T-Mobile Proves That Mergers Can Benefit Consumers

The government has become increasingly suspicious of major mergers over the past decade, under both political parties. The Justice Department under Donald Trump sued to prevent AT&T from buying Time Warner. The Federal Trade Commission under President Biden is continuing a case the Trump administration initiated against Meta, parent of Facebook, to force the firm to cough up Instagram and WhatsApp, which it swallowed during the Obama years. In January JetBlue Airways’ plans to merge with Spirit Airlines and Amazon’s plans to acquire iRobot were deterred under regulatory pressure.    In April 2020, however, T-Mobile and Sprint managed to sneak past regulators, merging to reduce the number of major U.S. mobile networks from four to three. Paytm parent, One97 Communication Ltd, confirmed on Wednesday that it has received notices from the Enforcement Directorate (ED), requesting information on customers who have conducted business with its group companies. Vijay Shekhar Sharma, owner of Paytm, informed the stock exchanges in a filing that the company has furnished the necessary information and documents to the investigating agency. “The company and its associate have continued to provide such information, documents and explanations to the authorities as is being required by them. We would also like to clarify that our associate Paytm Payments Bank Ltd does not undertake outward foreign remittance," said the company. The clarification came a day after Mint reported that the ED has initiated a probe into suspected breaches at Paytm Payments Bank following a referral from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The Enforcement Directorate is currently verifying the information it has received from RBI. "The next step will depend on the outcome of this verification," said a person aware of the developments.As of Wednesday, ED is yet to file an enforcement case information report (ECIR), a formal entry of a complaint lodged by the agency.  

PENN Entertainment to Launch ESPN Bet in NY After Betting License Acquisition

The acquisition gives Penn market access in New York state. As part of the deal, Penn will acquire Wynn Resorts subsidiary Wynn Interactive’s mobile sports wagering licences entity, WSI US, LLC, for $25m (£19.8m/€23.3m). WSI US, LLC holds the sports betting licences issued to Wynn by the New York State Gaming Commission in 2021. Upon relevant approvals, Penn will launch ESPN Bet in the state later this year. Penn partnered with ESPN in August last year, in a deal that saw Penn’s Barstool Sportsbook rebranded as ESPN Bet and launched across 17 US states in November. Jay Snowden, CEO and president of Penn Entertainment, said this acquisition will expose ESPN Bet to the most prominent sports betting market in the US. “This is an important development that will bring ESPN Bet to the largest regulated online sports wagering market in North America,” said Snowden. “Together with ESPN, we’re building a brand that is synonymous with sports betting, and operating in the New York market is key as we grow ESPN Bet across the US.”  

FMCG makers continue to bet on M&A for growth

makers continue to bet on Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) to diversify their product categories and digital presence.Companies are utilizing acquisitions to solve portfolio gaps in their product offerings and enter new categories. Tata Consumer Products Limited (TCPL) in January announced the acquisition of Capital Foods and Organic India. Similarly, Marico recently acquired a 58 per cent stake in Direct-To-Consumer (D2C) Satiya Nutraceuticals Pvt Ltd and its wholly-owned subsidiary Juizo Advisory Pvt Ltd owns the brand ‘The Plant Fix-Plix’. “We have made substantial progress but we are not there quite yet. Capital foods complement from a cuisine perspective, we cover the three cuisines; Indian with Sampann, Western with Smith & Jones and then Oriental with Capital Foods. It gets us into categories of chutney, dips, sauces, and noodles, which we did not have in our portfolio. This has filled some gaps in our portfolio but I think we still have got options to play. In the short term, we will make sure we integrate the businesses and make value but we remain quite open to organic and inorganic options to grow forward. It is not the end of the road for M&A and we still have options providing if they make sense from strategic and financial perspective. A strategic perspective means filling in gaps faster than what we can on our own on the entire roadmap,” said Sunil D’Souza, CEO and MD of Tata Consumer Products Ltd during the earnings call.  With the acquisitions, the FMCG maker is also in the process of starting its pharmaceutical distribution network, “We have Gofit and Soulful products that can sell in pharmacies but we never had the scale to put up an independent distribution system work. We have a target right now for closing and integration. We aim to integrate the businesses within three to four months of closing. The work has started on how to build the pharma channel. We had access to information, but not all of it. Now that we’ve done the signing, we will have access to almost all the information. I expect in the next three to four months for us to have a very clear view of how we will get into the pharma channel,” said D’Souza to businessline after the acquisition.    

Max Healthcare acquires Nagpur-based Alexis Hospital for Rs 412 crore

"The acquisition of Alexis Hospital is in line with our vision to expand our footprint in tier-2 cities with abundance of clinical talent and developed private healthcare infrastructure," Max Healthcare Institute Chairman and Managing Director Abhay Soi said.The facility has potential to increase its bed capacity from 200 operational beds to 340 beds after necessary regulatory approvals.Max Healthcare Institute on Friday said it has acquired Nagpur-based Alexis Multi-Speciality Hospital Pvt Ltd for Rs 412 crore. The 200-bed hospital is set up on a land parcel of 2-acre at Mankapur, north of Nagpur.Alexis Hospital acquisition will strengthen company's presence in Maharashtra region, he added.Shares of Max Healthcare were trading at a loss of 0.42 per cent at Rs 866.4 apiece on the BSE.      

Max Healthcare strengthens western presence by acquiring Alexis multi-specialty hospital

Max Healthcare Institute Ltd has acquired 100 per cent stake in Alexis Multi-Speciality Hospital Private Ltd (Alexis) for an enterprise value of ₹412 crore, strengthening its presence in the western region. The 200-bedded hospital, owned and operated by Alexis is a JCI-accredited facility located at Mankapur, North of Nagpur - an upmarket residential and commercial hub, a note from the hospital chain said. The bed capacity can be expanded to about 340 beds in view of the availability of the floor area ratio (FAR) for the given land and the strength of the existing structure, it added. Abhay Soi, Chairman and Managing Director, Max Healthcare said, “The acquisition of Alexis Hospital is in line with our vision to expand our footprint in tier-2 cities with abundance of clinical talent and developed private healthcare infrastructure. Alexis Hospital acquisition will strengthen our presence in Maharashtra region. With this addition, we now have 4 JCI-accredited facilities in our network and we look forward to bringing the high-end quality care to people of the region.”The hospital offers multidisciplinary care in gastroenterology, neurosurgery, cardiology, transplants and related diagnostic facilities, among others. It is also equipped with high end bio medical equipment like Varian True Beam LINAC, 128 Slice CT Scan, 3 Tesla MRI, Digital X Ray, ARTIS Q Cath Lab, etc, it added. Further, the hospital medical programme could be strengthened in surgical specialties like urology, oncology and neurosciences leading to improvement in average revenue per occupied bed (ARPOB) and occupied bed days (OBD), the note said. The current run rate of revenue and EBITDA for the hospital is ₹150 crore and ₹25 crore respectively, it added.Nagpur is a fast growing city with a population density of 47 lakh and high literacy rate, and is located in the heart of Maharashtra, it said. Further the city has availability of experienced medical talent owing to presence of government hospitals, medical colleges and private healthcare players, it added. Zanubia Shams, Co-Chairperson of Zulekha Healthcare Group (Promoter of Alexis Hospital, Nagpur), said, their decision to consider divesting this business was driven by their strategic focus on its healthcare businesses in the UAE and Gulf.    

News Corp Stock Rises as Surge in Digital Subs Offsets Weak Ad Revenue

News Corp (NWS) shares moved higher ahead of Thursday’s opening bell after The Wall Street Journal parent surpassed quarterly earnings and sales estimates, spearheaded by growth in the company’s Dow Jones business information arm. The New York-based company synonymous with Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch posted fiscal second quarter adjusted earnings of 26 cents per share compared to analysts’ average estimate of 21 cents a share. Net revenue for the period also came in better than expected, growing 3% to $2.59 billion, ahead of the $2.55 billion consensus mark. The media conglomerate’s Dow Jones segment, which houses leading financial publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, and Market Watch booked $584 million in revenue for the December quarter, representing a 4% increase from the same quarter in 2022 as customers sought the unit’s bundled subscription options. News Corp’s digital real-estate services group also performed strongly, recording fiscal second-quarter revenue of $419 million, up 9% year-over-year (YOY).  In somewhat of a surprise, the company’s book publishing segment, which owns prominent publisher HarperCollins, also performed well during the quarter, posting revenue growth of 4% to $550 million.However, News Corp’s advertising revenues fell by 5.6% to $438 million from the corresponding year’s quarter. CEO Robert Thomson said the company continued to benefit from its “strategic shift to digital and subscription revenues, and away from sometimes volatile advertising revenues.” On the artificial intelligence (AI) front, Thomson said that the media giant intends to be “a core content provider for generative AI companies who need the highest quality timely content to ensure the relevance of their products.”  

US Economy Today: Federal Reserve Officials Beat the Confidence Drum

Welcome to Investopedia's economics live blog, where we'll explain what the day's news says about the state of the U.S. economy and how that's likely to affect your finances. Here we will compile data releases, economic reports, quotes from expert sources and anything else that helps explain economic issues and why they matter to you. Today, another batch of Federal Reserve officials will offer their opinions on the Open Market Committee's path forward.Boston Fed President Susan Collins was another in the line of Federal Reserve officials who broadly said they needed more “confidence” that inflation is sustainably declining before cutting interest rates. She did, however, lay out a few fundamental indicators she is watching.  In remarks to the Boston Economic Club, Collins said housing inflation was taking longer to come down than other categories and she wants to see more progress there. Consumers’ inflation expectations needed to remain “well anchored." Recent consumer confidence surveys have jumped as people start to feel better about inflation and the economy. Collins also said she is closely monitoring wages, pointing to data from Boston Fed economists. The data suggests “there is room for wages to catch up and continue increasing at a healthy pace for some time without necessarily spurring inflationary pressures” due to gains in productivity. However, she was looking to see declines in labor demand to help bring better balance. Employers continued to add more jobs than anticipated in January, while wages also surged.Inflation should continue to decline, so long as consumers begin to put away their wallets, Fed Governor Adriana Kugler told the Brookings Institute Wednesday.  

Veracyte Completes Acquisition of C2i Genomics

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Veracyte, Inc. (Nasdaq: VCYT), a leading cancer diagnostics company, today announced it has completed its acquisition of C2i Genomics, Inc., adding whole-genome minimal residual disease (MRD) capabilities to its novel diagnostics platform and expanding the company’s ability to serve patients across the cancer care continuum. Bringing C2i Genomics’ technology and team into Veracyte will allow us to make significant advances in our vision to transform cancer care for patients all over the world,” said Marc Stapley, Veracyte’s chief executive officer. “C2i’s novel artificial intelligence-driven, whole-genome MRD platform will enable us to expand the value we deliver to clinicians and their patients, beginning with early cancer diagnosis and risk assessment, and now moving further along the patient journey into treatment monitoring and disease recurrence testing. C2i’s approach to MRD will expand the set of data and insights that can follow each patient throughout their care, and will also fuel new innovation.” Veracyte’s first application of C2i Genomics’ technology will be a muscle-invasive bladder cancer MRD test, where the company plans to leverage its strong urology commercial channel and a clear pathway to expected reimbursement. The company plans to develop further MRD tests in several of its focused indications. Veracyte (Nasdaq: VCYT) is a global diagnostics company whose vision is to transform cancer care for patients all over the world. We empower clinicians with the high-value insights they need to guide and assure patients at pivotal moments in the race to diagnose and treat cancer. Our Veracyte Diagnostics Platform delivers high-performing cancer tests that are fueled by broad genomic and clinical data, deep bioinformatic and AI capabilities, and a powerful evidence-generation engine, which ultimately drives durable reimbursement and guideline inclusion for our tests, along with new insights to support continued innovation and pipeline development. For more information, please visit www.veracyte.com and follow the company on Twitter (@veracyte).  

Can go to NCLT to enforce Sony merger deal after SIAC rejects petition: Zee

Zee Entertainment can ask an Indian tribunal to enforce a $10 billion merger with Sony's Indian unit after a Singapore arbitration centre rejected an emergency petition by the Japanese company for a stay of proceedings, Zee said on Sunday. Sony scrapped the merger on Jan. 22, ending a deal that could have created one of India's biggest TV broadcasters, claiming breaches of contract. Zee rejected the claims and asked an Indian tribunal to order Sony to honour its obligations to complete the merger.  The Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) said it had no jurisdiction or authority to block Zee from approaching the Indian tribunal, adding the merger fell within the purview of the National Company Law Tribunal of India, Zee said in filings to Indian stock exchanges.Sony said in a statement that it was disappointed by the decision but it was a procedural one ruling only whether Zee could pursue its application with the company law tribunal.  We will continue to vigorously arbitrate the matter in Singapore in front of a full SIAC tribunal and pursue SPNI's (Sony India) right to terminate the merger agreement and seek a termination fee and other remedies," it added."We remain confident in the merits of our position in both Singapore and India."  The Zee-Sony merger, in the works for two years, would have created an Indian TV juggernaut with more than 90 channels across sports, entertainment and news that would have competed with the likes of Walt Disney, and billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance. In terminating the merger, Sony also cited alleged failure by the Indian media company to meet some financial terms of the deal, a dispute over compliance issues including disposal of some Russian assets and its $1.4 billion Disney cricket rights deal, Reuters reported last week."  

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Zee claims ₹700 crore in costs from Sony for fulfilling merger conditions

In the upcoming proceedings at the National Company Law Tribunal, Zee plans to argue that, “It has incurred/provided for in books of account approximately ₹700 crores towards divestment of businesses, settlement of frivolous claims (against which Zee had a strong legal case), settlement of guarantees, procuring tail insurance to Sony’s satisfaction, discontinuing several businesses on Sony’s instructions and more.”Zee intends to counter Sony’s termination notice claiming $90 million in damages from it citing alleged breaches by the Indian company. Zee has categorically denied that there has been any material adverse effect in terms of the merger agreement as indicated in Sony’s termination notice. According to legal sources, Zee will show that it had multiple discussions with Sony, including discussions on the joint business plan where month-wise profit and loss, cash flows were discussed and provided to Sony. Zee was in constant discussions with Sony for a substantial period of time to bring the merger to fruition. Sony consistently advised and instructed Zee to take specific steps in order to close the merger faster and Zee undertook those steps as advised and instructed by Sony. Not only did Zee spend considerable effort and time in taking those steps, but it has also incurred significant monetary costs to satisfy Sony,” the document accessed from legal sources said. It also said that Zee informed Sony that certain actions required to fulfil these conditions (e.g., divestments) are permanent, irrevocable, and irreversible steps which are being undertaken solely for the merger. Sony had requested Zee to undertake actions and steps outside the scope of the agreement such as provision losses in relation to its arrangement with Disney Star which would result in booking of substantial losses [as early as March 2023], even before Zee executed this agreement with Disney Star. Availing of this debt is specifically exempted under the merger agreement. Sony was aware of the agreement through public disclosures and specific details were provided to them. Moreover, Sony had requested Zee to proceed with the agreement regardless of the fact that Star was yet to give its waiver for the provision of a corporate guarantee from the ultimate parent entity of Sony,” said a source close to the development.      

Zee claims ₹700 crore in costs from Sony for fulfilling merger conditions

In the upcoming proceedings at the National Company Law Tribunal, Zee plans to argue that, “It has incurred/provided for in books of account approximately ₹700 crores towards divestment of businesses, settlement of frivolous claims (against which Zee had a strong legal case), settlement of guarantees, procuring tail insurance to Sony’s satisfaction, discontinuing several businesses on Sony’s instructions and more.”Zee intends to counter Sony’s termination notice claiming $90 million in damages from it citing alleged breaches by the Indian company. Zee has categorically denied that there has been any material adverse effect in terms of the merger agreement as indicated in Sony’s termination notice. According to legal sources, Zee will show that it had multiple discussions with Sony, including discussions on the joint business plan where month-wise profit and loss, cash flows were discussed and provided to Sony. Zee was in constant discussions with Sony for a substantial period of time to bring the merger to fruition. Sony consistently advised and instructed Zee to take specific steps in order to close the merger faster and Zee undertook those steps as advised and instructed by Sony. Not only did Zee spend considerable effort and time in taking those steps, but it has also incurred significant monetary costs to satisfy Sony,” the document accessed from legal sources said. It also said that Zee informed Sony that certain actions required to fulfil these conditions (e.g., divestments) are permanent, irrevocable, and irreversible steps which are being undertaken solely for the merger. Sony had requested Zee to undertake actions and steps outside the scope of the agreement such as provision losses in relation to its arrangement with Disney Star which would result in booking of substantial losses [as early as March 2023], even before Zee executed this agreement with Disney Star. Availing of this debt is specifically exempted under the merger agreement. Sony was aware of the agreement through public disclosures and specific details were provided to them. Moreover, Sony had requested Zee to proceed with the agreement regardless of the fact that Star was yet to give its waiver for the provision of a corporate guarantee from the ultimate parent entity of Sony,” said a source close to the development.  

FM Nirmala Sithraman keeps tax slabs unchanged

As expected and in relief for the citizens, the central government neither tweaked nor put any additional tax burden on citizens, in the interim Budget for 2024-25 tabled by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. "Keeping with the convention, I do not propose to make any changes relating to taxation and propose to retain the same tax rates for direct taxes and indirect taxes including import duties," Sitharaman said in her Budget speech on Thursday. However, certain tax benefits to start-ups and investments made by sovereign wealth or pension funds as well as tax exemption on certain income of some IFSC units are expiring in March 2024. To provide continuity in taxation, she proposed to extend the date by another year.Moreover, in line with the government's vision to improve ease of living and ease of doing business, she announced to improve tax-payer services. "There are a large number of petty, non-verified, non-reconciled or disputed direct tax demands, many of them dating as far back as the year 1962, which continue to remain on the books, causing anxiety to honest tax-payers and hindering refunds of subsequent years," she said.She proposed to withdraw such outstanding direct tax demands up to Rs 25,000 for the period up to financial year 2009-10 and up to Rs 10,000 for financial years 2010-11 to 2014-15. "This is expected to benefit about a crore tax-payers," she added.Presenting the Union Budget 2023, Sitharaman on Thursday pegged the fiscal deficit target for 2024-25 at 5.1% of gross domestic product (GDP). In 2023-24, the government pegged the fiscal deficit target for 2023-24 at 5.9% of gross domestic product (GDP). Today, Sitharaman said that the fiscal deficit of 2023-24 was downwardly revised to 5.8%. The difference between total revenue and total expenditure of the government is termed as fiscal deficit. It is an indication of the total borrowings that may be needed by the government.The government intends to bring the fiscal deficit below 4.5% of GDP by the financial year 2025-26.The government intends to bring the fiscal deficit below 4.5% of GDP by the financial year 2025-26. A capital expenditure,or capex, is used to set up long-term physical or fixed assets.  

AMD Stock Slumps on Disappointing Sales Forecast—Key Price Levels to Watch

Despite surpassing fourth-quarter revenue estimates, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) shares fell sharply in pre-market trading Wednesday after the chipmaker issued current-quarter sales guidance that missed analysts’ expectations amid softening demand for its PC chips and central processing units (CPUs).The Santa Clara, California company said it expects first-quarter sales of about $5.4 billion, plus or minus $300 million, falling short of the $5.73 billion mark Wall Street was looking for. AMD projects its PC chips business to record a decline in sales grow from the December quarter while anticipating its data center revenue to remain flat in the period, with growth in graphics processing units (GPUs) sales helping to offset slowing CPU demand. The company said it now sees 2024 AI GPU chip sales of $3.5 billion, up substantially from its earlier forecast of $2 billion. “In cloud, we are working closely with Microsoft (MSFT), Oracle (ORCL), Meta (META) and other large cloud customers on Instinct GPU deployments powering both their internal AI workloads and external offerings,” AMD CEO Lisa Su said during the company’s earnings call.2 In the fourth quarter, the company posted revenue of $6.17 billion, which came in slightly above the $6.12 billion consensus analysts had expected. The top line received a boost from the company’s data center and client segments, which reported respective year-over-year (YOY) growth of 38% and 62% due to increasing demand for it Instinct graphics processors used for AI and recent chip launches.Since briefly dipping below the 200-day moving average in late October, AMD shares have tracked steadily higher, with trading volume increasing in the lead up to the company’s earnings. If the stock undergoes an earnings-driven retracement, keep an eye on a three month trendline that may potentially provide support around $160. A failure to hold this key chart level could mark the start of a possible trend reversal.    

Aim to double AUM to Rs 20,000 crore by FY27, says HomeFirst MD & CEO

Soon after Covid-19,  the inclusion of an OPD feature in health insurance emerged as a game-changer, as it covered more than just hospitalisation expenses. Similarly, maternity insurance is set to become a game changer as more consumers are looking at comprehensive insurance plans from insurance companies that cover them holistically. Earlier, maternity insurance used to focus mainly on covering expenses related to childbirth, such as hospital stays, delivery charges, and medical procedures. However, this approach often overlooked other important aspects of maternal healthcare. Now, the newly launched maternity insurance plans provide more comprehensive coverage that includes. Given the positive response to these comprehensive plans, the trend is likely to continue, with health insurance providers recognising the importance of offering all-encompassing coverage that caters to the varied needs and aspirations of individuals and families. "A couple usually starts thinking about health insurance when they are already expecting. They often overlook the waiting period that tags along with maternity cover. Most maternity insurance plans until now had a waiting period of 2 years or more but the recently introduced plans have a waiting period of only nine months if the couple is purchasing health insurance for the first time.However, if you are planning to get married in a few years, you can still purchase new-age plans offering maternity benefits. Once married, you can add your spouse to the plan, and the waiting period served by you already is also waived for your spouse. In that scenario, the spouse doesn’t need to serve the waiting period of nine months for maternity benefit," said Siddharth Singhal, Business Head - Health Insurance, Policybazaar.com Thes  new-age plans also cover procedures like IVF treatment, and expenses related to surrogacy and delivery for surrogate mothers. "Apart from this, it also covers charges for adopting a child. The policy also accounts for ambulance charges, NICU and vaccination charges for the newborn from 30-90 days of the delivery among other costs," said Singhal.Point to note: Most insurance companies do not offer maternity insurance if the policyholder is already pregnant as pregnancy is considered as a pre-existing condition and keeps it beyond the policy cover.     

Sony scrapped $10 bn merger as Zee failed to meet financial terms: Report

Sony scrapped the $10 billion merger of its Indian arm with Zee Entertainment in part because Zee failed to meet some financial terms of the deal and come up with a plan to address them, according to a termination notice reviewed by Reuters.India's Zee denied the allegations in a letter to Sony, also reviewed by Reuters, and accused the Japanese company of "bad faith" in calling off the merger.A Zee-Sony merger in India would have created a media powerhouse in the world's most populous nation with 90-plus channels across sports, entertainment and news.But Sony terminated the plans on Jan. 22, saying in a statement it was doing so because "closing conditions" were not satisfied after two years of negotiations. Neither Sony nor Zee made the contents of the termination notice public.Reviewed by Reuters, Sony's notice said Zee had "failed to take commercially reasonable" efforts to meet some financial thresholds, including with regards to cash availability, while a "lack of commercial prudence" by the Indian network contributed to its decision. In the 62-page notice, Sony said several breaches of the merger agreement were "not remediable and any further attempts to mutually discuss would be an empty formality, especially given ... plain denial (by Zee) and failure to provide a proposal to protect" Sony's interests."The breaches committed by Zee are not 'procedural or technical' in nature and will have a substantive impact on the transactions," Sony said.Zee responded privately to Sony a day later, on Jan. 23, saying it denied all Sony's allegations, adding the Japanese company's demand for a termination fee of $90 million was "legally untenable".The termination was "effected in bad faith" and "is wrongful, bad in law," Zee wrote in its letter, which asked Sony to withdraw its notice.A Zee spokesperson declined to comment, while Sony did not respond to Reuters queries.Zee's shares have fallen about 30% since the deal collapsed.Its business has struggled over the years. Zee's advertising revenues fell to $488 million for the 2022-23 financial year from around $600 million five years earlier. Cash reserves dropped to $86 million from $116 million in that period.Sony, in its termination notice, said that Zee's cash position was 4.76 billion rupees ($57.26 million) as of Sept. 30, adding that was "much below the requirements" of the merger agreement. Reuters reported last week that Sony was also concerned about Zee CEO Punit Goenka - who was set to head the merged entity - facing a regulatory investigation for suspected diversion of company funds - allegations he has denied. The "ongoing investigation" was cited in Sony's notice.Zee was "unable to realistically assess the timeline required to resolve all the outstanding issues," Sony's termination notice stated.    

HDFC Bank sees period of consolidation as it absorbs mega merger: Report

HDFC Bank, India's largest private sector lender, will take 4-5 years to fully digest its merger with its parent last July but expects to restore a key financial metric to pre-merger levels at the end of that period, two sources familiar with the bank's thinking said. The lender's quarterly earnings last week prompted a sharp 15% decline in the stock, even as its profit beat expectations, as analysts raised concerns about lending margins and sluggish deposit growth in its second quarterly report since merging with Housing Development Finance Co. "We will see a period of consolidation for 4-5 years during which growth rates and trajectory of some of the metrics will differ from what we were used to in the bank but this a different institution now after the merger," said one of the sources quoted above. Before the merger, the bank's return on equity was above 17%, but it has since declined to 15.8% as of December-end. "We are very focused on profitable growth and we will see the return on equity move back to the levels we saw before the merger over this 4-5 year period," this person said.Other metrics, including the net interest margin, deposit and loan growth will be contingent on the economic environment and the strategic decisions the bank makes to adapt to the environment, the person said.Following the earnings, investors and analysts criticised the bank for over-promising and under-delivering on certain metrics, particularly margins.  

Sony scraps $10 bn merger as Zee failed to meet financial terms: Report

Sony scrapped the $10 billion merger of its Indian arm with Zee Entertainment in part because Zee failed to meet some financial terms of the deal and come up with a plan to address them, according to a termination notice reviewed by Reuters. India's Zee denied the allegations in a letter to Sony, also reviewed by Reuters, and accused the Japanese company of "bad faith" in calling off the merger. A Zee-Sony merger in India would have created a media powerhouse in the world's most populous nation with 90-plus channels across sports, entertainment and news. But Sony terminated the plans on Jan. 22, saying in a statement it was doing so because "closing conditions" were not satisfied after two years of negotiations. Neither Sony nor Zee made the contents of the termination notice public. Reviewed by Reuters, Sony's notice said Zee had "failed to take commercially reasonable" efforts to meet some financial thresholds, including with regards to cash availability, while a "lack of commercial prudence" by the Indian network contributed to its decision.In the 62-page notice, Sony said several breaches of the merger agreement were "not remediable and any further attempts to mutually discuss would be an empty formality, especially given ... plain denial (by Zee) and failure to provide a proposal to protect" Sony's interests.  

Corporate Leaders Appear Ready To Make More Deals in 2024

After high interest rates and regulatory scrutiny kept some corporate leaders from making deals in 2023, executives and analysts are expecting a rebound in mergers & acquisition (M&A) activity this year. A Deloitte survey showed that 83% of corporate and private equity leaders expected an increase in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) this year, with almost as many responding that they expect the volume of their own organizations' deal-making to grow. The executive sentiment recorded by Deloitte lines up with a forecast from Morgan Stanley Investment Banking that concluded M&A activity was positioned to increase in 2024 after sinking in 2023 as inflation, high interest rates and increased regulatory scrutiny all contributed to stifle deal-making last year. Data from FactSet showed M&A activity was down 14.1% in December from the prior month, although spending on deals jumped more than 40% in the month. Only four of 21 tracked sectors had year-over-year M&A growth during the year’s fourth quarter, the report said.M&A activity can be beneficial for investors by either pressing the share price higher for companies that are acquired, or by quickly adding scale, volume, or market share to corporations that take over smaller companies.