Budget carrier IndiGo's two founders, Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal, are locked in a dispute that may affect the functioning of India's largest airline, a media report said.
Citing people close to the development, The Economic Times said the founders have "serious differences" over clauses in the shareholders’ agreement as well as over strategies and ambitions for the airline.
Law firms Khaitan & Co and J Sagar Associates are helping the founders resolve the problems, the report said. The founders haven't yet explored the possibility of buying the other out or selling his own stake in the airline, which is operated by Mumbai-listed InterGlobe Aviation Ltd.
The report said that differences between the two founders had cropped up on several occasions over the past two years. While Gangwal supported rapid growth for the airline, Bhatia preferred a cautious approach, the report said.
In another report, The Economic Times said that Canada's Brookfield Asset Management is set to acquire two wind farms from Hyderabad-based Axis Energy Ventures for Rs 500 crore.
Citing two people aware of the development, the report said the two wind farms have total total power generating capacity of 210 MW. This will take Brookfield’s total renewable energy portfolio in India to 510 MW. In 2017, Brookfield had acquired US-based SunEdison’s 300 MW portfolio in India as part of a larger global deal.
Brookfield is a large investor in India's infrastructure sector. It has also been scouting for deals in the renewable energy sector. It was previously reported to be interested in buying Mytrah Energy.
Axis Energy Ventures India is the flagship company of Axis Energy Group. It had planned to develop 12,500 MW of renewable energy projects by 2021-22, including 6,500 MW of projects in Andhra Pradesh.
Meanwhile, Aurangabad-based Varroc Engineering is in advanced talks to acquire the domestic automotive custom moulding business of Sintex Plastics Technology Ltd for between Rs 350 crore and Rs 500 crore, The Economic Times said, citing people familiar with the development.
Sintex Plastic is looking to sell this business to pare its debt and focus on its core business. It had held exploratory talks with several Indian auto ancillary companies before Varroc, the report said. The report cited Varroc managing director Tarang Jain as saying that the company was "always open to acquisition opportunities" but there was nothing on the table for now.
Sintex's custom moulding comprises an industrial segment, which supplies polymer products to automotive companies, and a retail business that makes water storage solutions.
Separately, the Mint newspaper reported that South Korean financial services firm Mirae Global Asset Management is exploring an India-dedicated fund to invest in Indian startups. The size of the fund could be $100-200 million, the report said.
Mirae has invested more than $100 million across four transactions in India in recent months. It put in almost $60 million in online grocer BigBasket and $35 million in ride-hailing major Ola this year. It invested in co-living space provider Zolo in January and in logistics startup Shadowfax in August 2018.
