Page 15 - Banking Finance June 2021
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         Nevertheless that will be good news for  Thapar is already being investigated in  In May, Tata Digital had announced its
         aircraft manufacturers, who slowed down  another case pertaining to the  purchase of a 64% stake in online
         production during the crisis as airlines  diversion of public money in Yes Bank  grocer BigBasket, in one of the largest
         cancelled orders to stay financially afloat.  allegedly involving Yes Bank's former  M&A deals in India's digital sector.
         Airbus has already announced it plans to  chief Rana Kapoor. CBI had filed a case
         step up the manufacturing cadence of its  against two private companies based  With the 1mg deal, India's online
         best-selling A320 single-aisle aircraft and  at Delhi and Gurugram and their  pharmacy sector is now more or less a
         should reach a record level already in  promoters and directors besides some  game of corporate giants, with
         2023. Boeing, for its part, forecasts that  bank officials, who have not been  Reliance having acquired a majority
         airlines will need 43,110 new aircraft  identified yet, for defrauding Yes Bank.  stake in Chennai-based Netmeds for Rs
         through 2039, which will result in a near  "It was alleged that the private  640 crore last August and Amazon,
         doubling of the global fleet. Asia alone will  company based at Gurugram/Delhi  ramping up its prescription drug
         account for 40 percent of that demand.  had availed term loan facility of Rs 515  deliveries in Bengaluru through its
         As with the September 11 attacks or  crore from Yes Bank Limited in   largest seller Cloudtail.
         the global financial crisis of 2007-2009,  December, 2017. The loan amount
         "the industry will prove resilient again,"  was declared as NPA on October 30, UK competition watchdog
         Darren Hulst, vice president of    2019. Further, the borrower was    planning         to      probe
         marketing at Boeing, said last year.  allegedly declared 'Red Flagged
         Marc Ivaldi, research director at the  Account' on March 6, 2020, on the Amazon's use of data
         Paris-based School for Advanced    basis of Early Warning Signals (EWS),"  The United Kingdom's competition
         Studies in the Social Sciences, noted  an agency spokesperson said.   watchdog is planning to launch a
         that only one percent of the population
                                                                               formal probe into how Amazon uses
         currently uses air travel. "With the  Tata Digital to acquire         the data collected from smaller sellers
         simple demographic rise and the fact
         that people become richer there will  majority stake in 1mg           on its platform.
         be rising demand for air travel and  The Tata Sons subsidiary is acquiring a  The Competition and Markets
         thus for aircraft," he told AFP.   51-60% stake in online pharmacy 1mg,  Authority (CMA) has been studying the
                                            days after it pumped $75 million into  online retailer's business for months
         CBI books industrialist            health and fitness startupCureFit and  and the investigation may revolve
                                            appointed its co-founder Mukesh    around whether it favours merchants
         Gautam Thapar for Yes              Bansal as president.               that use its logistics and delivery
         Bank fraud case                    Y   1mg is said to have received about  services, it said.
         The Central Bureau of Investigation    $100-$120 million in primary   Y   CMA has reportedly analysed how
         (CBI) has registered an FIR against    capital and $220-240 million       Amazon decides which merchants
         billionaire Gautam Thapar, promoter    overall, including secondary       appear in the "buy box", a white
         of the Avantha Group, and others for   investments, according to people   box that appears on the right side
         alleged diversion of over Rs 466 crore  close to the development.
         in Yes Bank during 2017-19.        Y   Existing investors Redwood Global-  of the product detail page, where
                                                                                   customers can click to add
         The industrialist and others have been  Korea Omega and World Bank's      products to their cart.
         accused of cheating the bank by        International Finance Corporation
         availing of a loan that turned into an  (IFC) have also pumped in primary  In 2019, the European Commission had
         NPA (non-performing asset).            capital. The deal values 1mg at  opened an antitrust investigation
                                                $450 million, a person briefed on  against Amazon on similar charges.
         CBI carried out searches at 14 locations
                                                the deal told us.              About a year later, it had accused the
         in Delhi-NCR, Kolkata, Lucknow, and
         Secunderabad, after registering the  Y  Sequoia Capital and Omidyar   firm of using non-public seller data to
         case, which led to the recovery of     Network are fully exiting the firm  benefit its own retail business, through
         incriminatory documents and digital    while other early investors are  which it directly competes with third-
         evidence.                              opting for partial exits.      party sellers. T


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