Amazon seeks CCI nod to acquire 49% of Future Coupons; Nasscom to mentor 30 deep-tech startups

Amazon seeks competition watchdog’s approval for its proposed deal to acquire 49% of Future Coupons. Industry body Nasscom to mentor 30 deep-tech startups. 

Amazon seeks CCI approval to acquire 49% of Future Coupons Ltd

Retail giant Amazon has sought the Competition Commission of India (CCI) approval for its proposed Rs 1,500 crore deal to acquire 49% of Future Coupons (FCL), a Future Retail promoter group company, the Economic Times reports.

The US-based company’s investment arm, Amazon.com NV Investment Holdings LLC, will acquire voting and non-voting equity shares of FCL in the proposed deal, it said in the CCI filing. Amazon says it will make sure that the transaction adheres to the latest rules in foreign direct investment (FDI) in ecommerce, the report said.

FCL develops value-added payment products and solutions such as corporate gift cards, loyalty cards and reward cards. 

The FDI regulations issued last year in December, which came into effect from February, stated that marketplaces should hold less than 26% equity with voting rights in any seller. The norms also limited the number of goods that an affiliate of the marketplace could supply to any independent seller on the platform, the report added.

Calcutta HC stays Centre’s proposed ordinance on e-cigarette stocks

The central government’s proposed blanket ban on e-cigarettes has run into a hurdle, with the Calcutta High Court passing an interim order staying the ordinance, Entrackr reports. 

The ordinance had asked e-cigarette vendors to surrender their stocks to authorities for disposal.

“The requirement of submission of stock, specified in the list, to be submitted to the nearest office of the authorized officer, as a requirement under clause (a) under the said proviso, will also remain stayed. The authorized officer, if feels necessary, will verify the inventory made on the list submitted. It is clarified, there is to be no disposal,”  Justice Arindam Sinha said in the order, reports Entrackr. 

Meanwhile, the court has further directed that no coercive actions be taken against e-cigarette companies since the ban on the sale of e-cigarettes has not stayed, the report added.

Nasscom to mentor 30 deep tech startups under phase 3 of deep tech mentorship programme

Industry body Nasscom (National Association of Software and Services Companies) will mentor 30 growth-stage startups in the third phase of its deep tech mentorship programme, according to a report by the Mint.

The deep-tech startups will be selected from the National Capital Region (NCR), Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Mumbai.

Nasscom’s earlier two cohorts have mentored 50 startups under the programme, the report said.

The new cohort includes three-to-five-year-old startups from retail, fintech, med-tech, health-tech, clean-tech, and others working in areas such as computer vision and deep learning. 

The programme seeks to “accelerate them to the next level, in terms of revenue, get them ready for seed funding, and help them with market access,” K S Viswanathan, vice president, industry initiatives at Nasscom, reports Mint.