Highlights $ 1.1BN RAISED BY OLA FROM TENCENT, SOFTBANK
LAVASA CORPORATION UNDER INSOLVENCY CASE FILED BY ULTRATECH
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Highlights $ 1.1BN RAISED BY OLA FROM TENCENT, SOFTBANK
Ola, India’ s leading app-based taxi aggregator service, raised $ 1.1 billion in a fresh funding led by Chinese Internet giant Tencent Holdings Limited as it looks further to invest in new technologies to take on global rival Uber in the country.
Furthermore, in a statement on October 11, the round also saw participation of unnamed US-based financial investors and largest shareholder SoftBank, Ola said. However, the company did not disclose the valuation at which it has raised the fresh capital.“ Our ambition is to build a globally competitive and futuristic transportation system in India that will support and
accelerate a nation on the move,” said Bhavish Aggarwal, cofounder and CEO of Ola.“ Our new partners share our passion for building the future of transportation in India together and we look forward to learning and benefiting from their global perspectives and ecosystems.”
Ola says that capital will permit it to make strategic investments in its supply chain and technology. The company said it is continuing to hold talks with other investors to raise a further $ 1 billion as part of the same funding round, to bring the total to $ 2 billion.
The company’ s largest investor, SoftBank, has committed to pump extra capital into Ola, given that it achieves certain goals which have been set. The Japanese investor has supported Didi Chuxing in China and Grab Taxi in Southeast Asia, giving it a keen understanding of the ride-hailing market.
Martin Lau, President of Tencent Holdings said,“ Ola’ s unique local offerings are tailored to India’ s burgeoning transportation needs. The strategic partnership with Ola makes it possible for Tencent to be part of the fast-growing ride-hailing space in the country. We look forward to helping Ola further develop India’ s transportation solutions.”
LAVASA CORPORATION UNDER INSOLVENCY CASE FILED BY ULTRATECH
On October 9, an insolvency petition has been filed by Aditya Birla group company UltraTech Cement against HCC’ s Lavasa Corporation at the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal( NCLT) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code( IBC).
The case was listed for hearing earlier but the NCLT has fixed November 16 as the date for hearing again.
According to the regulatory filing, the conversion will also be applicable to two subsidiaries— Warasgaon Assets Maintenance and Warasgaon Power Supply.“ The lenders took notice of the fact that due to delay in implementation of the earlier joint lenders’ forum( JLF) approved structure, the project was stalled for two years and an additional interest of around `1,200 crore was accumulated, and hence, release of working capital for the project needs to be resolved on priority,” the filing added. Meanwhile, Lavasa had reported a net profit of `269 crore on the back of `609 crore in revenues in FY17.
In September, Ericsson India had filed an insolvency case against Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communication( RCom) and DBS Bank and Standard Chartered Bank filed an insolvency case against edible oil maker, Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd.
The companies had filed the petition at the National Company Law Tribunal( NCLT), Mumbai branch to initiate insolvency proceedings against the companies under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.
As per the law, a person is considered to be insolvent when the party has ceased to pay its debts in the ordinary course of business, or cannot pay its debts as they become due, or is insolvent within the meaning of the Bankruptcy Code.
November 2017 | Legal Era | www. legaleraonline. com