IndiaMart to open INR475cr IPO on 24 June. Paytm Money plans to raise c. $1.2bn in a mega funding round, set to enter the unicorn club.
The Price: In the IPO, which will close on 26 June, IndiaMart has priced its shares in the range of INR970-INR973 apiece.
IndiaMart, which operates Indiamart.com, one of the largest online listing platforms for small and medium businesses in India will be the first company to IPO under the re-elected Modi government.
The deal, if it goes through, will make Paytm Money the third unicorn of Paytm family. This would also make Paytm Money the most valued startup in the country right below BYJU’s.
FACEBOOK
Facebook announces its own digital currency. The crypto world’s reception to Libra has been lukewarm. Will Facebook cause a “crypto Cambridge Analytica”?
Foray into Fintech: After months of build-up,
Facebook finally revealed its digital currency, Libra. Pitted as the first mainstream global crypto-currency, it will be launched in the first half of 2020. Libra would then be available to anyone with an entry-level smartphone and an internet connection.
The virtual currency can be bought by users using fiat money, which adds to the reserve assets (along with investors’ contributions) that Libra is backed by. This is what sets it apart from, say, Bitcoin or Ether, which are speculative assets and are thus prone to wild fluctuations.
Facebook rushed to assure the public that data security and user privacy would be taken care of. An independent Libra Association (of which Facebook will be one of 100 members) will be established to govern all aspects of the currency.
Are you Crypto Enough?: Crypto enthusiasts are divided on Libra. Many are optimistic – and proud. Just a few years ago the world was mocking the crypto community, dismissing them as naive and impressionable. Today, one of the biggest companies in the world is investing in a crypto-currency, and the concept in mainstream, discussed by everyone from news anchors to policymakers.
Many allude to the project’s potential. For example, Changpeng Zhao, CEO of the crypto-currency exchange Binance, wrote that Facebook has a chance to “reshape the payment industry” and start the “un-dollarisation of the world”.
On the other hand, many are decrying Libra as a betrayal of blockchain technology. Crypto-currencies usually have a decentralised structure and are borderless, censorship-resistant and open to public verification. Libra’s reliance on reserve assets and the composition of the Libra Association have led to some commentators concluding that it will be able give competition to banks, not Bitcoin.
Additionally, there are fears that Libra’s Achilles’ heel won’t be Facebook itself, but its developers. According to the company’s white paper, the currency will be based on Libra Blockchain, which will be an open source platform that “any consumer, developer or business” can build on.
In 2013, a data scientist at the University of Cambridge was able to access numerous Facebook accounts after the company allowed him to harvest data for his third-party app (this was thanks to “Open Graph”, a feature on Facebook that was launched in 2010). A political consultancy firm, Cambridge Analytica, bought this data, accessed even more, and used it to chart users’ political preferences and target political ads accordingly. The resulting data breach affected 87 million users.
Now, given that Libra’s barriers to entry for research and innovation are practically zero, could Cambridge Analytica happen again? If it does, this time it won’t be usernames and passwords that will be compromised. It will be crores of digital currency that will be stolen.
JET
ED to question Founder Naresh Goyal in the Jet Airways privilege case. International Airlines Group promises to buy 737 Max.
Not So Privileged: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is likely to question Jet Airways Founder Naresh Goyal in relation to stake sales in the unit that ran the grounded carrier’s loyalty programme, Jet Privilege.
Other Charges: ED is also examining allegations of tax evasion of more than INR650cr made against Jet Airways and its units.
Jet Airways incorporated Jet Privilege Pvt Ltd (JPPL) as a wholly owned unit in 2012. After Etihad bought a 50.1% stake, it was hived off as an independent entity.
Even as the letter doesn't guarantee that IAG will eventually place Max orders, the news is still likely to bring cheer to the Boeing Max 737 family, which was grounded following two crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that killed 346 people.
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