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    Corporate chatter: Adani may be hit by bad news from Down Under; a CEO's tweet has his team dial his rivals; Amit Raje's new innings with Mahindra

    Synopsis

    India Inc has kept the rumour mills buzzing even during the pandemic.

    Untitled-5
    Insurers of Adani's trophy Carmichael coal project are said to be reviewing their exposure as several of the global players are opting out of covering fossil fuel projects.
    ET’s weekly roundup of the wackiest whispers and murmurs in corporate corridors & policy parlours.

    Say Cheese
    Everyone in sight is renegotiating these days — from rents to deliverables and anything in between. But some PE landlords, we are told, have been talking tough. Relationships with tenants have become so frosty after they sent maintenance bills during the lockdown that some decided to take matters in their own hands and become citizen journalists. Armed with mobile phones, they actually visited the premises to capture what’s going on. Some candid camera this!

    Banking on Buddies?
    What’s been going on with the RBL stock? In the last few days, several entities–what seem to be investment vehicles with names such as Alphagrep Securities, Tower Research Capital, Surjective Research and Graviton Research — have been repeatedly buying and selling the stock. Usual ‘jobbing’, you might say. Nobody seems to mind either as volumes have gone up, and so has the price from Rs 120 levels to Rs 168. Last week, Jasmine Capital Investments scooped up over 3% of the bank at Rs 150 per share. According to historical data, this entity has done only a handful of such deals, including DHFL and Indiabulls Housing Finance. A broker buddy broke it down further: It apparently belongs to a large Singapore-based institutional investor linked to a particularly chequered NRI real estate and finance tycoon. One wonders if the bank too has exposure to this group?

    Rising to the Occasion
    Mahindra is set to get a new strategy leader as incumbent Anish Shah has been named CEO-designate. We gather that a Goldman Sachs executive and former aide of a Maharashtra chief minister is poised to fill that vacancy. Known for his contacts in bureaucracy and political circles cutting across party lines, Amit Raje we hear is all set for a new corporate innings. We wish him the best of luck.

    Lend Me a Hand
    Several leading lights from business and the arts have taken to Twitter to spread the word about their world views. One of our favourite business honchos took to the platform some time back to announce his intent to help out during the peak of the pandemic with some much-needed medical hardware. A little bird tells us this turned out to be more challenging than expected. But as the boss had made a public pledge, his team had no choice but to make SOS calls to business rivals for assistance and collaboration. No harm in that, especially during times of crisis, but in this particular case, there’s no love lost between the two sides. Also, one wonders about the urgency to tweet prematurely.

    Black is Not Gold
    Bad news from Down Under may hit Gautam Adani where it hurts the most. Insurers of his trophy Carmichael coal project are said to be reviewing their exposure as several of the global players are opting out of covering fossil fuel projects. That limits the billionaire’s options to insure his prestigious project, which has already seen losses swell. Several banks and investors already shy away from projects that don’t score well on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) and now more seem to be joining that club.

    Privy to the whispers in power corridors or juicy tips on India Inc? Do share with us at etsuits.sayings@gmail.com


    ( Originally published on Jun 15, 2020 )
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