BACK PAGE, P22 COMPANIES, P4 INTERNATIONAL, P7 HIGHEST IN THE WORLD SERVICES TO INDIA-UK RELATIONS BETTING ON AI, HEADSETS India’s ultra-rich set to grow 50% in five years: Report Sunil Mittal first Indian to be knighted by Britain's King Charles III Apple cancels decade-long electric car project CHENNAI/KOCHI, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2024 VOL NO. XLIV 251, 22 PAGES, `12.00 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E SENSEX: 72,304.88 ▼ 790.34 NIFTY: 21,951.15 ▼ 247.20 NIKKEI 225: 39,208.03 ▼ 31.49 HANG SENG: 16,536.85 ▼ 253.95 `/$: 82.93 ▼ 0.03 `/€: 89.56 ▲ 0.42 BRENT: $83.60 ▼ $0.05 GOLD: `61,891 ▼ `186 Viacom18 to merge into Star India; Ambanis to infuse $1.4 bn RIL, Disney form $8.5 bn entertainment giant MEGA MERGER RELIANCE INDUSTRIESAND Walt Disney on Wednesday announced the merger of their television and streaming media companies in India — Viacom 18 and Star India — creating an $8.5-billion entertainment juggernaut.The move has been in the works since December 2023. INSIDE As part of the How media transaction,the media landscape undertaking of Viawill change com18 will be merged ■ PAGE 4 into Star India through a courtapproved scheme of arrangement. In addition,RILhas agreed to invest $1.4 billion (`11,500 crore) into the JV for its growth strategy. While RIL will own a 16.34% stake in the combined entity, Viacom18 and Disney will have 46.82% and 36.84%, respectively. Nita Ambani will be the chairperson of the JVand Uday Shankar will be the vice-chairperson. The transaction is expected to be com- FE ■ Reliance Industries to own 16.34% in the combined entity Viacom18 and Disney to own ■ 46.82% & 36.84%, respectively Nita Ambani to be the chairperson of the JV pleted by the last quarter of calendaryear 2024 or by early 2025, the companies said, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals. Disneywill provide a content licence to the JV and may also contribute certain additional media assets to the JV, it said. This will include a licence to more than 30,000 Disney content assets apart from There's a lot more: A definitive listing of India's top 1,000 companies and their financials. IN THE NEWS GOOD RESPONSE TO ROADSHOWS AHEAD OF LIKELY GIC OFS THE GOVERNMENT HAS kick-started the process for additional stake sale in General Insurance Corporation (GIC Re), with roadshows in key global financial hubs, including New York, Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai and London. According to an official source, the outreach elicited “quite positive response” from global investors, reports Prasanta Sahu. ■ PAGE 2 GLOBAL CARMAKERS EYE AFFORDABLE EV MARKET IN INDIA DESPITE THE PREMIUM positioning of their brands, global auto companies are going after the core affordable electric car market in India, reports Swaraj Baggonkar. The below `15 lakh segment will see launches by Skoda Auto and Kia as they look to challenge Tata Motors. ■ PAGE 4 EXPLAINER Why Google’s Gemini finds itself in a bind ■ PAGE 9 MID-CAP AND SMALL-CAP stocks took a beating on Wednesday, falling almost 2% aftertheAssociation of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) asked mutual fund houses to have a policy that will safeguard investors in midand small-cap schemes. The advisory from Amfi came after a nudge from markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), said industry players. According to the INSIDE Amfi advisory, mutual Sensex, funds should moderate Nifty fall inflows into these over 1% schemes and also rebal■ PAGE 6 ance the portfolio. Also, they should ensure that investors are protected from the first-mover advantage of redeeming members. “In the context of froth building up in the small and mid-cap segments of the market and the continuing flows in the small and mid-cap schemes of mutual funds,trustees in consultation with Unitholder Protection Committees of AMCs, shall ensure that a policy is put in place to protect the interest of all investors,”the advisory said. MUKESH JAGOTA Abu Dhabi, February 28 INDIA ON WEDNESDAY blocked an attemptbysomeWorldTradeOrganization (WTO) members to get the China-inspired investment pact in the development agenda of the 13th Ministerial Conference, which will ensurethatitisunlikelytobepart of the final outcome document. India, in its attempt to block inclusion of‘Investment FacilitationforDevelopment’(IFD)inthe WTO during the working session ondevelopment,wasjoinedbySouthAfrica. Both countries in their submissions said as thereisnoexclusiveconsensusontheagreement,it cannot be included in the MC13. Though the IFD has the backing of 123 countries and the text of the agreement was released on Sunday, strictly speaking it is still not an agreement as it hasn’t been ratified by them. India is also of the view that it is still debatable if IFD is a trade agreement. In the working group discussions on development,India said there have been many promises, but very little action, on account of which vulnerabilities of the developing countries, including the Least Developed Countries, have only amplified. STANDING FIRM ■ India is of the view that it is still debatable if the Investment Facilitation for Development is a trade agreement Continued on Page 13 ■ In working group discussions, India said there have been promises but little action, amplifying vulnerabilities of developing nations, including Least Developed Countries ● IN CONVERSATION WITH SITHARAMAN the exclusive rights to distribute Disney films and productions in India. At a broader level, the JV will be one of the leading TV and digital streaming platforms for entertainment and sports content in India,with more than 100TVchannels like Star Plus,Colors and Star Sports. Continued on Page 13 Small, mid-caps fall over regulatory scare JOYDEEP GHOSH Mumbai, February 28 Whether it is aspiration or a real need, there seems to be a shift towards more premium products and services in the Indian economy. Will this trend last? Also, will private capex pick up, finally? Read what India Inc's top leaders have to say on these issues in the pages of FE 1,000, a 192-page magazine being distributed free with today's edition. Uday Shankar to be vice-chairperson Gets South Africa’s support on China-backed move at WTO SANKHADEEP BANERJEE VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO Mumbai, February 28 India blocks investment pact Union minister of finance and corporate affairs Nirmala Sitharaman in conversation with Anant Goenka, executive director, The Indian Express Group, and PVaidyanathan Iyer, executive editor, The Indian Express, at Express Adda in Bengaluru on Wednesday TAKING A HIT BSE Midcap Feb 27 ▼ 724 39,743 Feb 28 (close) 39,019 points (1.82%) Feb 27 45,888 BSE Smallcap allcap Feb 28 (close) ▼ 890 44,998 points (1.94%) .94%) Continued on Page 13 Vodafone Idea may raise part of funding via FPO JATIN GROVER New Delhi, February 28 BELEAGUERED TELECOM COMPANY VodafoneIdeaisexpectedtomopupaportionofthe approved `20,000-crore fundraise through a follow-on public offer (FPO). The remaining amountisexpectedtocomefromthepromoter entityof theAditya Birla Groupvia a preferential issue,according to people in the know. The company’s board on Tuesday approved a total fundraise of `45,000 crore, ofwhich `25,000 is to be raised through debt instruments. The Aditya Birla Group has committed to infusing `2,000 crore into Vodafone Idea, which will be part of the `20,000-crore equity fundraise. Queries sent toVodafone Idea did not elicit any response at the time of going to press. The possibility of an FPO,which will dilute the telco’s equity base, sent the stock price crashing.The Vodafone stock ended Wednesday’s session at `13.65 apiece, down nearly 14% overTuesday’s close. The telco has called a meeting of its shareholders on April 2 to seek an approval for the fundraise exercise; it expects to complete the fundraise in the coming quarter. “Thesignificantequitycomponentincomparison to the promoter’s commitment of up to `2,000 crore can potentially mean Vodafone Idea may be able to bring on some external investors,which has been in the works for a long time now,” analysts at Nomura wrote. IN THE RED Intra-day on BSE (`), Feb 28 Vodafone Idea 16.0 15.76 15.5 13.65 13.99% 15.0 14.5 14.0 13.5 Previous close: 15.87 Open Close They added that if the telco is able to bring in external investors, it would be a significant positive for the company. At the same time, some analysts say any outcome will depend on how successful the effort is. They also point out that even if the company raises funds successfully,it could be a long time before it is out of the woods,given that the repair,recovery and rollout of 5G will take time to materialise. Continued on Page 13 CHENNAI/KOCHI