strong interest in Reliance Retail," he said, adding he would share progress about them "in due course". Ambani said in 2019 that the group planned to list the retail business in five years. Reliance also said on Monday that Ambani's three children, including Isha Ambani, will join the board of parent Reliance Industries. Reliance Retail has invested more than $10 billion in the last two years and opened 3,300 new stores last year, Isha Ambani said.

Persons: Niharika Kulkarni, Mukesh Ambani, Ambani, Ambani's, Isha, Tiffany, Reliance, Isha Ambani, Sriram, Aditya Kalra, Susan Fenton Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reliance Industries, Qatar Investment Authority, Reliance Retail, KKR, Silver Lake, TPG, Reliance, Burberry, Unilever, PepsiCo, Thomson Locations: Mumbai, India, Asia, Africa

Invesco, a minor shareholder in Swiggy, in May valued the Indian company at around $5.5 billion, it said in a filing. Swiggy had initially considered raising $800 million to $1 billion via the IPO, banking sources who worked on it in early 2022 have said. Swiggy, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley did not respond to requests for comment, while Bank of America declined to comment. The three sources said Swiggy is aiming to list between July-September 2024 which would be after national elections in India due by May. Swiggy in May said its core food delivery business had turned profitable, nine years after starting operations, even as its newer grocery delivery service, Instamart, continues to make losses.

Persons: Niharika Kulkarni, Swiggy, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Zomato's, Sriram, Aditya Kalra, Jane Merriman Organizations: Bombay Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Bank of America, Thomson Locations: Mumbai, India, MUMBAI, Swiggy

Reliance Retail includes Ambani's core retail businesses, including digital and brick-and-mortar stores. It is fully owned by Reliance Retail Ventures, which also houses other retail operations such as international partnerships and the billionaire's consumer goods business. In 2020, Reliance Retail Ventures raised 472.65 billion Indian rupees ($5.72 billion) by selling a 10.09% stake, valuing it at roughly $57 billion based on current exchange rates. EY valued Reliance Retail at 884.03 rupees per share, while BDO valued it at 849.08 rupees, the source said. Reliance Retail has in recent years partnered with a slew of global brands to launch and expand their presence in India.

Persons: Mukesh Ambani, valuers, Ambani, Tiffany, Aditya Kalra, Sriram, Chris Thomas, Savio D'Souza, Louise Heavens, Mark Potter Organizations: Reliance, Reuters, BDO, EY, Reliance Retail Ventures, KKR, Saudi Public Investment Fund, General Atlantic, Reliance Retail, Burberry, Thomson Locations: DELHI, India, New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru

CARE Hospitals Group, according to another investor source, is in talks to sell a 70% stake to U.S. investment giant Blackstone (BX.N) in a deal valued at $800 million. MORE ATTRACTIVE THAN EVERAs government hospitals became increasingly overburdened and incomes rose in India's vast middle class, demand for private healthcare rose over the years. "The India healthcare opportunity has always been attractive, but never more than now. In 2022, PE investors spent $3.2 billion buying stakes in hospitals in India. "Big private hospitals are more reliable," said 35-year-old G. Chavan said as he accompanied his wife to see a doctor.

Persons: Rana Mehta, PwC's, Atlantic, Indira, Blackstone, Gaurav Sharma, Investcorp, Nishant Sharma, Sharma, Chavan, Sriram, Aditya Kalra, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: PwC, General Atlantic, CARE Hospitals, Blackstone, CARE, Kedaara Capital, ASIA'S PACE, Temasek, Reuters Graphics, Apollo Hospitals, Thomson Locations: India, PUNE, Pune, Indira, Bahrain, Mumbai, Manipal, Asia

☆ Prosus slashes India's Byju's valuation to $5 bln
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BENGALURU, June 27 (Reuters) - Dutch-listed technology investor Prosus NV (PRX.AS) has slashed the valuation of troubled Indian edtech startup Byju's to $5.1 billion according to its annual report, a fall of more than 75% from the startup's $22 billion valuation last year. Byju's told investors it will file 2022 audited earnings by September and 2023 results by December, Reuters reported. Earlier this year, Blackrock, too, had cut Byju's valuation to $8.3 billion. India's Employee Provident Fund Organisation on Tuesday observed a shortfall in payments from Byju's, Reuters reported. Byju's deposited 1.23 billion rupees ($15.01 million) after the EPFO asked it to.

Persons: Prosus, Byju's, Manvi, Sriram, Pooja Desai Organizations: Prosus NV, Atlantic, BlackRock, Deloitte, Reuters, Blackrock, India's, Provident Fund, Thomson Locations: BENGALURU, Byju's, U.S, Blackrock, Manvi Pant, Bengaluru, Mumbai

☆ Indian government orders Manipur state chief to 'work harder' to end violence
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MUMBAI, June 25 (Reuters) - India's federal government on Sunday ordered the chief minister of Manipur state to "work harder" to restore peace as violence between ethnic groups has not subsided for over 50 days despite a heavy security presence. "I have been advised by the home minister to work harder towards restoring lasting peace in Manipur," said N. Biren Singh, chief minister of the northeastern state after he was summoned to New Delhi for talks with Home Minister Amit Shah. At least 80 people have been killed and more than 40,000 forced to flee their homes after clashes broke out in Manipur on May 3 between rival ethnic groups. Human rights groups say Modi's government and party have failed to do more to end ethnic tensions. "I have been asked to further open channels of communication with all the stakeholders so that we are able to bring permanent peace in the state," Singh said.

Persons: Biren Singh, Amit Shah, Shah, Singh, Narendra Modi's, Sriram, Rupam Jain, Giles Elgood Organizations: Sunday, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI, Manipur, New Delhi, Kuki

Byju's leadership is in talks with the investors to try to convince them to reverse their decision, the three sources, who declined to be named as the talks are private, told Reuters. Its rise was seen as a boost for India's startup scene as investors including General Atlantic made big bets on Byju's. Two of the sources said the investors took the decision collectively to resign from the board as they were not getting answers from Byju's founder and senior management. The departures mean Byju's board is now only made up of its founder and chief executive Byju Raveendran, his wife Divya Gokulnath, and his brother Riju Raveendran. While the investors are holding talks with Byju's, it has not yet been decided whether or not their decision to resign would change, one of the sources added.

Persons: Chan Zuckerberg, Byju's, Byju Raveendran, Divya Gokulnath, Riju Raveendran, Aditya Kalra, Alexander Smith Organizations: Peak XV Partners, Sequoia Capital, Deloitte, Reuters, Byju's, General Atlantic, Thomson Locations: DELHI, Sequoia Capital India, U.S

[1/2] Uday Kotak, Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra Bank poses for a picture at the company's corporate office in Mumbai January 15, 2015. Kotak General Insurance, which is fully-owned by Indian banking giant Kotak Mahindra Bank (KTKM.NS), did not respond to Reuters queries. While the Kotak insurance unit's interest in selling a stake has been reported earlier, its talks with Zurich, the potential deal size and valuation are being reported for the first time. More than 30 companies operate in India's general insurance market, where annual premium collections grew 11% to reach $26.7 billion in 2021-22, helped by rising financial literacy and income levels, CareEdge Ratings said in a report. Already, foreign companies such as Germany's Allianz and South Africa's Lombard have general insurance partnerships with Indian banking or financial groups.

Persons: Uday Kotak, Kotak, South Africa's Lombard, Ergo, Sriram, Tom Sims, Victoria Farr, Aditya Kalra, Jacqueline Wong Organizations: Mahindra Bank, REUTERS, Danish, Zurich Insurance, Kotak, Zurich eyeing, Insurance, Asia's, Germany's Allianz, South, Thomson Locations: Mumbai, India, Zurich, MUMBAI, South Africa's, Europe, China, Frankfurt

With the IPO still some way off, Ola is embarking on investor meetings earlier than usual to explain the business potential of India's nascent EV market. Aggarwal plans to meet investors, including BlackRock (BLK.N), Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC, and mutual funds such as T Rowe Price (TROW.O), the first source said. Ola Electric declined to comment. Ola Electric is likely to file regulatory papers on the IPO for approval by August, the two sources said. Ola competes with other startups and bigger companies like TVS Motors (TVSM.NS), Ather Energy and Hero Electric, which are ramping up their EV scooter plans.

Persons: Ola, Bhavish Aggarwal, Rowe Price, Bhavish, Ola Electric, T Rowe Price, Goldman Sachs, Sriram, Scott Murdoch, Aditya Kalra, Jane Merriman Organizations: Blackrock, Bank of America, Temasek, BlackRock, Reuters, TVS Motors, Ather Energy, Hero, EV, Citi, ICICI Securities, Thomson Locations: Singapore, UK, U.S, GIC, MUMBAI, United States, United Kingdom, India

[1/5] Customers stand next to a counter at a Starbucks' outlet at a market in New Delhi, India, May 30, 2023. Starbucks plans to open more stores in smaller towns, said an industry source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Soon after Starbucks' May launch of $3.33 milkshakes, designed to attract children, Third Wave launched its own range, a fifth cheaper at $2.71. He saw Starbucks' cheaper, small-sized drinks as a response to competition in "an incredibly price-sensitive market". "Going deeper into smaller cities, beyond the metros, is the only way to grow," said Ankur Bisen, head of retail at India's Technopak Advisors.

Persons: Sushant Dash, Tim Hortons, Devangshu Dutta, We've, chai, Chas Hermann, Sushant Goel, Matt Chitharanjan, Dash, Ankur Bisen, Sriram, Aditya Kalra, Anushree Fadnavis, Varun Vyas, Euan Rocha, Miyoung Kim, Sophie Yu, Hilary Russ, Clarence Fernandez Organizations: REUTERS, MUMBAI, Blue, Starbucks, Tata Group, BET, CHAI, Wave, Third, Reuters, Blue Tokai, India's Technopak, Thomson Locations: New Delhi, India, American, DELHI, U.S, Blue Tokai, China, Singapore, United States, Bengaluru, Delhi, Aurangabad, Beijing, New York

Economic challenges and geopolitical tensions have made fundraising and investment difficult, and eaten into global venture funds' returns. "It has become increasingly complex to run a decentralized global investment business," Sequoia said in the statement. Sequoia China will retain its current Chinese name and adopt the name HongShan in English, while Sequoia India and Southeast Asia will become Peak XV Partners, the firm said. Sequoia started to invest in local companies in China, India and Southeast Asia more than 15 years ago, according to the statement. Sequoia China, founded and led by former entrepreneur and investment banker Shen, has invested in more than 1,200 companies in sectors ranging from technology to healthcare.

Persons: Sequoia, Roelof Botha, Neil Shen, Shailendra Singh, Shen, Biden, Weiheng Chen, Wilson, Steven Yu, Yu, Trump, we've, Singh, Oyo, Kane Wu, Julie Zhu, Sriram, Roxanne Liu, Krystal Hu, Bernadette Baum, Mark Potter, Paul Simao Organizations: Sequoia Capital, Economic, Investment, Sequoia, XV Partners, HK, PDD Holdings, Reuters, Global Law, China -, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, China, India, Southeast Asia, COVID, Sequoia China, Sequoia India, Shanghai, U.S, China - U.S, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Beijing, San Francisco

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