Big Tech Buzz + Gold Rush Fever! 🎯

Author

Masala Chai
April 29, 2025

🌅 Good morning, Tuesday Trailblazers!

Another One Friday GIF by Sealed With A GIF

April's almost done, but the energy? Still sizzling hotter than a roadside chai tapri. Today's brew is extra zesty—from Big Tech rumblings to India's market fireworks to a gold rush you don't want to miss. 🔥☕️

Sip slow, scroll steady—let’s dive deep into today’s masala! 👇

☕ Chai Shots

  • 🕵️‍♂️ SEBI Busts Spoofing Scandal: In a market smackdown, SEBI barred Patel Wealth Advisors and four of its directors from trading after they pulled off massive "spoofing"—placing fake orders to mislead investors and cash in unfairly. Across 292 trading days and 173 stocks (including Coffee Day and Syrma SGS!), they pocketed over ₹3 crore illegally. SEBI not only froze them out of the markets but also ordered the money seized and a deeper forensic audit. 🚨💸

  • 🚀 Zepto's Billion-Rupee Shuffle: Zepto founders are raising ₹1,500 crore through structured debt led by Edelweiss to boost Indian ownership ahead of their IPO. They’re also pulling off a $250M secondary sale to polish the cap table. More in the Big Brew!

  • 💸 REC Ltd Powers Up with ₹5,000 Crore Bond Boost: State-run REC Ltd raised a whopping ₹5,000 crore through bond sales, splitting it into ₹3,000 crore via 5-year bonds (6.87% coupon) and ₹2,000 crore via 10-year bonds (6.86% coupon). The move locks in cheap capital below 7%, giving REC fresh ammo to fund power, railways, and green energy projects as India ramps up infrastructure spending. 🔋🚂

  • 🏢 Urban Company Aims for IPO Glory: Home services darling Urban Company filed papers for a ₹1,900 crore IPO. Fresh funds will fuel tech upgrades, marketing sprints, and fancier office spaces.

🏋️ Market Masala

  • 📈 Sensex, Nifty Charge Ahead as Reliance, RBL Bank Shine: Indian markets opened strong with Nifty reclaiming the 24,300 mark and Sensex cruising past 79,300, led by a rally in Reliance Industries, RBL Bank, and defence stocks. Experts are betting big on a pharma sector comeback too—despite tariff worries, India’s massive US generic supply suggests smoother skies ahead. IT stocks might wobble short-term, but if history from the COVID era is any guide, a solid rebound could kick off by Q3 and Q4. Stay strapped in! 🚀💊💻

  • 📊 This Week's Market Watchlist: Brace for Big Tech earnings wave, India's April GST collection numbers, and critical FOMC rate commentary.

  • 💰 RBI Keeps Money Taps Open: The Reserve Bank of India is stepping in with a fresh ₹1.25 lakh crore open market operation (OMO) bond purchase plan through four tranches between May 6 and May 19. 🧵 The goal? Inject liquidity into the banking system and smooth out market volatility amid tight financial conditions. This move comes after back-to-back bond buys worth ₹1.2 lakh crore earlier this month. The RBI will monitor liquidity daily and hinted that even more support could be on the way if needed.

  • 🏦 IndusInd Bank's Deputy CEO Bows Out Amid Derivatives Drama: Arun Khurana has resigned with immediate effect, citing the recent ₹1,960 crore hit from accounting mishaps in the bank’s derivatives desk. His exit follows a damning independent probe and marks the second top-level departure after CFO Gobind Jain's earlier exit. With RBI trimming CEO Sumant Kathpalia’s term too, IndusInd is racing to reshuffle its top brass by October. 🚨📉

🌐 Global Masala

  • 📈 Wall Street's Wobble Ends in Cheers: After wild swings—the Dow was down 240 points midday—markets rebounded to close green, extending the S&P 500 and Dow's winning streak to five straight sessions. Big Tech earnings coming up could tilt the scales! 🚀

  • 🛵 Europe Riding High: FTSE 100 hit an 11-day winning streak (its longest in five years!), while Stoxx 600 gained 0.5%, with travel and banking stocks leading the pack.

  • 🌿 Porsche's EV Problems: Luxury carmaker Porsche cut its annual profit guidance as US tariffs slammed sales and EV demand sputtered. They're scaling back battery investments to ride out the storm. 🚗

  • 🍔 Deliveroo Rockets on DoorDash Bid: Deliveroo shares jumped 16% after confirming a $3.6 billion offer from DoorDash. The food delivery battlefield just got spicier! 🌮

💖 The Big Brew: Zepto’s ₹1,500 Cr IPO Power Move 🚀

Quick-commerce rocketship Zepto is about to pull a major stunt before its IPO! 🛵💨 Founders Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra are finalizing a ₹1,500 crore ($175M) structured debt deal with Edelweiss Alternative Asset and a squad of domestic investors and family offices.

  • 💸 What's Cooking: Zepto will use the funds to buy back shares from foreign investors, boosting Indian ownership past 30% — a strategic masterstroke to clear foreign direct investment (FDI) hurdles before hitting the public markets.

  • 📈 The Fine Print: Edelweiss has submitted a binding bid and will anchor half the loan, carrying a hefty 16% minimum interest rate, with an equity-linked bonus pushing total returns to about 18%. The deal pegs Zepto’s valuation at a sturdy $5 billion, the same as its last equity round.

  • 🏎️ Why It Matters: Under India's FDI rules, inventory-led ecommerce platforms must be majority Indian-owned to avoid regulatory speed bumps. Zepto’s reverse flip from Singapore to India, combined with this debt deal and an upcoming ₹250 crore secondary share sale, shows it’s going full throttle to tidy up its cap table before the IPO party begins.

  • 📊 The Bigger Game: Zepto is cruising toward an annualised $4 billion gross order value and is targeting EBITDA breakeven by Q4 FY26. With rivals like Blinkit and Instamart breathing down its neck, Zepto’s gearing up to sprint past the finish line — in both the quick-commerce race and the stock market sprint. 🏁

Bottom Line: Zepto’s not just delivering groceries at record speeds — it's also delivering a textbook case of IPO prep hustle. 🚀🍵

💼 Startup Scoop

🤔 Chai Break Trivia

✨ Did you know?

✨ The Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train will zoom into action by 2028! 🚄 Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis confirmed it's full steam ahead—expect two-hour commutes between Mumbai and Ahmedabad once it's live!

🍵 What's Brewing Next

  • 📈 Big Tech earnings: Meta & Microsoft (Wednesday), Apple & Amazon (Thursday)

  • 🌟 Akshaya Tritiya shopping frenzy on April 30

🍵 That's it for today’s power-packed pour, hustlers!

Stay gold, stay bold—catch you tomorrow for more piping-hot updates! 💜

tea time illustration GIF by Nazaret Escobedo

Masala Chai — Where the hustle always tastes better with a pinch of spice!

Reply

or to participate.