Buying bhujiya for $5 billion, an onion-based tea?
Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Wednesday, May 8, 2024, and I'm Nelson John. Let's dive in:
India’s equity markets fell on Wednesday, with both the Sensex and Nifty declining by about half a percent. However, consumer stocks such as Marico, HUL, and Godrej performed well, defying the broader market downturn.
IT stocks, meanwhile, have been on a downward spiral for a while now. However, a reversal in fortunes might be imminent, thanks to 'clouds'—and no, I'm not referring to the impending monsoon season, but to cloud computing. Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud have had a spectacular first three months of the year. Historically, the success of these companies has directly and positively impacted the bottomlines of IT firms in India. As Microsoft, AWS, and Google continue to pick more business, companies like TCS, Infosys, and Wipro are likely to benefit as well, writes Varun Sood. This could be some much-needed good news for the IT sector, at last.
Following the potential upturn in the IT sector, attention shifts to how the general elections might influence the broader stock market. Generally, the market favours stability at the helm. And a change in leadership could introduce new policies and widespread uncertainty—conditions no investor likes. Ram Sahgal reports that investors are increasingly taking measures to protect their portfolios in case of a regime change, or in a scenario where the BJP secures a win but with a narrower margin than expected. Currently, there are nearly 1.48 million put options on the market, indicating that investors are betting on a market decline. Market experts have told Ram that the mood among investors is nervous and jittery, evidenced by a persistently high volatility index.
Everyone loves Haldiram snacks — but how much are you willing to spend on them? Maybe 500 rupees? A thousand? It turns out, private equity firms are willing to shell out a lot more to acquire a majority stake in the popular snack company. Sneha Shah and Ranjani Raghavan report that Blackstone, Temasek, and Bain Capital are gearing up to buy at least 51 percent stake in the sweets-and-savouries maker. The company has been valued at 8 to 10 billion dollars. Currently, the companies are conducting due diligence on the deal. That’s one expensive snack, indeed.
Every election season, voters get their fingers stained with indelible ink. This practice, started in India in 1962, has found worldwide adoption as election commissions attempt to eliminate fraudulent voting. Such voting ink is made by a single company: Mysore Paints and Varnish. Originally founded by the king of Mysore, the company is now owned by the government of Karnataka and is a listed entity. Mysore Paints comes into the limelight once every five years, as production ramps up significantly during the general elections. However, as N. Madhavan writes, it is a rather small operation, covering just seven acres. Despite its modest scale, Mysore Paints has always been a profitable and a dividend-paying stock. But what happens to the company if India moves away from using ink on its voters? Madhavan explores this.
India’s consumer affairs ministry is bullish on onions. Initially, it wanted to make a sweetener out of them. This was understandable: onions usually have a sweet tinge. But now, the ministry wants to extract tea from the purple vegetable, reports Dhirendra Kumar. The idea of onion in anyone's tea might be off-putting, but the authorities believe they might have stumbled upon a unique, gut-friendly blend. We already use items like lemon, jasmine, and chamomile to make tea — why not onion? Well, I might not try that anytime soon. However, if you feel brave enough, it might be available on the market soon.
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Show notes:
The cloud is building; will TCS, Infosys, Wipro get showers of joy?
Investors take cover ahead of election outcome
Blackstone, Temasek, Bain eye a big bite of Haldiram Snacks
Indelible ink maker looks to make a mark beyond the poll booth