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

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

Lockdown Diaries: Disciplined Routine, Photography Skills, Family Work-Outs Keep India Inc's Business Heads Busy

1/5

Lockdown following the coronavirus pandemic has changed lives for most people. However, many people are working to find a way around the qurantine to be healthy, fit and more productive.

These business heads tell us how the lockdown has been for them and what they look forward to:

(Representative Image)

Lockdown following the coronavirus pandemic has changed lives for most people. However, many people are working to find a way around the qurantine to be healthy, fit and more productive.These busines..

Read More

“Since I can’t play squash now, I tried doing some work-out at home using YouTube videos (walk a mile by Leslie Sansone). In flat 15 minutes at home, I was sweating. It felt satisfying. Fun part of it was my wife and kids joined me and it also became a laughter session. Once the lockdown is over, I would definitely start playing squash in the morning. I also look forward to having a meal outside and small outings with my children. But we will probably have to wait for a year.”

“Since I can’t play squash now, I tried doing some work-out at home using YouTube videos (walk a mile by Leslie Sansone). In flat 15 minutes at home, I was sweating. It felt satisfying. Fun part of i..

Read More

“Ensuring and logging a 10K step count in my wristband, which is approximately 7-8 km, is the main thing that keeps me busy apart from my work. Besides that, my passion for photography by experimenting with various lenses is something that I look forward to every day. I also love growing my skill level in post processing software like Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Lightroom. Taking photography to the next level of MixArts is something that has kept me occupied during this lockdown. Apart from this, blogging has really helped me a lot in reaching out to people with various perspectives. It has sparked some really interesting discussions and I’ve came across some interesting viewpoints because of it.”

“Ensuring and logging a 10K step count in my wristband, which is approximately 7-8 km, is the main thing that keeps me busy apart from my work. Besides that, my passion for photography by experimenti..

Read More

“Our first daily huddle starts @ 9.30 am sharp every day. Most of the meetings of the day are lined up from 9.30 am to 8 pm max. Sometimes, it goes beyond that also depending on the urgency. However, most of the days I can wind up by 8 pm. So, I have to finish some regular home tasks before 9.30 am or post 8 pm. Luckily, I have been able to manage this discipline from the day one and it is helping me to keep the things on track.”

“Our first daily huddle starts @ 9.30 am sharp every day. Most of the meetings of the day are lined up from 9.30 am to 8 pm max. Sometimes, it goes beyond that also depending on the urgency. However,..

Read More

“I'm in Taipei currently and the lockdown isn’t exercised here because the Government has been successful in flattening the curve, hence am working from our HQ in Taipei. Since I am a runner and exercise is an integral part of my routine which I have maintained even during the lockdown phase. Hence the 1st thing I did once the lockdown got lifted was go for a 10km run by the riverside of my house.”

“I'm in Taipei currently and the lockdown isn’t exercised here because the Government has been successful in flattening the curve, hence am working from our HQ in Taipei. Since I am a runner and exer..

Read More

See More Slideshows