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The Star
18 hours ago
- The Star
Cocaine smugglers nabbed in Bali
Authorities said they have arrested two foreigners accused of smuggling cocaine to the tourist island of Bali. A Brazilian man and a South African woman were arrested separately on July 13 after customs officers at Bali's international airport saw suspicious items in the man's luggage and the woman's underwear on X-ray scans. Indonesia has extremely strict drug laws, and convicted smugglers are sometimes executed by firing squad. The 25-year-old Brazilian man, who police identified by his initials as YB, was arrested with 3,086.36g (6.8 pounds) of cocaine in the lining of his suitcase and backpack shortly after he arrived at the airport from Dubai, said Made Sinar Subawa, head of the Eradication Division at Bali's Narcotic Agency. The same day, customs officers caught a 32-year-old South African woman, identified as LN, and seized 990.83g (2.1 pounds) of cocaine she hid in her underwear, Subawa said. During interrogation, YB said that he was promised 400 million rupiah (RM103,720) to hand the cocaine he obtained in Brasilia to a man he called as Tio Paulo, while LN expected to get 25 million rupiah (RM6,482) after deliver the drugs to someone she identified as Cindy, according to Subawa. Subawa said a police operation failed to catch the two people named by the suspects, whom police believe are low-level distributors. Authorities presented the suspects wearing orange prison uniforms and masks, with their hands handcuffed, at a news conference in Denpasar, the capital, along with the cocaine they were found with. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says Indonesia is a major drug-smuggling hub despite having some of the strictest drug laws in the world, in part because international drug syndicates target its young population. The Denpasar District Court was set to sentence two other groups of foreigners on drug charges. Verdicts for an Argentine woman and a British man who were accused of smuggling cocaine onto the island, and for a drug offence against a group of three British nationals, including a woman, are expected to be read out separately at the same court. About 530 people are on death row in Indonesia, mostly for drug-related crimes, including 96 foreigners, the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections' data showed. Indonesia's last executions, of a citizen and three foreigners, were carried out in July 2016. — AP
TimesLIVE
17-07-2025
- Automotive
- TimesLIVE
Volvo Q2 operating profit slumps as tariffs take hold
Sweden-based Volvo Cars reported a steep fall in second quarter adjusted operating profit on Thursday and said demand remains under pressure as tariffs hits. Its quarterly operating profit excluding items affecting comparability fell to 2.9bn Swedish crowns (R5,318,468,482) from 8.0bn (R14,654,936,000) a year ago. "Demand remains soft and volatile, impacted by weakening consumer confidence and the introduction of additional tariffs, which continue to pose challenges for the automotive sector," the company said in its earnings report. Its gross margin, a metric investors and analysts are looking at closely to assess the impact of the tariffs, fell to 13.5% compared to 18.2% in the first quarter, adjusted for one-offs it fell to 17.7% Volvo Cars is the first European carmaker to report in what is expected to be a gloomy reporting season as weak demand for EVs and growing competition from China hits at the same time as US tariffs mount.
Economic Times
13-07-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
PE fund Multiples, Sachetis to acquire majority stake in VIP Industries
A consortium led by Multiples Alternate Asset Management and Samvibhag Securities is set to acquire a 32% stake in VIP Industries from the Piramal family. The deal includes Mithun Sacheti, founder of CaratLane, and will trigger an open offer for an additional 26% stake. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads A consortium of homegrown private equity fund Multiples Alternate Asset Management and Samvibhag Securities will buy an about 32% stake of VIP Industries from promoter Dilip Piramal & family, the luggage maker said on Sacheti, founder of jewellery retailer CaratLane, and his brother Siddhartha are also part of the buyers will launch an open offer later to acquire an additional 26% stake from the company's public shareholders that could take their stake to 58%.VIP Industries did not disclose the financial terms in its filing with stock exchanges. Its shares closed at Rs 456.40 on the BSE Friday, rising more than 12% in the past one month, giving it a market capitalisation of Rs6,482 aware of the deal terms told ET that the price would be lower than the current market price for both the initial purchase of shares from the promoters and the open Dilip Piramal & family owns a 51.7% stake. Among the public shareholders, Tata Small Cap Fund held a 1.54% stake and SBI Flexicap Fund owned 7% as of March 31. Foreign portfolio investors held a 7.68% & Company, DGP Securities, Kiddy Plast, Piramal Vibhuti Investments and Alcon Finance & Investment, which are entities forming part of the promoter group, have entered into an agreement to sell up to 45 million shares to the consortium, according to the to the terms, certain purchasers will acquire management and control of the company and would accordingly be required to make an open-offer for the purchase of additional 26% stake in the company, it 2023, Mithun Sacheti exited CaratLane by selling his 27% stake to Tata Group's Titan for Rs 4,621 crore, in one of the leading founder exits in Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor to the Industries owns brands such as VIP, Carlton and Skybags. It has been losing out to Samsonite in the premium end and Safari Industries at the mass-end of the addition, new entrants such as Mokobara, Assembly and Uppercase have turned to offering discounts to lure buyers, impacting luggage industry profits or widening luggage demand remains stable, backed by continued penetration of hard luggage, steady tourism and corporate travel. However, realisations have reduced due to two company posted a 2% decline in net sales at Rs2,169 crore in fiscal 2025, when it posted a net loss of Rs81 crore.
Time of India
13-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
PE fund Multiples, Sachetis to acquire majority stake in VIP Industries
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel A consortium of homegrown private equity fund Multiples Alternate Asset Management and Samvibhag Securities will buy an about 32% stake of VIP Industries from promoter Dilip Piramal & family, the luggage maker said on Sacheti, founder of jewellery retailer CaratLane, and his brother Siddhartha are also part of the buyers will launch an open offer later to acquire an additional 26% stake from the company's public shareholders that could take their stake to 58%.VIP Industries did not disclose the financial terms in its filing with stock exchanges. Its shares closed at Rs 456.40 on the BSE Friday, rising more than 12% in the past one month, giving it a market capitalisation of Rs6,482 aware of the deal terms told ET that the price would be lower than the current market price for both the initial purchase of shares from the promoters and the open Dilip Piramal & family owns a 51.7% stake. Among the public shareholders, Tata Small Cap Fund held a 1.54% stake and SBI Flexicap Fund owned 7% as of March 31. Foreign portfolio investors held a 7.68% & Company, DGP Securities, Kiddy Plast, Piramal Vibhuti Investments and Alcon Finance & Investment, which are entities forming part of the promoter group, have entered into an agreement to sell up to 45 million shares to the consortium, according to the to the terms, certain purchasers will acquire management and control of the company and would accordingly be required to make an open-offer for the purchase of additional 26% stake in the company, it 2023, Mithun Sacheti exited CaratLane by selling his 27% stake to Tata Group's Titan for Rs 4,621 crore, in one of the leading founder exits in Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor to the Industries owns brands such as VIP, Carlton and Skybags. It has been losing out to Samsonite in the premium end and Safari Industries at the mass-end of the addition, new entrants such as Mokobara, Assembly and Uppercase have turned to offering discounts to lure buyers, impacting luggage industry profits or widening luggage demand remains stable, backed by continued penetration of hard luggage, steady tourism and corporate travel. However, realisations have reduced due to two company posted a 2% decline in net sales at Rs2,169 crore in fiscal 2025, when it posted a net loss of Rs81 crore.
The Hindu
09-06-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Is SMBC's Yes Bank Investment a Game-Changer for Indian Banking Policy?
Published : Jun 04, 2025 19:05 IST - 5 MINS READ India's banking sector appears poised for a structural shift, entering a new era after one defined by the rise of 'new' private banks such as Global Trust Bank and Yes Bank. In what could prove to be a new milestone, Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), the country's second-largest banking group with assets valued at $2 trillion in December 2024, is acquiring a 20 per cent stake in Yes Bank for Rs.13,482 crore bypurchasing shares from the State Bank of India (SBI) and seven other private banks. These banks were persuaded to buy into Yes Bank's equity in 2020as part of a government-coordinated rescue effort, undertaken when the bank was on the verge of collapse. Fearing that the failure of the bank would expose the shortcomings of its policy of banking liberalisation, the government had 'arranged' that capital infusion. It may have been the understanding among the acquiring firms that once Yes Bank has stabilised itself, they could exit. But what is noteworthy about the share sale to SMBC is that it does notinvolve divesting all of the Yes Bank holding of the seven banks that acquired stakes at the time of the 2020 restructuring. The acquisition by the Japanese bank gives it a 20 per cent stake in Yes Bank. The combined stake of SBI and the seven private banks prior to this sale was 33.71 per cent. That leaves SBI with a holding of 10.78 per cent and the rest with a 2.93 per cent stake. According to reports, it was SMBC that chose to restrict its purchase to 20 per cent, and the seven banks decided to divest their equivalent stake on a pro rata basis. Since the government was responsible for the earlier acquisition, there is reason to suspect that it is involved in arranging this stake sale too. Also Read | Co-lending: Another bonanza for private capital SMBC's decision seems puzzling on the surface. Twenty per cent is by no means a small, purely financial acquisition. Yet, it does not give the acquirer control over the operations of the bank. This is partly because of the policy restraints imposed on foreign ownership in joint venture banks. While the regulatory regime has placed the cap on aggregate foreign investment in joint venture banking firms at 74 per cent, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) currently requires holding by a single foreign investor to be limited to 15 per cent, with additional acquisitions possible only with the central bank's permission. Obtaining such permission, however, cannot ensure majority control, because of a 26 per cent cap on ownership by a single foreign investor. If a single foreign investor's holding exceeded that level, that share must be brought down to 26 per cent in 15 years. Finally, even when shareholders held stakes above 26 per cent individually, their voting rights were capped at 26 per cent. The aim of these regulations was to ensure a diversified shareholding structure in joint venture banks. Given that background, SMBC's 20 per cent acquisition appears unusual. If its intention is to increase its influence by raising its stake to the 26 per cent single-investor cap, it would, under Securities and Exchange Board of India regulations, be required to make an open offer to acquire an additional 25 per cent from other shareholders. That could take SMBC's stake to 51 per cent. Choosing to do so does not make sense, since voting rights are limited to 26 per cent. And it would in time have to unwind the excess shareholding. The only way to make sense of the SMBC decision is to see it as a first step in a process that would lead to Yes Bank being folded into a wholly owned subsidiary of the Japanese bank. RBI rules do allow foreign banks to enter the Indian banking space by establishing a wholly owned subsidiary. In fact, sections of the media have reported that SMBC is likely to approach the RBI for a licence to operate a fully owned subsidiary in India. This move also seems to have been based on information of an impending change in the stance of the RBI regarding its policy with respect to foreign investment in banks. A couple of weeks after SMBC's decision to acquire a 20 per cent stake in Yes Bank was announced, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra revealed, in an interview to the Times of India, that the central bank is revisiting shareholding norms and licensing rules for foreign investment in banks. That could lead to a relaxation of the requirements or eligibility conditions that need to be met by potential foreign investors in the banking space. This appears to have sparked interest among other foreign banks in entering the Indian banking sector. For instance, Emirates NBD Bank—rumoured to be the leading contender to acquire a stake in the soon-to-be-privatised IDBI Bank—recently received in-principle approval from the RBI to establish a wholly owned subsidiary in India. This suggests that the IDBI acquisition is intended to jump-start the operations of the wholly owned subsidiary. Meanwhile, other players are already poised to enter the market—Singaporean DBS Group, for instance, received a licence in 2019 to operate in India through a wholly owned subsidiary. Also Read | Importing risk into insurance But that is not all, theshareholding structure of private banks suggests that substantial equity stakes are being held by minority stakeholders who may not be averse to giving up their shares for a suitable price. This includes foreign financial investors who would be looking for a profitable exit. As of 2024, non-resident holding in 19 joint venture private banks varied from 8.8 per cent to 61.9 per cent, with five recording a more than 50 per cent foreign stake. That presence can easily transform into a single-investor majority and subsequent wholly owned subsidiary status, through the acquisition of shares from both domestic and foreign shareholders. Thus, with the RBI contemplating relaxation of its foreign investment policy and rules, Indian banking seems poised for a huge increase in foreign ownership and control. C.P. Chandrasekhar taught for more than three decades at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He is currently Senior Research Fellow at the Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts Amherst, US.
